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I endured all things, having set you forth as my hope. To all these things he adds: Redeem, O God, Israel from all his afflictions; that is, he, confessing, calls himself Israel because of his aforementioned achievements; for such is the Israel according to the soul. Or otherwise, being taught not to guard himself only, nor to be zealous for himself alone, and to beseech God for himself alone; but after succeeding and arranging his own affairs well, he sends up supplications on behalf of all the people of God; and he supplicates that just as he deemed himself worthy above to be delivered from his own afflictions, so also all the people of God, called Israel in spirit. A PSALM OF DAVID. 25. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence, and trusting in the Lord I shall not be shaken. One might say, referring the preceding words specifically to David, that he is making an intercession to God concerning his own life. For the holy Apostle said: First of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made; and having divided the aforementioned into four types, it is fitting for us to turn our minds to the meaning of what is contained in the book of Psalms, noting which of them contain supplications, and which prayers, and which intercessions, and above all which thanksgivings; and how one differs from the other, and to collect from the entire book of Psalms the specific characteristics of what has been said; for example, supplications from those containing entreaties, and petitions, in which also confessions are found; such as is the twenty-fourth psalm, which is neither an ode, nor a psalm, nor a hymn, nor anything of the sort; but simply inscribed "Of David." But prayers are as many as are inscribed as prayers in the superscription; such as the sixteenth, and the eighty-fifth, and the eighty-ninth, and the one hundred and first, and the one hundred and forty-first. And thanksgivings are those that are similar to the one hundred and second, in which it is said: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his rewards, and so forth. 23.233 And the one at hand contains an intercession, in which it is written: Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence, and so forth. You will say, then, since David truly began, that as the men beloved of God had certain special advantages in the achievements of their own lives, in which each of them became particularly distinguished; for example, Joseph in self-control, Job in endurance of terrible things, Solomon in wisdom and prudence; Abraham is said to have been justified by faith; and another again has been testified to have shone in another contest of virtue. In like manner to these, then, David also is recorded as having acquired a special virtue, forbearance; because of which he also bore with Saul, who had done countless things against him, which he is recorded to have endured gently and with forbearance. Since, therefore, this was the special virtue of David, I mean that of gentleness and humility and forbearance, having encompassed all these together he called them innocence; and as having been especially successful in this part, in his intercession to God he says: Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence. But since he declared a great thing about himself, as if boasting in his own special achievement of innocence or simplicity, he takes himself to task and necessarily adds next: And trusting in the Lord I shall not be weak. Necessarily, therefore, he intertwined himself with hope in the Lord, and accuses himself, as being able to be shaken and to be turned aside and to grow weak. But nothing

