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your name. 1. It is customary, brothers, for the blessed David to devise various modes of expression for the things sung prophetically by him. For indeed in this psalm also he utters the same things about the same things in many ways. And his purpose is abstinence from sin and turning away from evil, the keeping and guarding of the commandments of God, and to rebuke transgressors, and to turn away from them, and to ask for God's help and his mercy. Therefore he says: Look upon me, and have mercy on me. Sometimes God looks upon in anger, as it is said by the prophet Habakkuk: He looked, and the nations melted; but when he looks upon those who love him, he works mercy and salvation. The prophet, therefore, sought this; for this reason he also added: According to the judgment of those who love your name. He therefore beseeches to obtain the divine favor, not simply, but, he says, as you are accustomed to grant mercy to those who love you. For he said this, According to the judgment of those who love your name; instead of, I ask to receive the same verdict as these. Direct my steps according to your word; and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. For when we offer our zeal beforehand, and God provides help and directs our path, the tyranny of sin has no place. Therefore, with God directing us in his ways, and we providing our zeal, sin will have no power over us, nor will iniquity. For he promises in another psalm to the one who fears him: You will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the thing that walks in darkness; which is iniquity. Redeem me from the slander of men, and I will keep your commandments. According to the literal sense, David endured many temptations from men, both from Saul and from certain others. For he also says in the next psalm: Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceit- 55.701 ful tongue. What shall be given to you, and what shall be added to you, for a deceitful tongue? And again in another psalm: Sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. He prays, therefore, to be delivered from them. And the Lord Christ called those who are reviled and slandered blessed and enviable; but he also commanded to pray not to enter into temptation. The prophet's prayer, therefore, agrees with the evangelical laws. But Saint Athanasius, interpreting the saying according to its deeper meaning, says that the slanders of men are the babblings and railings of heretics and the lawless. And so we, brothers, following the father, let us flee from every heresy, and especially from those now prevalent among us, of the Iconoclasts and the Paulicians and Manichaeans; and if they say to any of us, come with us, let us turn aside our foot and go another way, according to the proverbial saying, and not go with them. Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. The divine is indeed incorporeal, simple and uncompounded; but Holy Scripture speaks of it in a more corporeal and coarse manner, measuring its words by the nature of men; since the Son is the character of the Father's substance, and the radiance, as it seems in truth and to the blessed Paul. He therefore longs to behold his presence for the salvation of the human race. For he, having appeared to us, taught all righteousness. Therefore, the shining of the divine face must be understood as the release from sorrows and the provision of good things. Rivers of waters have run down from my eyes, because they have not kept your law. This law is also apostolic. For if one member suffers, he says, all the members suffer with it

