82

Give us help from affliction. Let us not seek help from strength; not from the well-being of the flesh; let us not deem it worthy to receive assistance from any of those things considered illustrious among men. Victory comes not through an abundance of money, not in the mass of power, not in the height of glory, but from excessive affliction the Lord bestows help on those who seek him. Such also was Paul, making afflictions his boast. For this reason he was able to say: When I am weak, then I am strong. Give us, therefore, Lord, help from affliction; since affliction produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope, and hope does not put to shame. Do you see where affliction leads you? To the hope that does not put to shame. Are you sick? Be of good cheer, because Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. 29.469 Are you poor? Rejoice, because the good things of Lazarus will succeed you. Are you dishonored for the name of Christ? Blessed are you, for your shame will be changed into the glory of an angel. Let us persuade ourselves, brothers, in time of trial, not to turn away to human hopes, nor to hunt for assistance from there for ourselves, but in tears and groans, and in diligent prayer, and in intense vigilance to make our supplications. For this one receives help from affliction, who despises human help as vain, and is supported by hope in him who is able to save us, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

ON THE 61ST PSALM.

For the end, for Idithun, a psalm of David. We have known two psalms having the inscription For Idithun; both the thirty-eighth and the one in hand. And we reckon the composition of the treatise to be by David; but that it was given to Idithun for his benefit, for the correction of the passions in his soul, and for a melody before the people; through which both God was glorified, and those who heard the harmony had their morals corrected. For Idithun was also a sacred singer, as the history of the Chronicles testifies to us, saying: And with them Heman and Idithun, with trumpets and cymbals for making a sound, and instruments for the songs of God. And after a little it says: And David the king and the commanders of the army set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Idithun, who should prophesy with lyres, and with harps, and with cymbals. Each psalm, therefore, makes its greatest discourse concerning endurance, through which the wrathful part of the soul is suppressed, and when all pride is banished, humility is achieved. For it is impossible for the one who has not accepted the inferior and last place before all to ever be able either to control his anger when reviled, or when afflicted to overcome temptations through long-suffering. For he who has achieved extreme humility, having first recognized his own greater worthlessness in the midst of revilings, will not be moved in soul by words of dishonor; but if he hears he is poor, he knows himself to be a beggar, and in need of all things, and requiring the daily provision from the Lord; and if he hears he is baseborn and from obscure origins, 29.472 he has it preconceived in his own heart that he was made from clay. For this reason there he says, I said, I will guard my ways, and he recounts the attack of the sinner, and his own long-suffering; For when the sinner stood against me, he says, I was mute and was humbled, and kept silent from good things; then going on he says: Surely all things are vanity, every man living; then, He heaps up treasures, and does not know for whom he will gather them. But in the present psalm, he begins in a state of perplexity, as if conversing with his own soul, as in consequence of the things said before. For lest the soul by the mind of the flesh

82

∆ὸς ἡμῖν βοήθειαν ἐκ θλίψεως. Μὴ ἀπὸ ἰσχύος ζητήσωμεν τὴν βοήθειαν· μὴ ἀπὸ εὐπα θείας σαρκός· ἀπὸ μηδενὸς τῶν παρὰ ἀνθρώ ποις νενομισμένων περιφανῶν ἀξιώσωμεν τυχεῖν τῆς ἀντιλήψεως. Οὐκ ἐν περιβολῇ χρημάτων, οὐκ ἐν δυνάμεως ὄγκῳ, οὐκ ἐν ὑψώματι δόξης τὸ κρατεῖν περιγίνεται, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς καθ' ὑπερβολὴν θλίψεως χαρίζεται Κύριος τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν τὴν βοήθειαν. Τοιοῦτος ἦν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, καυχήματα ἑαυτοῦ τὰς θλίψεις ποιούμενος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἠδύνατο λέγειν· Ὅταν ἀσθενῶ, τότε δυνατός εἰμι. ∆ὸς οὖν ἡμῖν, Κύριε, βοήθειαν ἐκ θλίψεως· ἐπειδὴ ἡ θλίψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμὴν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλ πίδα, ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει. Ὁρᾷς ποῦ ἀνάγει σε ἡ θλίψις; Εἰς τὴν ἀκαταίσχυντον ἐλπίδα. Νοσεῖς; εὐθύμει, ὅτι Ὃν ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος, παιδεύει. Πτω 29.469 χεύεις; εὐφραίνου, ὅτι Λαζάρου σε τὰ ἀγαθὰ διαδέξεται. Ἀτιμάζῃ διὰ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Μακάριος εἶ, ὅτι σου ἡ αἰσχύνη εἰς ἀγγέλου δό ξαν μεταβληθήσεται. Πείσωμεν ἑαυτοὺς, ἀδελφοὶ, ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ, μὴ πρὸς ἀνθρωπίνας ἐλπίδας ἀπο τρέχειν, μηδὲ ἐκεῖθεν ἑαυτοῖς τὰς βοηθείας θηρᾶσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐν δάκρυσι καὶ στεναγμοῖς, καὶ φιλοπόνῳ προσ ευχῇ, καὶ ἀγρυπνίᾳ εὐτόνῳ τὰς δεήσεις ποιεῖσθαι. Οὗτος γὰρ λαμβάνει βοήθειαν ἐκ θλίψεως, ὁ τῆς ἀν θρωπίνης βοηθείας ὡς ματαίας καταφρονῶν, καὶ τῇ ἐπὶ τὸν σώζειν δυνάμενον ἡμᾶς ἐλπίδι στηριζόμενος, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΞΑʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ.

Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ Ἰδιθοὺμ, ψαλμὸς τῷ ∆αβίδ. ∆ύο ψαλμοὺς ἔγνωμεν Ὑπὲρ

Ἰδιθοὺμ ἔχοντας τὴν ἐπιγραφήν· τόν τε τριακοστὸν ὄγδοον καὶ τὸν ἐν χερσί. Καὶ λογιζόμεθα μὲν ∆αβὶδ εἶναι τὴν σύνταξιν τῆς πραγματείας· τῷ μέντοι Ἰδι θοὺμ δεδόσθαι εἰς ὠφέλειαν αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ διορθώσει τῶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ παθημάτων, καὶ εἰς μελῳδίαν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ· δι' ἧς καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐδοξάζετο, καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες τῆς ἁρμονίας ἐπανωρθοῦντο τὰ ἤθη. Ἦν γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἰδιθοὺμ ἱεροψάλτης, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ ἡμῖν ἡ ἱστορία τῶν Παραλειπομένων, λέγουσα· Καὶ μετ' αὐ τῶν Αἰμὰν καὶ Ἰδιθοὺμ, σάλπιγγές τε καὶ κύμβαλα τοῦ ἀναφωνεῖν, καὶ ὄργανα τῶν ᾠδῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα φησί· Καὶ ἔστησε ∆αβὶδ ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς τὰ ἔργα τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἀσὰφ, καὶ Αἰμὰν, καὶ Ἰδιθοὺμ, τοὺς ἀποφθεγγομένους ἐν κινύραις, καὶ ἐν νάβλαις, καὶ ἐν τυμπάνοις. Περὶ ὑπομονῆς τοί νυν ἑκάτερος ψαλμὸς τὴν πλείστην ποιεῖται πρα γματείαν, δι' ἧς καταστέλλεται μὲν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ θυμούμενον, ὑπερηφανίας δὲ πάσης ἐξορισθείσης, κατορθοῦται ταπείνωσις. Ἀμήχανον γὰρ τὸν μὴ κα ταδεξάμενον τὸ πρὸς πάντας ὑποδεὲς καὶ ἔσχατον δυνηθῆναί ποτε ἢ λοιδορούμενον θυμοῦ κρατῆσαι, ἢ θλιβόμενον διὰ μακροθυμίας περιγενέσθαι τῶν πει ρασμῶν. Ὁ γὰρ τὴν ἄκραν ταπείνωσιν κατορθώ σας, ἐν μὲν ταῖς λοιδορίαις πλείονα ἑαυτοῦ προκατα γνοὺς τὴν εὐτέλειαν, οὐ κινηθήσεται τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ τῶν ῥημάτων τῆς ἀτιμίας· ἀλλ' ἐὰν μὲν ἀκούσῃ πένης, οἶδεν ἑαυτὸν πτωχὸν ὄντα, καὶ πάντων ἐνδεῆ, καὶ τῆς καθ' ἡμέραν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου χορηγίας ἐπι δεόμενον· ἐὰν δὲ ἀκούσῃ δυσγενὴς καὶ ἐξ ἀφανῶν, 29.472 προειλημμένον ἔχει ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καρδίᾳ τὸ ἐκ πηλοῦ γεγενῆσθαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐκεῖ μέν φησιν, Εἶπα, Φυλάξω τὰς ὁδούς μου, καὶ διηγεῖται τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ τὴν ἐπισύστασιν, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν μακροθυμίαν· Ἐν τῷ συστῆναι γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἐναντίον μου, ἐκωφώθην καὶ ἐταπεινώθην, καὶ ἐσίγησα ἐξ ἀγα θῶν· εἶτα προϊὼν λέγει· Πλὴν τὰ σύμπαντα μα ταιότης, πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν· εἶτα, Θησαυρίζει, καὶ οὐ γινώσκει τίνι συνάξει αὐτά. Ἐν δὲ τῷ προκειμένῳ ψαλμῷ ἄρχεται διαπορητικῶς, οἱονεὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ διαλεγόμενος, ὡς ἐξ ἀκολουθίας τῶν προειρημένων. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ τῷ φρονήματι τῆς σαρκὸς ἡ ψυχὴ