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I will sing. Magnifying the salvation of His king, and showing mercy to His anointed, David, and to his seed, forever. He passes to the other, as one might say the right-hand company, and it is possible to perceive it by their deeds and eyes; just as David after the coming of our Savior, as if still even now living and dwelling with men, through his own writings of odes and hymns in all the nations sings to the God of all; and the one who came from his seed, in whose person the preceding words are referred, likewise having become greater than those who plotted against him, might say: And from those who rise up against me you will exalt me. Those then he leaves behind; but he imparts the grace from him and the truth to all the nations; and still even now being present everywhere on earth, and standing in the midst of those who have hoped in him, he confesses to the Father through his own Church; wherefore he says: For this I will confess to you among the nations, O Lord, and sing to your name. TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID. 18. And the present psalm happens to be one of those that lead to a good end; but also it is recorded as a song of thanksgiving, spoken as a victory ode for those who have overcome their enemies. Wherefore according to Symmachus it is said: A victory ode of David. But also because it is dedicated to God who bestows victories, according to Aquila, it is called, To the Victor-maker, a melody. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. It contains a teaching demonstrative of the mighty works of God. For since the unseen and invisible of the incorporeal and uncreated and divine substance, because it is not comprehended by fleshly eyes, those whose eyes of the soul are blinded have cast out of the existence of beings, declaring with godless mouths that God is not, nor is there anything greater than the things seen 23.188 in bodies; but that the whole world came into being by an automatic and irrational chance, randomly and vainly from no cause; of necessity the present discourse through the psalmody presents theology demonstratively and with the creative power of the universe, going through some such reasoning. The nature of mortals happens to be small and weak; and the thoughts of men are timid, and our counsels are uncertain; wherefore we are very far from the doxology of God according to his worth. For one should not think that with human voices, nor with a tongue of flesh and lips, a worthy account concerning God could ever be given. But if one must hearken to an active and very great teaching, one befitting God himself, if anyone has the faculties of the soul strengthened, let him exert himself and arouse himself to a hearing worthily proclaimed of the infinitely great power of God; which the heavens themselves, which contain the whole universe, bring forth, praising their own creator and the maker of all, God, with odes and doxologies. For they themselves, the heavens highest of all and lying above the firmament beneath, which have encompassed the entire sensible and spiritual creation, proclaiming the glory of God not with a Greek voice, nor using any other dialect, but by the deed itself through their own order and their rhythmic and harmonious and all-wise position, they teach the infinitely great power of the cause of such a motion for them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things their originator is seen by analogy; and, His invisible attributes from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood through what has been made; both his eternal power and deity. He therefore who thinks that the heavens came into existence by themselves without any creative word and without divine power, and who ascribes the cause of so great a magnitude and such a shape, and of their stable and orderly motion to their own bodies,