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πάντα ὑπέφερον, σὲ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ἐλπίδα προβεβλημένος. Τούτοις ἅπασιν ἐπιλέγει· Λύτρωσαι, ὁ Θεὸς, τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν θλίψεων αὐτοῦ· ἤτοι αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐξομολογούμενος Ἰσραὴλ ὀνομάζων διὰ τὰ προλεχθέντα αὐτοῦ κατορθώματα· τοιοῦτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ κατὰ ψυχὴν Ἰσραήλ. Ἢ ἄλλως, διδασκόμενος μὴ ἑαυτὸν μόνον φυλάττειν, μηδὲ αὐτῷ μόνῳ σπουδάζειν, καὶ περὶ μόνου ἑαυτοῦ τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύειν· μετὰ δὲ τὸ κατορθῶσαι καὶ εὖ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν διαθέσθαι, ὑπὲρ τοῦ παντὸς λαοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς παρακλήσεις ἀναπέμπει· ἱκετεύει τε, ἵν' ὥσπερ ἀνωτέρω ἑαυτὸν ἠξίου ῥυσθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ θλίψεων, οὕτω καὶ πάντα τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λαὸν κατὰ διάνοιαν Ἰσραὴλ ὀνομαζόμενον. ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ΚΕʹ. Κρῖνόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐλπίζων οὐ μὴ σαλευθῶ. Ἰδίως ἄν τις ἐπὶ τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἀναφέρων τοὺς προκειμένους λόγους, εἴποι ἂν ἐντυχίαν αὐτὸν ποιεῖσθαι πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου βίου. Τοῦ γὰρ ἱεροῦ Ἀποστόλου φήσαντος· Πρῶτον πάντων δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις, προσευχὰς, ἐντεύξεις, εὐχαριστίας· καὶ διελόντος τὰ προλεχθέντα εἰς εἴδη τέσσαρα, ἡμᾶς προσήκει τὴν διάνοιαν τοῖς ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν Ψαλμῶν ἐμφερομένοις ἐφιστᾷν τὸν νοῦν, ἐπισημαινομένους τίνες μὲν αὐτῶν περιέχουσι δεήσεις, καὶ τίνες προσευχὰς, καὶ τίνες ἐντεύξεις, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τίνες εὐχαριστίας· τί τε διαφέρει θάτερον θατέρου, ἀναλέγεσθαί τε ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς βίβλου τῶν Ψαλμῶν τὰ ἰδιώματα τῶν εἰρημένων· οἷον τὰς μὲν δεήσεις ἀπὸ τῶν περιεχόντων παρακλήσεις, καὶ ἱκετηρίας, ἐν αἷς δὲ καὶ ἐξομολογήσεις φέρονται· ὁποῖός ἐστιν ὁ εἰκοστὸς τέταρτος ψαλμὸς, οὔτε ᾠδὴ, οὔτε ψαλμὸς, οὔτε ὕμνος, οὔτε τι τοιοῦτον· ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς τῷ ∆αυῒδ ἐπιγεγραμμένος. Προσευχαὶ δέ εἰσιν, ὅσοι ἐν τῇ προγραφῇ προσευχῶν ἐπιγράφουσιν· οἷον ὁ ἓξ καὶ δέκατος, καὶ ὁ ὀγδοηκοστὸς πέμπτος, καὶ ὀγδοηκοστὸς ἔννατος, καὶ ἑκατοστὸς πρῶτος, καὶ ἑκατοστὸς τεσσαρακοστὸς πρῶτος. Εὐχαριστίαι δέ εἰσιν οἱ ὁμοίως ἔχοντες τῷ ἑκατοστῷ δευτέρῳ, ἐν ᾧ εἴρηται· Εὐλόγει, ἡ ψυχή μου, τὸν Κύριον, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλανθάνου πάσας τὰς ἀνταποδόσεις αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 23.233 Ἔντευξιν δὲ περιέχει ὁ μετὰ χεῖρας, ἐν ᾧ γέγραπται· Κρῖνόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἐρεῖς οὖν, ἐπειδὴ ὄντως ἤρξατο ὁ ∆αυῒδ, ὡς οἱ θεοφιλεῖς ἄνδρες ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν τοῦ βίου κατορθώμασιν εἶχόν τινα πλεονεκτήματα ἐξαίρετα, ἐν οἷς ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ἰδίως διαπρεπὴς γέγονεν· οἶον ὡς ἐπὶ παραδείγματος, Ἰωσὴφ ἐν σωφροσύνῃ, Ἰὼβ τῇ τῶν δεινῶν ὑπομονῇ, Σολομὼν ἐν σοφίᾳ καὶ φρονήσει· Ἀβραὰμ διὰ τῆς πίστεως δεδικαιῶσθαι λέγεται· καὶ ἄλλος πάλιν ἐν ἄλλῳ ἀρετῆς ἀγῶνι μεμαρτύρηται διαλάμψας. Τούτοις οὖν ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐξαίρετον ἀρετὴν κτησάμενος ἀναγέγραπται τὴν ἀνεξικακίαν· δι' ἣν καὶ τὸν Σαοὺλ ἤνεγκε, μυρία κατ' αὐτοῦ δεδρακότα, ἅπερ πράως καὶ ἀνεξικάκως ὑπομείνας ἀναγέγραπται. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἐξαίρετος ἦν αὕτη τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἀρετὴ, λέγω δὲ ἡ τῆς πραότητος καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ ἀνεξικακίας, ταῦτα πάντα ὁμοῦ περιλαβὼν ἀκακίαν αὐτὰ ὠνόμασε· καὶ ὡς ἐν τούτῳ μάλιστα τῷ μέρει κατορθώσας, ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐντεύξει φησί· Κρῖνόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην. Ἐπεὶ δὲ μέγα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπεφήνατο, ὥσπερ ἐγκαυχησάμενος τῷ ἐξαιρέτῳ ἑαυτοῦ κατορθώματι τῆς ἀκακίας ἢ τῆς ἁπλότητος, ἐπιλαμβάνεται αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἐπιλέγει ἀναγκαίως ἑξῆς· Καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐλπίζων οὐ μὴ ἀσθενήσω. Ἀναγκαίως οὖν συνέπλεξεν ἑαυτὸν τῇ ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον ἐλπίδι, καὶ ἑαυτοῦ κατηγορεῖ, ὡς δυναμένου σαλευθῆναι καὶ ἐκτραπῆναι καὶ ἐξασθενῆσαι. Πλὴν οὐδὲν