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his house having been wonderfully built, 29.308 reveals the inscription. For we have found many things in this psalm spoken from the person of the Lord. Or perhaps it is fitting to understand the house as the Church being built by Christ; as Paul also writes in his Epistle to Timothy: that you may know how one ought to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God. And the dedication of the Church must be understood as the renewal of the mind, which comes through the Holy Spirit to each of those who make up the body of the Church of Christ. And it is a divine and musical harmony, not containing certain words that delight the ear, but rather repressing and calming the evil spirits that trouble easily influenced souls. I will exalt you, Lord, for you have taken me up, and have not made my enemies to rejoice over me. How is he who dwells in the high places exalted by those who have been allotted the lowly place? for if God is in heaven above, and you are on the earth below, in what way could you exalt God? What then does the promise mean to the prophet? Or is it not that he is said to be exalted by those who are able to think great and God-befitting things about him, and in living for the glory of God? Therefore, the one who hastens with knowledge toward blessedness exalts God; while the one who turns to the contrary—which it is not even lawful to say—as far as it is in his power, humbles God. And we, as it were, attribute to God every condition fitting to our affairs. For this reason, when we are drowsy and act sluggishly, God is said to sleep, judging us unworthy of His wakefulness that watches over us. But whenever, perceiving the harm from this sleep, we say: Arise, why do you sleep, Lord? then he who keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep. And certain others, as it were, turn away the eyes of God, because of the shameful things they do which are unworthy of the eyes of God; who, having repented, say: Why do you turn your face away? And there are others besides these who have been cast out from the memory of God, and who, as it were, cause him to forget them; who say, You forget our poverty and our affliction. And, to put it simply, the things spoken anthropopathically about 29.309 God are wrought by men, making God for themselves such as each one has prepared for himself. I will exalt you therefore, Lord, for you have taken me up and not made my enemies rejoice over me, as I bear nothing lowly or groveling in my life. And from where do I have the power to exalt? Because you, anticipating, took me up. He has said emphatically, You have taken me up, instead of, You have lifted me up, and you have made me higher than those who rise up against me. As if someone, taking up with his hand a child inexperienced in swimming, might hold him above the water. Therefore, he who has recovered from the fall by the help of God, this one out of gratitude promises exaltation to God through his good works. Or as when someone, having supported a weakening wrestler from a threatened fall, and having made him superior to his opponent, provided to the one the occasion for victory, but took away from the other the joy over his fall. But it is not the afflictions, which are brought upon the saints for the sake of testing, that cause joy to our unseen enemies; but when we give up while being afflicted, and our thoughts become distressed, when we have despaired at the frequency of evils, then they rejoice and applaud and gloat. As in the case of Job. He had lost his possessions; he was deprived of his children; his flesh boiled with discharge and worms; this was not yet a joy to the adversary. But if, yielding to his sufferings, he had spoken some blasphemous word according to his wife's counsel, then his enemies would have rejoiced over him. This also in the case of Paul, when hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and buffeted, and laboring, and unsettled; the enemy did not rejoice; on the contrary, he was crushed seeing