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ὄνομά σου. αʹ. Σύνηθές ἐστιν, ἀδελφοὶ, τῷ μακαρίῳ ∆αυῒδ πολυτρό πους ἐπινοεῖν ἐμφάσεις ἐπὶ τοῖς προφητικῶς παρ' αὐτοῦ ᾀδομένοις. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ψαλμῷ τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πολλαχῶς φθέγγεται. Σκοπὸς δὲ αὐτῷ ἐστιν, ἡ ἀποχὴ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ ἡ ἀποτροπὴ τοῦ κακοῦ, τήρησις δὲ καὶ φυλακὴ τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐλέγ χειν τοὺς παραβαίνοντας, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποστρέφεσθαι, δέεσθαί τε τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βοηθείας καὶ τοῦ ἐλέους αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὸ λέγει· Ἐπίβλεψον ἐπ' ἐμὲ, καὶ ἐλέησόν με. Ἔστινὅτε ὁ Θεὸς ἐπιβλέπει κατ' ὀργὴν, ὡς εἴρηται παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ Ἀμβακούμ· Ἐπέβλεψε, καὶ ἐτάκη ἔθνη· ὅτε δὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτὸν ἐπιβλέπει, ἔλεος καὶ σωτηρίαν ἐργάζεται. Ταύτην οὖν ἐζήτησεν ὁ προφήτης· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπήγαγε· Κατὰ τὸ κρίμα τῶν ἀγαπώντων τὸ ὄνομά σου. Ἱκετεύει τοίνυν τῆς θείας τυχεῖν εὐμε νείας, οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' ὡς εἴωθας, φησὶ, τοῖς ἀγαπῶσί σε παρέχειν τὸν ἔλεον. Τοῦτο γὰρ εἶπε, Κατὰ τὸ κρίμα τῶν ἀγαπώντων τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἀντὶ τοῦ, τῆς ἴσης τούτοις ἀπολαῦσαι ψήφου παρακαλῶ. Τὰ διαβήματά μου κατεύθυνον κατὰ τὸ λόγιόν σου· καὶ μὴ κατακυριευ σάτω μου πᾶσα ἀνομία. Ἡμῶν γὰρ προεισφερόντων τὴν προθυμίαν, καὶ Θεοῦ παρέχοντος τὴν βοήθειαν καὶ τὴν πορείαν εὐθύνοντος, χώραν οὐκ ἔχει τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡ δυναστεία. Τοῦ οὖν Θεοῦ κατευθύνοντος ἡμᾶς ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἡμῶν παρεχόντων τὸ πρόθυμον, οὐχ ἕξει καθ' ἡμῶν ἡ ἁμαρτία δύναμιν, οὔτε ἡ ἀνομία. Ἐπαγγέλλεται γὰρ ἐν ἑτέρῳ ψαλμῷ τῷ φοβουμένῳ αὐ τόν· Οὐ φοβηθήσῃ ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, ἀπὸ βέλους πετομένου ἡμέρας, ἀπὸ πράγματος ἐν σκότει διαπο ρευομένου· ἅ ἐστιν ἡ ἀνομία. Λύτρωσαί με ἀπὸ συ κοφαντίας ἀνθρώπων, καὶ φυλάξω τὰς ἐντολάς σου. Κατὰ μὲν τὸ ῥητὸν πολλοὺς πειρασμοὺς ὁ ∆αυῒδ ὑπέμει νεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοῦ τε Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἑτέρων τινῶν. Λέγει γὰρ καὶ τῷ ἑξῆς ψαλμῷ· Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυ χήν μου ἀπὸ χειλέων ἀδίκων καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης δο 55.701 λίας. Τί δοθείη σοι καὶ τί προστεθείη σοι πρὸς γλῶσ σαν δολίαν; Καὶ αὖθις πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ ψαλμῷ· Υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων, οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτῶν ὅπλα καὶ βέλη, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν μάχαιρα ὀξεῖα. Εὔχεται οὖν λυτρωθῆ ναι ἀπ' αὐτῶν. Καὶ ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς τοὺς ὀνειδιζο μένους καὶ συκοφαντουμένους ζηλωτοὺς καὶ μακαρίους ἐκάλεσεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ εὔχεσθαι παρηγγύησε μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμόν. Συμβαίνει τοίνυν τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς νό μοις καὶ τοῦ προφήτου ἡ προσευχή. Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος κατὰ διάνοιαν ἑρμηνεύων τὸ ῥητὸν, συκοφαντίας ἀνθρώπων λέγει, τὰς τῶν αἱρετικῶν καὶ παρανόμων ἀθυροστομίας καὶ γλωσσαλγίας. Καὶ ἡμεῖς οὖν, ἀδελφοὶ, τῷ πατρὶ ἐξακολουθοῦντες, ἐκφύγωμεν ἀπὸ πάσης αἱρέ σεως, τέως δὲ ἐκ τῶν νυνὶ ἐπιπολαζόντων ἡμῖν τῶν τε εἰκονοκλαστῶν καὶ τῶν Παυλικιανῶν καὶ Μανιχαίων· καὶ ἐὰν εἴπωσί τινι ἡμῶν, ἐλθὲ μεθ' ἡμῶν, ἐκκλίνωμεν τὸν πόδα καὶ παραλλάξωμεν, κατὰ τὸν παροιμιακὸν λόγον, καὶ μὴ συμπορευθῶμεν μετ' αὐτῶν. Τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐπίφανον ἐπὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου, καὶ δίδαξόν με τὰ δικαιώματά σου. Ἀσώματον μὲν τὸ θεῖον, τὸ ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἀσύνθετον· σωματικώτερον δὲ καὶ παχύτερον ἡ θεία Γραφὴ περὶ αὐτοῦ διαλέγεται, τῇ φύσει τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώ πων μετροῦσα τοὺς λόγους· ἐπεὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστά σεως τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ ἀπαύγασμα, ὡς τῇ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ τῷ μακαρίῳ Παύλῳ δοκεῖ. Ἐπιποθεῖ οὖν τὴν παρ ουσίαν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους κατ ιδεῖν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐπιφανεὶς ἐδίδαξε πᾶσαν δικαιο σύνην. Τοιγαροῦν τοῦ θείου προσώπου τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν νοητέον τὴν λύσιν τῶν λυπηρῶν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορ ηγίαν. ∆ιεξόδους ὑδάτων κατέδυσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἐφύλαξαν τὸν νόμον σου. Ἀποστολικὸς καὶ οὗτος ὁ νόμος. Εἰ γὰρ πάσχει, φησὶν, ἓν μέλος, συμπάσχει πάντα