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it is worthy of note, how it begins with laments and dirges, when it ought to be joyful and cheerful over successes. For the voices of those celebrating are one thing, and those of the gloomy another. And victory songs are a cause of festival for all the people, not only for soldiers, but also for farmers, and merchants, and artisans, and all who share in the good things of peace. How then, "O God, you have cast us off, and you have destroyed us?" And yet he accepted the victors. And how has he destroyed those whom he so greatly exalted, adding to them weapons, and chariots, and horses, and subjects, and tributary land, all of Arabia, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia? It is worth considering whether the words have some ungratefulness. For he who had previously destroyed Hadadezer king of Zobah, and taken from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and again enslaved the king of Syria who was assisting the defeated one, and made him a tributary, and in the turn of a moment slaughtered twenty-two thousand of his men, and won a third victory, conquering the sons of Ammon who were arrayed for battle before the gate of the city through Joab the commander-in-chief, who, having divided his force in two, met some head-on, while he outflanked and subdued the others from the south; how, after such mighty deeds, does he utter such sad and downcast words, saying: "O God, you have cast us off, and you have destroyed us; you were angry, and you have had pity on us?" But the time of the inscription was this one of the successes; but the power of the things written has reference to the end; 29.464 and by "end" he means that which is to come to pass at the consummation of the ages. Therefore, he also says the psalm was written "for those who shall be changed." And it is possible to understand it simply concerning the entire race of men, as the benefit from the psalm passes to all. For we are being changed and will be changed, who preserve neither the same condition of body, nor are ever established in the same opinion, but are changed in body according to the changes of ages, and alter our thought according to the varieties of circumstances. For we are one thing as children, and another as youths, and different when grown to manhood, and having grown old we are again completely changed. And we are one way in the brighter circumstances of affairs; but we become different from what we were, experiencing a harsher fortune of times; some sick, and others well; some at weddings, and others in mourning. Or because it is not said, "to those who are being changed," but, "to those who shall be changed," and the utterance has the indication of prophecy, since the time is inclined toward the future, it is more consistent to understand "those who shall be changed" as those future ones who, having abandoned the vain custom of their fathers, regulate their way of life by the precision of the Gospel. Therefore, the psalm was not written for the Jews of that time, but for us who shall be changed, who exchange polytheism for piety, the error concerning idols for the knowledge of him who made us; for those who choose lawful soberness instead of unlawful pleasure; who partake of psalmody, and fasting, and prayer, instead of flutes, and dances, and drunkenness. So if someone says the psalm was written for us, he would not miss the truth. Therefore, the divine oracles are also ours, and are read aloud to the Church of God, as God-sent gifts, in each assembly, like a certain nourishment for souls supplied through the Spirit. But the psalm is also written for an inscription; that is, let the hearing of it not be a secondary matter; nor, just as things written on perishable material quickly meet their effacement, should you likewise, having engraved them in your mind for a little while in memory, then permit them to be confused and effaced; but have them inscribed on your soul; that is, immovable and fixed for all time, established in memory. And if the Jew pushes us aside as aliens to the writings, let us shame him from the writings themselves; showing that

