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20

of their eyes." Wherefore also the blessed Paul cries out: "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which none of the rulers of this age knew; 80.921 for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." And again: "The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations." Rightly, therefore, did the Seventy call the death of the Son hidden. 2, 3. "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O most High." It is characteristic of the perfect to offer their whole heart to God, and to dedicate their whole mind to him. "For, he says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind." But he who divides his thoughts between mammon and God, between Christ and gold, between the present and the future life, cannot truthfully say: "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart." But the prophet, foreseeing future things with spiritual eyes, not only gives praise with his whole heart, but also declares all His marvelous works, making his hearers partners in the hymnody, and wishing to praise the benefactor alone; and to have as the cause of gladness not wealth and power, nor health and physical well-being, but the remembrance of God. "For I will be glad, he says, and rejoice in thee." So also elsewhere: "I remembered God, and was gladdened." And in another place, "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous." And again: "Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." 4. "When my enemy is turned back, they shall be weakened and perish from thy presence." Symmachus translated this thus: I will sing to thy name, O Most High, when my enemies are turned back, and have stumbled and perished from thy presence. For having seen my foes destroyed, and turned to flight, then captured and having suffered complete destruction, I praise thee and I continue to sing of thy benefits. But the prophet says these things on behalf of human nature; as one delivered from the avenger, and having received freedom through divine grace. For this psalm is not, as some have supposed, spoken by the Savior himself, but rather to him, as to a benefactor, by those who have been well-treated, as the words themselves teach. 5. "Because thou hast maintained my judgment, and my cause." In what way? "Thou satest on a throne, thou that judgest righteousness. And what sentence did he bring forth?" 80.924 6. "Thou hast rebuked the heathen, and the wicked one has perished; thou hast blotted out his name for ever and ever." For you did not endure, he says, to overlook for a long time human nature being wickedly enslaved by the bitter tyrant, but like some judge, having sat on a high and terrible tribunal, you brought such a punishment upon him, that the memory of him was given over to complete oblivion. But the phrase, "Thou hast rebuked the heathen, and the wicked one has perished," has this meaning: Through the holy apostles, and those after them who were preachers of the truth, you offered to the nations the divine doctrines; and when they received them, and were freed from error, the wicked one perished, having no one who was deceived and worshiped him. Thus Barnabas and Paul rebuked the Lycaonians who tried to sacrifice to them, crying out: "What are you doing, men? We also are men of like passions with you, turning you from these vanities to God." Thus the blessed Paul rebuked the Galatians: "O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?" Thus to the Corinthians: "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles." He rebuked the nations, therefore, and the wicked one perished, and he blotted out his name for ever and ever. For the rites of impiety were completely extinguished, and were given over to complete oblivion, so that none of those now

