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he received. May all my enemies be ashamed and troubled, may they be turned back and greatly ashamed with speed. Having found God to be a hearer, he turns his prayer to him again, and he beseeches that his enemies withdraw and be ashamed, having failed in what they plotted, through which things God provided salvation for him. He also asks that they be greatly troubled; which indeed will certainly await them at the time of God's righteous judgment. PSALM 7, OF DAVID. Which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me from all who persecute me, and deliver me, lest he seize my soul like a lion, there being none to redeem or to save. I have not placed my hopes on men, nor on the counsels of men, or the multitude of an army; Therefore deliver me, with so many enemies pressing upon me always. Not only now Absalom, and Ahithophel, and those with them; but also long ago when I was young, Saul and very many of the demons secretly warring against me through them; concerning whose ruler it is said: Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; from whom I especially beseech to be delivered. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid evil to those who repaid evil to me, may I then fall away from my enemies empty. How much confidence he has in not bearing grudges! For this is an extraordinary achievement of 23.124 David; just as meekness was of Moses; For he was meek above all the men who were on the face of the earth; and faith was of Abraham; For he believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness; and endurance of Job, and temperance of Joseph, and the wisdom of Solomon. And the fortitude of the saints has not been testified in the same things; but in that extraordinary struggle in which one prevails. David, therefore, who always asked for a forgiving heart, proposes to God, asking to receive equal things from him. For he knew from the divine Spirit the future promise of the Savior, If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your trespasses. Therefore, after sufficient repentance, he obtained forgiveness. May the enemy then persecute my soul and overtake it, and trample my life to the ground, and make my glory dwell in the dust. And insisting, he says: If I have not achieved this, may I not be freed from sin before death, nor receive my glory, but be caught in my very sins, so that just as when I sinned, so forever may the enemy trample my soul, until returning to the dust of death. But if I have achieved it, may I obtain equal things, being redeemed, and not remain in the dust of carnal sin into which I fell on account of sin. The life of one who still bears the image of the earthly man has been trampled to the ground by the enemy; and this one, even if he seems at times to be glorified, his glory has dwelt in the dust, as of those who act for glory, and the praise from them, or the acceptance among them. Arise, O Lord, in your anger, be exalted in the boundaries of your enemies. Awake, O Lord my God, in the command that you commanded, and a congregation of peoples will surround you. As a general to rise up with indignation against the commander of the army of invisible enemies, saying: What you commanded us men to fight against the invisible powers, do this yourself. For with these being destroyed by you, I too will be saved, not alone, but also the Church of the nations will surround you, all demonic deceit having been driven away. And becoming the center of this, as of a chorus, you will send up a fitting hymn to the Father just as you said:

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προσεδέξατο. Αἰσχυνθείησαν καὶ ταραχθείησαν πάντες οἱ ἐχθροί μου, ἐπιστραφείησαν καὶ αἰσχυνθείησαν σφόδρα διὰ τάχους. Ἐπηκόου τυχὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπιστρέφει πάλιν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν εὐχὴν, καὶ παρακαλεῖ πρὸς τὸ ἀναχωρῆσαι καὶ αἰσχυνθῆναι αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, ἀποτυχόντας ἐν οἷς ἐπεβούλευσαν, δι' ὧν αὐτῷ Θεὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν παρέσχετο. Ἀξιοῖ δὲ καὶ λίαν αὐτοὺς ταραχθῆναι· ὃ δὴ πάντως αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοκρισίας ἐκδέξεται. ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ Ζʹ. Ὃν ᾖσε τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑπὲρ τῶν λόγων Χουσὶ υἱοῦ Ἰεμενεῖ. Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα· σῶσόν με ἐκ πάντων τῶν διωκόντων με, καὶ ῥῦσαί με, μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων τὴν ψυχήν μου, μὴ ὄντος λυτρουμένου, μηδὲ σώζοντος. Οὐκ ἐπ' ἀνθρώποις, οὐδὲ συμβουλαῖς ἀνθρώπων, ἢ στρατοῦ πλήθει τὰς ἐμὰς ἐλπίδας ἀπήρτησα· ∆ιό με ῥῦσαι πολεμίων μοι τοσούτων ἐπικειμένων διὰ παντός. Οὐ μόνον νῦν Ἀβεσσαλὼμ, καὶ Ἀχιτόφελ, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτοῖς· ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλαι νέῳ ὄντι Σαούλ τε καὶ πλείστων τῶν τε δι' αὐτῶν ἀφανῶς μοι πολεμούντων δαιμόνων· ὧν περὶ τοῦ ἄρχοντος εἴρηται· Ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος περιέρχεται ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ· ἐξ οὗ μάλιστα ῥυσθῆναι παρακαλῶ. Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο, εἰ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν χερσί μου, εἰ ἀνταπέδωκα τοῖς ἀνταποδιδοῦσί μοι κακὰ, ἀποπέσοιμι ἄρα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου κενός. Ὅσην ἄγει παῤῥησίαν ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ μνησικακεῖν! Ἐξαίρετον γὰρ τοῦτο κατόρθωμα τοῦ 23.124 ∆αυΐδ· ὡς τοῦ μὲν Μωϋσέως τὸ πρᾶον· Πρᾶος γὰρ ἦν παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς ὄντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ δὲ ἡ πίστις· Ἐπίστευσε γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην· καὶ τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἡ καρτερία, καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἡ σωφροσύνη, καὶ ἡ σοφία τοῦ Σαλομῶντος. Καὶ τὸ στεῤῥὸν τῶν ἁγίων οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς μεμαρτύρηται· ἀλλ' ἐν ᾧ κρατεῖ παραδόξῳ παλαίσματι. ∆αυῒδ τοίνυν ὁ διὰ παντὸς ἀμνησίκακον ᾔτησε, προτείνει Θεῷ τῶν ἔσων ἐξ αὐτοῦ τυχεῖν ἐξαιτούμενος. Ἤδει γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος τὴν μέλλουσαν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπαγγελίαν τὴν, Ἐὰν ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν. ∆ιὸ μετὰ τὴν ἱκανὴν μετάνοιαν ἔτυχε τῆς ἀφέσεως. Καταδιώξαι ἄρα ὁ ἐχθρὸς τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ καταλάβοι καὶ καταπατήσαι εἰς γῆν τὴν ζωήν μου, καὶ τὴν δόξαν μου εἰς χοῦν κατασκηνώσαι. ∆ιατεινόμενος δέ φησιν· Εἰ μὴ κατώρθωσα τοῦτο, μὴ ἐλευθερωθείην πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου τῆς ἁμαρτίας, μηδὲ τὴν ἐμὴν ἀπολάβοιμι δόξαν, ἐν αὐταῖς δέ μου καταληφθείην ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, ἵν' ὡς ὅτε ἥμαρτον οὕτω μέχρι παντὸς τὴν ἐμὴν ὁ δυσμενὴς καταπατήσῃ ψυχὴν, μέχρι τοῦ εἰς χοῦν ὑποστρέψαι θανάτου. Εἰ δὲ κατώρθωσα, τύχοιμι τῶν ἴσων λυτρούμενος, καὶ μὴ εἰς ὃν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας κατέπεσα χοῦν ἐπιμένων τῆς σαρκικῆς ἁμαρτίας. Ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ ἔτι τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ φοροῦντος καταπεπάτηται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ εἰς γῆν· οὗτος δὲ, κἂν δοξάζεσθαι ποτὲ δοκῇ, κατεσκήνωσεν αὐτοῦ ἡ δόξα εἰς χοῦν, ὡς τῶν ποιούντων διὰ δόξαν, καὶ τὸν παρ' αὐτῶν ἔπαινον, ἢ τὴν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀποδοχήν. Ἀνάστηθι, Κύριε, ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ σου, ὑψώθητι ἐν τοῖς πέρασι τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Ἐξεγέρθητι, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐν προστάγματι ᾧ ἐνετείλω, καὶ συναγωγὴ λαῶν κυκλώσει σε. Οἷα δὴ στρατηγὸν διαναστῆναι σὺν ἀγανακτήσει κατὰ τοῦ τῶν ἀοράτων πολεμίων ἄρχοντος στρατοπέδου, λέγων· Ὃ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἡμῖν προσέταξας ἀγωνίζεσθαι κατὰ τῶν ἀοράτων δυνάμεων, τοῦτο δράσον αὐτός. Τούτων γὰρ ὑπὸ σοῦ καθῃρημένων, κἀγὼ σωθήσομαι, οὐ μόνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησία κυκλώσει σε, πάσης δαιμόνων πλάνης ἀπελασθείσης. Ταύτης δὲ καθάπερ χοροῦ μέσος γενόμενος ὕμνον ἀναπέμψεις πρέποντα τῷ Πατρὶ καθάπερ ἔφης·