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ἄξιον, πῶς ἀπὸ ὀδυρμῶν καὶ θρήνων ἄρχεται, δέον περιχαρῆ εἶναι καὶ εὔθυμον ἐπὶ τοῖς κατορθώ μασιν. Ἄλλαι γὰρ ἑορταζόντων φωναὶ, καὶ ἄλλαι σκυθρωπαζόντων. Ἐπινίκια δὲ ἑορτῆς ὑπόθεσις παν δήμου, οὐ στρατιώταις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γεωργοῖς, καὶ ἐμπόροις, καὶ χειροτέχναις, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς μετ έχουσι τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῆς εἰρήνης. Πῶς οὖν, Ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπώσω ἡμᾶς, καὶ καθεῖλες ἡμᾶς; Καὶ μὴν προσελάβετο τοὺς νενικηκότας. Πῶς δὲ καθεῖλεν οὓς τοσοῦτον ηὔξησε, προσθεὶς αὐτοῖς ὅπλα, καὶ ἅρματα, καὶ ἵππους, καὶ ὑπηκόους καὶ χώραν ὑπόφορον, τὴν Ἀραβίαν πᾶσαν, τὴν Φοινικὴν, τὴν Μέσην τῶν ποταμῶν; Ἄξιον ἐπιστῆσαι, μή τινα ἀχαριστίαν ἔχει τὰ ῥήματα. Ὁ γὰρ ἀνελὼν μὲν πρότερον τὸν Ἀδραζὰρ βασιλέα Σωβᾶ, λαβὼν δὲ παρ' αὐτοῦ χίλια ἅρμα τα, καὶ ἑπτὰ χιλιάδας ἱππέων, καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδας πεζῶν, πάλιν δὲ τὸν Συρίας βασιλέα ἐπιβοηθοῦντα τῷ ἐπταικότι δουλωσάμενος, καὶ ὑπόφορον καταστή σας, καὶ ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ εἴκοσι καὶ δύο χιλιά δας αὐτοῦ καταφονεύσας, καὶ τρίτην νίκην τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἀμμὼν νικήσας παραταξαμένους παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς πόλεως διὰ Ἰωὰβ τοῦ ἀρχιστρατήγου, ὃς διελὼν δίχα τὴν δύναμιν, τοῖς μὲν ἀπήντα κατὰ πρόσωπον, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ νότου περιελθὼν ἐχειρώ σατο· πῶς ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀνδραγαθήμασι στυγνὰ οὕτω καὶ κατηφῆ φθέγγεται, λέγων· Ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπ ώσω ἡμᾶς, καὶ καθεῖλες ἡμᾶς· ὠργίσθης, καὶ ᾠκτείρησας ἡμᾶς; Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν καιρὸς τῆς στηλο γραφίας οὗτος ἦν ὁ τῶν κατορθωμάτων· ἡ δὲ δύναμις τῶν γεγραμμένων εἰς τὸ τέλος ἔχει τὴν ἀναφοράν· 29.464 τέλος δὲ λέγει τὸ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων ἐκβήσε σθαι μέλλον. ∆ιὸ καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοιωθησομένοις γεγράφθαι φησὶ τὸν ψαλμόν. Ἔστι δὲ ἁπαξαπλῶς περὶ παντὸς τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων νοῆσαι, ὡς εἰς πάντας τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ διαβαινούσης ὠφελείας. Ἀλλοιούμε νοι γὰρ καὶ ἀλλοιωθησόμενοι οἱ μήτε τὴν τοῦ σώμα τος ἕξιν τὴν αὐτὴν διασώζοντες, μήτε ἐπὶ τῆς γνώ μης ἀεὶ τῆς αὐτῆς βεβηκότες, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν σῶμα κα τὰ τὰς τῶν ἡλικιῶν μεταβολὰς ἀλλοιούμενοι, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν πρὸς τὰς ποικιλίας τῶν συμπτωμάτων με τατιθέμενοι. Ἄλλοι μὲν γάρ ἐσμεν παῖδες, καὶ ἄλλοι ἔφηβοι, καὶ ἀνδρωθέντες ἕτεροι, καὶ ἀπογηράσαντες πάλιν παντελῶς ἀλλοιούμεθα. Καὶ ἄλλοι μὲν ἐν ταῖς φαιδροτέραις ἐσμὲν καταστάσεσι τῶν πραγμά των· ἄλλοι δὲ ἐξ ἄλλων γινόμεθα τραχυτέρᾳ συντυ χίᾳ καιρῶν κεχρημένοι· ἄλλοι νοσοῦντες, καὶ ἄλ λοι εὐπαθοῦντες· ἄλλοι ἐν γάμοις, καὶ ἄλλοι ἐν πένθεσιν. Ἢ διὰ τὸ μὴ εἰρῆσθαι, Τοῖς ἀλλοιουμέ νοις, ἀλλὰ, Τοῖς ἀλλοιωθησομένοις, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἔνδειξιν ἔχειν προφητείας, τῷ εἰς τὸ μέλλον ἐκ κεκλίσθαι τὸν χρόνον, ἀκολουθότερον ἐννοεῖν τοὺς ἀλ λοιωθησομένους τοὺς μέλλοντας, τὴν πρὸς τὰ μάταια τῶν πατέρων συνήθειαν ἀφέντας, τῇ κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἀκριβείᾳ κανονίζειν τὴν πολιτείαν. Οὐ τοίνυν τοῖς τότε Ἰουδαίοις ὁ ψαλμὸς γέγραπται, ἀλλ' ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀλλοιωθησομένοις, τοῖς τὴν πολυθεΐαν εἰς εὐσέβειαν διαμείβουσι, τὴν περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα πλά νην εἰς τὴν τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἡμᾶς ἐπίγνωσιν· τοῖς ἀντὶ ἡδονῆς παρανόμου σωφροσύνην ἔννομον αἱ ρουμένοις· ἀντὶ αὐλῶν, καὶ χορῶν, καὶ μέθης, ψαλ μὸν, καὶ νηστείαν, καὶ προσευχὴν μεταλαμβάνουσιν. Ἡμῖν οὖν γεγράφθαι τὸν ψαλμὸν εἰπών τις, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τῆς ἀληθείας. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἡμέτερά ἐστι τὰ θεῖα λόγια, καὶ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, ὡς θεό πεμπτα δῶρα, καθ' ἕκαστον σύλλογον ὑπαναγινώ σκεται, οἷόν τις τροφὴ ψυχῶν χορηγουμένη διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς στηλογραφίαν γέγραπται ὁ ψαλμός· τουτέστι, μὴ πάρεργος ἔστω αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀκρόασις· μηδὲ, ὥσπερ τὰ ἐν τῇ εὐφθάρτῳ ὕλῃ γρα φόμενα ταχὺν λαμβάνει τὸν ἀφανισμὸν, οὕτως ἐν τῇ σεαυτοῦ διανοίᾳ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐγχαράξας τῇ μνή μῃ, εἶτα συγχωρήσῃς αὐτὰ συγχυθῆναι καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι· ἀλλ' ἔχε ἐνεστηλιτευμένα σου τῇ ψυχῇ· τουτέστιν ἀκίνητα καὶ πάγια εἰς πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἐνιδρυμένα τῇ μνήμῃ. Ἐὰν δὲ παρωθῆται ἡμᾶς ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ὡς ἀλλοτρίους τῶν γεγραμμένων, ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων αὐτὸν δυσωπήσωμεν· δηλοῦντες τὸ