20

ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν." ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος βοᾷ· "Σοφίαν λαλοῦμεν Θεοῦ ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην, ἣν οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἔγνω κεν· εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης 80.921 ἐσταύρωσαν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Τὸ μυστήριον τὸ ἀπο κεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γε νεῶν." Εἰκότως τοίνυν οἱ Ἑβδομήκοντα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τὸν θάνατον ὠνόμασαν κρύφιον. βʹ, γʹ. "Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρ δίᾳ μου, διηγήσομαι πάντα τὰ θαυμάσιά σου. Εὐφρανθήσομαι καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι ἐν σοί· ψαλῶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου, Ὕψιστε." Τῶν τελείων ἴδιον, τὸ πᾶ σαν ἀνατιθέναι τῷ Θεῷ τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῷ καθιεροῦν τὴν διάνοιαν. "Ἀγαπήσεις γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου." Ὁ δὲ μερίζων τοὺς λογισμοὺς εἰς μαμωνᾶν καὶ Θεὸν, εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ χρυσὸν, εἰς τὸν παρόντα καὶ τὸν μέλ λοντα βίον, οὐ δύναται ἀληθεύων λέγειν· "Ἐξομο λογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου." Ὁ δὲ προφήτης πνευματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὰ ἐσόμενα προ ϊδὼν, οὐκ ἐξομολογεῖται μόνον ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ διηγεῖται αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ θαυμάσια, κοινωνοὺς τοὺς ἀκούοντας τῆς ὑμνῳδίας ποιούμενος, καὶ βου λόμενος μόνον τὸν εὐεργέτην ὑμνεῖν· καὶ θυμη δίας ἀφορμὴν οὐ πλοῦτον ἔχειν καὶ δυναστείαν, οὐδὲ ὑγίειαν καὶ σώματος εὐεξίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν μνήμην. "Εὐφρανθήσομαι γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι ἐν σοί." Οὕτω καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· "Ἐμνή σθην τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ηὐφράνθην." Καὶ ἑτέρωθι, "Εὐφράνθητε ἐπὶ Κύριον, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε δίκαιοι." Καὶ πάλιν· "Εὐφρανθήτω καρδία ζητούντων τὸν Κύριον." δʹ. "Ἐν τῷ ἀποστραφῆναι τὸν ἐχθρόν μου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, ἀσθενήσουσι καὶ ἀπολοῦνται ἀπὸ προσώπου σου." Ταῦτα ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν, Ἄσω τῷ ὀνόματί σου, Ὕψιστε, ἀνατραπέντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, καὶ προσκοψάν των καὶ ἀπολομένων ἐκ προσώπου σου. Θεα σάμενος γὰρ τοὺς ἐμοὺς δυσμενεῖς καταλυθέντας, καὶ εἰς φυγὴν τραπέντας, εἶτα ἁλόντας καὶ παν ωλεθρίαν ὑπομείναντας, ὑμνῶ σε καὶ τὰς σὰς ᾄδων εὐεργεσίας διατελῶ. Ταῦτα δὲ ὁ προφήτης ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης διεξέρχεται φύσεως· ἅτε δὴ τοῦ ἀλάστορος ἀπαλλαγεὶς, καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν διὰ τῆς θείας χάριτος δεξάμενος. Οὐ γὰρ, ὥς τινες ὑπέλαβον, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος οὗτος εἴρηται ὁ ψαλμὸς, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὡς πρὸς εὐερ γέτην, ἀπὸ τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων, ὡς αὐτὰ διδάσκει τὰ ῥήματα. εʹ. "Ὅτι ἐποίησας τὴν κρίσιν μου, καὶ τὴν δίκην μου." Τίνα τρόπον; "Ἐκάθισας ἐπὶ θρόνου ὁ κρίνων δικαιοσύνην. Καὶ ψῆφον ποίαν ἐξήνεγκεν;" 80.924 ϛʹ. "Ἐπετίμησας ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβής· τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐξήλειψας εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος." Οὐ γὰρ ἠνέσχου, φησὶν, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον περιϊδεῖν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ πικροῦ τυράννου δουλουμένην κακῶς, ἀλλ' οἷόν τις δικαστὴς, ἐπὶ θρόνου τινὸς ὑψηλοῦ καὶ φοβεροῦ βήματος καθίσας, τοιαύτην αὐτῷ τιμωρίαν ἐπ ήνεγκας, ὥστε λήθῃ παντελεῖ τούτου παραδοθῆναι τὴν μνήμην. Τὸ δέ γε, "Ἐπετίμησας ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπ ώλετο ὁ ἀσεβὴς," ταύτην ἔχει τὴν διάνοιαν· ∆ιὰ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ τῶν μετ' ἐκείνους τῆς ἀλη θείας κηρύκων, προσήνεγκες τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ θεῖα δόγματα· ἐκείνων δὲ δεξαμένων, καὶ τῆς πλάνης ἀπαλλαγέντων, ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβὴς, τοὺς ἀπατωμέ νους καὶ προσκυνοῦντας οὐκ ἔχων. Οὕτω Βαρνά βας καὶ Παῦλος θῦσαι πειραθεῖσι Λυκάοσιν ἐπετί μησαν βοῶντες· "Τί ποιεῖτε, ἄνδρες; καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς ἐσμεν ὑμῖν ἄνθρωποι, ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ματαίων πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑμᾶς ἐπιστρέφοντες." Οὕτω Γαλάταις ὁ μακάριος ἐπετίμησε Παῦλος· Ὦ ἀνόητοι Γαλάται, τίς ὑμᾶς ἐβάσκανεν, οἷς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς προεγράφη ἐσταυρωμέ νος;" Οὕτω Κορινθίοις· "Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν πορνεία, καὶ τοιαύτη πορνεία, οἵα οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὀνομάζεται." Ἐπετίμησε τοίνυν ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἀπώλετο ὁ ἀσεβὴς, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐξήλειψεν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ἐσβέσθησαν γὰρ παν τελῶς τῆς ἀσεβείας αἱ τελεταὶ, καὶ λήθῃ παντελεῖ παρεδόθησαν, ὡς μηδένα τῶν νῦν