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and he joined to it truth and righteousness. Who can understand transgressions? cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare your servant from strange ones. But instead of, Spare your servant from strange ones, Aquila rendered: And indeed from the proud preserve your servant. Most necessarily he also sends forth this prayer, that he might be delivered from pride. For a proud thought often follows those who succeed, as the soul is lifted up and puffed up over the good things of which it is conscious; then, having fallen into the evil of pride, it is yoked in another way and falls down; so that for this reason the Apostle says: Lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil; having necessarily said before: For your servant keeps them, and having called himself a keeper of God's commandments, he beseeches to be delivered from pride, and adds: If they do not have dominion over me, then I shall be blameless, and then I shall be cleansed from great sin. For indeed, for the present, although I have called myself a keeper of God's commands, yet since I am not yet conscious of having been cleansed from my secret faults, and I still struggle and am anxious that I might be delivered from pride, I rightly say this, since I have not yet achieved perfection. Then I shall know myself to be precisely blameless, and then I shall be cleansed from great sin, when neither my secret faults have dominion over me, nor a proud thought enslaves me, nor evil demons. He calls the consummate sin 'great sin'. For if I should not be cleansed from my secret faults, these transgressions, persisting 23.196, lead to evil action, and I become liable to great sin. And the words of my mouth shall be to your good pleasure. When these things are granted to me by you, the words of my mouth which I have brought forth praying to you, praising you, giving thanks to you, will be for your good pleasure. For your good pleasure are the words worthy of acceptance. And the meditation of my heart is before you always. The meditation of my mind, occurring in thoughts and reflections, being without any blemish, is before you always. However, the blamelessness of the meditation has come from nowhere else but from you, who have cleansed me from my secret faults. O Lord, my helper and my redeemer. With your help, O master, I fall prey to none of those who war against me spiritually. But if, through my inattention, it should happen that I am captured by my adversaries, you redeem me from those who have taken hold of me, being found both a helper and a redeemer. TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID 19. May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you. May he send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices, and may your burnt offering be made fat. Diapsalma. The psalm is indeed attributed to David, according to the inscription. But consider whether, with respect to the history, this prayer was an assistant to the supplications of David, as he prayed and entreated through prayer to obtain God as a Savior when arrayed against enemies and foes. For it was likely that as he was doing these things, a chorus of holy angels or also of God-loving men, even of the priests and ministers of God, prayed all the aforementioned things with him and said: May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble, and the rest; and also, And may the name of the God of Jacob stand by you. For this invocation and address is sufficient for defense against every adversary. And these things are likely to be prayed together and wished for not only for David, but also for everyone who, in his likeness, sends up to God through prayers intelligible and pure sacrifices, holy powers, and choruses of sacred angels. May the Lord grant you according to your heart, and all your counsel