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ψαλῶ. Μεγαλύνων τὰς σωτηρίας τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποιῶν ἔλεος τῷ χριστῷ αὐτοῦ ∆αυῒδ, καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ, ἕως αἰῶνος. Ἐπὶ τὸ ἕτερον μεταβαίνει, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις τὸ δεξιὸν τάγμα, καὶ ἔστιν ἔργοις αὐτοῖς καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς παραλαβεῖν· ὥσπερ ὁ ∆αυῒδ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίαν, ὥσπερ εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν ζῶν καὶ σὺν ἀνθρώποις πολιτευόμενος, διὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ γραφῶν ᾠδῶν τε καὶ ὕμνων ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι ψάλλει τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων· καὶ ὁ ἐκ σπέρματος δι' αὐτοῦ γεγονὼς, οὗ εἰς πρόσωπον ἀναφέρεται τὰ προκείμενα, ὁμοίως κρείττων γενόμενος τῶν ἐπιβεβουλευκότων αὐτῷ, εἴποι ἄν· Καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπανισταμένων ἐπ' ἐμὲ ὑψώσεις με. Ἐκείνους μὲν οὖν καταλείπει· τὴν δὲ χάριν τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν μεταδίδωσιν· εἰσέτι τε καὶ νῦν πανταχοῦ γῆς αὐτὸς παρὼν, καὶ μέσος τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἠλπικότων ἑστὼς, τῷ Πατρὶ διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ Ἐκκλησίας ἐξομολογεῖται· διό φησι· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν ἔθνεσι, Κύριε, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ψαλῶ. ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ, ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ΙΗʹ. Καὶ ὁ παρὼν ψαλμὸς τῶν εἰς ἀγαθὸν τέλος παραπεμπόντων τυγχάνει· ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐχαριστήριος ἀναγράφῃ ᾠδὴ τοῖς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς καταγωνισαμένοις ἐπινίκιος εἰρημένη. ∆ιὸ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον εἴρηται· Ἐπινίκιος ᾠδὴ τοῦ ∆αυΐδ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀνακεῖσθαι τῷ τὰς νίκας δωρουμένῳ Θεῷ, κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, Τῷ νικοποιῷ μελῴδημα, λέλεκται. Οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ, ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα. ∆ιδασκαλίαν περιέχει τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγαλουργίας παραστατικήν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ ἀφανὲς καὶ ἀόρατον τῆς ἀσωμάτου καὶ ἀγενήτου καὶ θεϊκῆς οὐσίας, διὰ τὸ μὴ σαρκὸς ὀφθαλμοῖς καταλαμβάνεσθαι, οἱ τὰ ὄμματα τῆς ψυχῆς πεπηρωμένοι τῆς τῶν ὄντων ὑπάρξεως ἐκβεβλήκασιν, ἀθέοις στόμασιν ἀποφηνάμενοι μὴ εἶναι Θεὸν, μηδὲ ὑπάρχειν τι κρεῖττον τῶν ἐν σώμασιν 23.188 ὁρωμένων· αὐτομάτῳ δὲ καὶ ἀλόγῳ συντυχίᾳ, εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην ἐξ οὐδεμιᾶς αἰτίας ὑποστῆναι τὸν πάντα κόσμον· ἀναγκαίως ὁ παρὼν λόγος διὰ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας ἀποδεικτικῶς καὶ μετὰ δημιουργικῆς τῶν ὅλων δυνάμεως τὴν θεολογίαν παρίστησι, τοιοῦτόν τινα λογισμὸν διεξιών. Θνητῶν μὲν φύσις μικρὰ τυγχάνει καὶ ἀσθενής· λογισμοί τε ἀνθρώπων δειλοὶ, καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς αἱ ἐπίνοιαι ἡμῶν· διὸ πλεῖστον ὅσον ἀποδέομεν τῆς κατ' ἀξίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ δοξολογίας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων φωναῖς, οὐδὲ γλώττῃ σαρκὸς καὶ χείλεσιν δύνασθαί ποτε νομίζειν ἐπάξιον περὶ Θεοῦ λόγον ἀποδίδοσθαι. Εἰ δὲ χρὴ διδασκαλίας ἐνεργοῦς καὶ μεγίστης αὐτῷ τε πρεπούσης τῷ Θεῷ ἐπακούειν, εἴ τις ἔῤῥωται τῆς ψυχῆς τὰ αἰσθητήρια, συντεινάτω ἑαυτὸν καὶ διεγειράτω πρὸς ἀκρόασιν ἐπαξίως ἀναφωνουμένην τῆς ἀπειρομεγέθους δυνάμεως τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἣν αὐτοὶ προφέρονται οἱ τὸν σύμπαντα περιέχοντες οὐρανοὶ, τὸν ἑαυτῶν κτίστην καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ᾠδαῖς καὶ δοξολογίαις ἀνυμνοῦντες. Αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀνωτάτω πάντων, καὶ τοῦ ὑποβεβηκότος στερεώματος ὑπερκείμενοι οὐρανοὶ, οἱ σύμπασαν περιειληφότες τὴν αἰσθητὴν καὶ πνευματικὴν κτίσιν, τὴν δόξαν Θεοῦ οὐκ Ἑλληνικῇ φωνῇ φθεγγόμενοι, οὐδ' ἑτέρᾳ τινὶ διαλέκτῳ χρώμενοι, αὐτῷ δὲ ἔργῳ διὰ τοῦ ἑαυτῶν κόσμου καὶ τῆς εὐρύθμου καὶ ἐναρμονίου καὶ πανσόφου στάσεως, τοῦ αἰτίου αὐτοῖς τῆς τοιᾶσδε κινήσεως τὴν ἀπειρομεγέθη δύναμιν ἐκδιδάσκουσιν. Ἐκ γὰρ μεγέθους καὶ καλλονῆς κτισμάτων ἀναλόγως ὁ γενεσιουργὸς αὐτῶν θεωρεῖται· καὶ, Τὰ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται· ἥ τε ἀΐδιος αὐτοῦ δύναμις καὶ θεότης. Ὁ οὖν τοὺς οὐρανοὺς νομίζων δίχα τινὸς δημιουργικοῦ λόγου καὶ θείας ἄνευ δυνάμεως ἑαυτοὺς ὑποστήσασθαι, καὶ τοῦ τοσοῦδε μεγέθους καὶ τοῦ τοιοῦδε σχήματος, τῆς τε εὐσταθοῦς καὶ εὐτάκτου κινήσεως τὴν αἰτίαν τοῖς σώμασιν αὐτῶν προσγράφων,