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παραδόξως αὐτοῦ κατασκευασθέντος οἴκου, 29.308 τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν δηλοῦν. Πολλὰ γὰρ εὕρομεν ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ τούτῳ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπαγγελλό μενα. Ἢ τάχα οἶκον νοῆσαι προσήκει τὴν οἰκοδο μουμένην ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίαν· καθὼς καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Τιμόθεον Ἐπιστολῇ γράφει· Ἵναεἰδῇς πῶς δεῖ ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἐκκλησία Θεοῦ ζῶντος. Ἐγκαινισμὸν δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὑποληπτέον τὴν ἀνακαίνωσιν τοῦ νοὸς, τὴν διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος γινομένην τοῖς καθ' ἕνα τῶν συμπληρούντων τὸ σῶμα τῆς Ἐκκλη σίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἔστι δὲ ἡ θεία καὶ μουσικὴ ἁρ μονία, οὐ περιέχουσά τινας λόγους ἀκοὴν εὐφραίνον τας, ἀλλὰ καταστέλλοντας καὶ καταπραΰνοντας τὰ ἐνοχλοῦντα πονηρὰ πνεύματα ταῖς εὐεπηρεάστοις ψυχαῖς. Ὑψώσω σε, Κύριε, ὅτι ὑπέλαβές με, καὶ οὐκ εὔφρανας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐπ' ἐμέ. Πῶς ὁ ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς κατοικῶν ὑψοῦται ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν ταπει νὴν χώραν λαχόντων; εἰ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ σὺ ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω, τίνι ἂν τρόπῳ τὸν Θεὸν ὑψώσειας; Τί οὖν βούλεται τῷ προφήτῃ ἡ ἐπαγγε λία; ἢ μήποτε ὑψοῦσθαι λέγεται ὑπὸ τῶν μεγάλα καὶ θεοπρεπῆ νοεῖν περὶ αὐτοῦ δυναμένων, καὶ ἐν τῷ βιοῦν εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ; Ὁ μὲν οὖν σπεύδων μετ' ἐπιστήμης ἐπὶ τὴν μακαριότητα ὑψοῖ τὸν Θεόν· ὁ δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν τρεπόμενος, ὃ μηδὲ θέμις εἰπεῖν, τὸ ὅσον ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ τὸν Θεὸν ταπεινοῖ. Καὶ πᾶσαν δὲ ἁρμόζουσαν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἡμῶν κατάστασιν οἱονεὶ περιτίθεμεν τῷ Θεῷ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, νυσταζόντων ἡμῶν καὶ νωθρῶς ἐνεργούντων, ὑπνοῦν λέγεται ὁ Θεὸς, ἀναξίους ἡμᾶς κρίνων τῆς ἐπισκοπούσης ἡμᾶς ἐγρηγόρσεως αὐτοῦ. Ἐπειδὰν δέ ποτε αἰσθόμενοι τῆς ἐκ τοῦ ὕπνου βλάβης εἴ πωμεν· Ἀνάστηθι, ἵνα τί ὑπνοῖς, Κύριε; Οὐ νυστάξει, οὐδὲ ὑπνώσει τότε ὁ φυλάσσων τὸν Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς οἱονεὶ ἀποστρέφουσι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ τὸ αἰσχρὸν ὧν ποιοῦσι καὶ ἀνάξιον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ· οἳ μεταμεληθέντες λέγουσιν· Ἵνα τί τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀποστρέφεις; Καὶ ἄλλοι παρὰ τούτους εἰσὶν οἱ ἐκβληθέντες τῆς μνήμης τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἱονεὶ λήθην αὐτῷ ἐμ ποιοῦντες ἑαυτῶν· οἵτινες λέγουσιν, ὅτι Ἐπιλαν θάνῃ τῆς πτωχείας ἡμῶν καὶ τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν. Καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς, τὰ ἀνθρωποπαθῶς λεγόμενα περὶ 29.309 Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι ἐργάζονται, τοιοῦτον ἑαυτοῖς ποιοῦν τες τὸν Θεὸν, οἷον αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστος προευτρεπί ζει. Ὑψώσω σε οὖν, Κύριε, ὅτι ὑπέλαβές με, καὶ οὐκ εὔφρανας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐπ' ἐμὲ, μηδὲν ταπεινὸν μηδὲ χαμαίζηλον ἐπὶ τοῦ βίου μου φέρων. Καὶ πόθεν μοι ἡ τοῦ ὑψοῦν ἐνυπάρχει δύναμις; Ἐπειδὴ σύ με προλαβὼν ὑπέλαβες. Ἐμφαντικῶς εἴρηκε τὸ, Ὑπέλαβες, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἐμετεώρισάς με, καὶ ἀνώτερον τῶν κατεπανισταμένων με ἐποίησας. Οἱονεὶ παῖδά τινα ἀπείρως ἔχοντα πρὸς τὸ νήχεσθαι, τῇ χειρί τις ὑπολαβὼν, μετεωρότερον ἄγοι τοῦ ὕδατος. Ὁ οὖν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βοηθείας ἀνανεύσας ἀπὸ τοῦ πτώματος, οὗτος ὑπὸ εὐγνωμοσύνης διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ὕψωσιν ἐπαγγέλλεται τῷ Θεῷ. Ἢ ὥσπερ τινὰ παλαιστὴν ἀσθενοῦντα ὑποστηρίξας τις ἀπὸ τοῦ κινδυνευομένου πτώματος, καὶ ἐπανώτερον ποιήσας τοῦ συμπαλαίοντος, τῷ μὲν τῆς νίκης παρέσχε τὴν ἀφορμὴν, τοῦ δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ πτώματι αὐτοῦ εὐφρο σύνην ἀφείλετο. Οὐχὶ δὲ αἱ θλίψεις, αἱ δοκιμασίας ἕνεκεν προσαγόμεναι τοῖς ἁγίοις, εὐφροσύνην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἡμῶν τοῖς ἀοράτοις προξενοῦσιν· ἀλλ' ὅταν ἀπαγορεύσωμεν θλιβόμενοι, καὶ στενοχωρηθῶσιν ἡμῶν οἱ λογισμοὶ, ἀπειρηκότων ἡμῶν πρὸς τὸ πυκνὸν τῶν κακώσεων, τότε εὐφραίνονται καὶ κροτοῦσι καὶ ἐπιχαίρουσιν. Οἷον ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰώβ. Ἀπολωλέκει τὴν κτῆσιν· τέκνων ἐστέρητο· ἰχῶρας αὐτῷ καὶ σκώ ληκας ἡ σὰρξ ἀπέζεσεν· οὔπω τοῦτο εὐφροσύνη τῷ ἀντιπάλῳ. Εἰ δὲ ἐνδοὺς πρὸς τὰ ἐπίπονα εἰρήκει τι δύσφημον ῥῆμα κατὰ τὴν συμβουλὴν τῆς γυναι κὸς, τότε ἂν εὐφράνθησαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ Παύλῳ πεινῶντι, καὶ διψῶντι, καὶ γυμνη τεύοντι, καὶ κολαφιζομένῳ, καὶ κοπιῶντι, καὶ ἀστατοῦντι· οὐκ εὐφραίνετο ὁ ἐχθρός· τὸ ἐναντίον μὲν οὖν, συνετρίβετο βλέπων