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συνῆψέ τε αὐτῇ τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην. Παραπτώματα τίς συνήσει; ἐκ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθάρισόν με, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀλλοτρίων φεῖσαι τῷ δούλῳ σου. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Ἀπὸ ἀλλοτρίων φεῖσαι τῷ δούλῳ σου, ὁ Ἀκύλας ἐξέδωκε· Καί γε ἀπὸ ὑπερηφάνων συντήρησον τὸν δοῦλόν σου. Σφόδρα ἀναγκαίως καὶ ταύτην ἐκπέμπων τὴν εὐχὴν, ὡς ἂν ῥυσθείη ἀπὸ ὑπερηφανίας. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῖς κατορθοῦσι παρέπεταί τις λογισμὸς πολλάκις ὑπερήφανος, ἐπαιρομένης καὶ χαυνουμένης τῆς ψυχῆς ἐφ' οἷς ἑαυτῇ συνοῖδεν ἀγαθοῖς· εἶτα τῷ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας περιπεσοῦσα κακῷ, ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ τραχηλίζεται καὶ καταπίπτει· ὡς διὰ τοῦτο φάσκειν τὸν Ἀπόστολον· Ἵνα μὴ τυφωθεὶς εἰς κρῖμα ἐμπέσῃ τοῦ διαβόλου· ἀναγκαίως προειπών· Καὶ γὰρ ὁ δοῦλός σου φυλάσσει αὐτὰ, καὶ φύλακα τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολῶν ἑαυτὸν εἰπὼν, ἱκετεύει ῥυσθῆναι ἀπὸ ὑπερηφανίας, καὶ ἐπιλέγει· Ἐὰν μή μου κατακυριεύσωσι, τότε ἄμωμος ἔσομαι, καὶ τότε καθαρισθήσομαι ἀπὸ ἁμαρτίας μεγάλης. Τέως μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἰ καὶ φύλακα ἐμαυτὸν εἴρηκα τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ παραγγελμάτων, ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ οὐδέπω συνοῖδα ἐμαυτῷ κεκαθαρισμένῳ ἐκ τῶν κρυφίων μου, ἔτι δ' ἀγωνιῶ καὶ πεφρόντικα ὡς ἂν ῥυσθείην ἀπὸ ὑπερηφανίας, εἰκότως φημὶ, ἅτε μηδέπω τὸ τέλειον καθορθώσας. Τότε ἀκριβῶς γνώσομαι ἐμαυτὸν ἄμωμον, καὶ τότε ἀπὸ μεγάλης καθαρισθήσομαι ἁμαρτίας, ἐπειδὰν μήτε τὰ κρύφιά μου κατακυριεύσωσι, μήτε λογισμὸς ὑπερήφανος καταδουλώσει με, ἢ πονηροὶ δαίμονες. Μεγάλην δὲ ἁμαρτίαν τὴν ἀποτελεσματικήν φησιν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἀπὸ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθαρισθείην, ἐπιμένοντα 23.196 ταῦτα τὰ παραπτώματα εἰς πρᾶξιν φαύλην μεταφέρει, καὶ γίνομαι ὑπεύθυνος ἁμαρτίᾳ μεγάλῃ. Καὶ ἔσονται εἰς εὐδοκίαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ στόματός μου. Ὅταν ταῦτά μοι ὑπαρχθῇ παρὰ σοῦ, τὰ λόγια τοῦ στόματός μου ἃ προήνεγκα εὐχόμενός σοι, ὑμνῶν σε, εὐχαριστῶν σοι, εἰς εὐδοκίαν ἔσται. Εἰς εὐδοκίαν δέ ἐστιν τὰ λόγια τὰ ἀποδοχῆς ἄξια. Καὶ ἡ μελέτη τῆς καρδίας μου ἐνώπιόν σου ἐστὶ διὰ παντός. Ἡ μελέτη τοῦ διανοητικοῦ μου, γινομένη ἐν λογισμοῖς καὶ νοήσεσιν, ἐκτὸς οὖσα παντὸς μώμου, ἐνώπιόν σου τυγχάνει διὰ παντός. Τὸ μέντοι τῆς μελέτης ἄμεμπτον οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἢ ἐκ σοῦ ὑπῆρκται, καθαρίσαντός με ἀπὸ τῶν κρυφίων μου. Κύριε, βοηθέ μου καὶ λυτρωτά μου. Σοῦ βοηθοῦντος, ὦ δέσποτα, οὐδενὶ ὑποπίπτω τῶν πνευματικῶς προσπολεμούντων. Εἰ δὲ καὶ παρ' ἐμὴν ἀπροσεξίαν ἁλῶναι τοῖς ἐναντίοις συμβῇ, σύ με ἐκ τῶν κρατησάντων λυτροῦσαι, ἅμα βοηθὸς καὶ λυτρωτὴς εὑρισκόμενος. ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ, ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ΙΘʹ. Ἐπακούσαι σου Κύριος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως, ὑπερασπίσαι σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. Ἐξαποστείλαι σοι βοήθειαν ἐξ ἁγίου, καὶ ἐκ Σιὼν ἀντιλάβοιτό σου. Μνησθείη πάσης θυσίας σου, καὶ τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμά σου πιανάτω. ∆ιάψαλμα. Ἔστι μὲν τῷ ∆αυῒδ ἀνακείμενος ὁ ψαλμὸς, κατὰ τὴν προγραφήν. Ἐπίστησον δὲ μήποτε ὡς πρὸς τὴν ἱστορίαν εὐχή τις ἦν αὐτὴ συνεργὸς ταῖς τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἱκετηρίαις, δεομένου τε καὶ ἀντιβολοῦντος διὰ προσευχῆς τυχεῖν Θεοῦ Σωτῆρος πρὸς ἐχθροὺς καὶ πολεμίους παραταττομένου. Εἰκὸς γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ ταῦτα πράττοντι χορὸν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἢ καὶ θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν, αὐτῶν δὴ τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ λειτουργῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ προκείμενα πάντα συνεύχεσθαι αὐτῷ καὶ λέγειν· Ἐπακούσαι σου Κύριος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· τό τε δὲ, Καὶ παρασταίη σοι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. Ἀπαρκεῖ γὰρ αὐτὴ ἡ ἐπίκλησις καὶ ἡ προσηγορία πρὸς ἄμυναν παντὸς ἐναντίου. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐ μόνῳ τῷ ∆αυῒδ, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντὶ τῷ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἐκείνου τὰς δι' εὐχῶν ἀναπέμποντι τῷ Θεῷ νοερὰς καὶ καθαρὰς θυσίας, δυνάμεις ἁγίας, καὶ ἀγγέλων ἱερῶν χοροὺς, εἰκὸς ἂν εἴη συνεύχεσθαι καὶ ἐπεύχεσθαι. ∆ῴη σοι Κύριος κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν σου, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν βουλήν σου