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Of David, when he changed his taste before Abimelech. Since, therefore, he himself, having partaken of the loaves of the showbread, changed his taste, then from that taste he perceived divine power granted to him; for this reason, according to the saying: ‘I received without guile, I share without envy,’ he exhorts others also to hasten to a taste like his, and to pray to be nourished by the bread of life; of which the loaves of the showbread, established as law through Moses, were a symbol and image. Wherefore David, understanding of what the bread of the showbread was an image, urges not to hasten to the physical one, but to the one understood through it. We, therefore, who are on earth, partake of the bread that has come down from heaven and of the Word who emptied and humbled himself; but those in the kingdom of heaven partake of him in his fullness and perfection, being nourished by his divinity, and enjoying the contemplations of wisdom, in which it is fitting for us also to hope to share one day, wherefore it is said: Blessed is the man who hopes in him. Fear the Lord, all you his saints, for there is no want to those who fear him. All these things David utters sententiously for the benefit of others, having first enjoyed them himself, when, having sought the Lord, he found him listening to him. He exhorts, therefore, his saints to place the fear of the Lord before their eyes; for from this fear saints arise; wherefore it is said in another psalm: The fear of the Lord is pure, that is, purifying, Wherefore the divine law also says: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. And a sign of fearing the Lord would be this: to be clean from all filth and shameful deeds, and to keep themselves holy in both body and spirit. But for those who fear the Lord, and are sanctified through his fear, there will be need of nothing, as they have found a great wealth and a good treasure in the fear of the Lord itself. OF DAVID 34: Judge, O Lord, those who wrong me, fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and rise up to help me. Draw the sword, and stop the way against my 23.297 persecutors. Since in Ezekiel also many things are said about the sword; For, he says, Sword, sword, arise, and devour the blood of the wounded; and again: If a land sins against me, I will also send a sword upon it; and he lets all these things loose against the wickedness in men, being good, for the benefit of those overcome by it; since he also saves from wars, just as a physician, cutting and burning the affected parts of the body for the healing of the whole; to these he adds, saying in sequence: Say to my soul: I am your salvation; believing and being precisely convinced, that what is spoken by God does not proceed ineffectively, but what is spoken certainly comes to pass. And in this he was denying his own salvation, and was renouncing his own life, and was praying that the salvation of the Lord might be granted to his soul, so that he too might be able to say: It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. For he is our salvation; at least, the interpretation of the name of Jesus signifies this very thing. Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek my soul. For when this is done by you, Lord, he says, and you have heard my prayer, they will be ashamed and confounded as having attempted in vain; wherefore they also failed in what they were striving for. Let them be turned back and brought to confusion who devise evil for me. For they will no longer stand before my face; but giving their backs they will cede the victory to me. And as they flee and go backwards, a scattering will overtake them. For let them become as dust before the face

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Τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, ὅτε ἠλλοίωσε τὸ γεῦμα αὐτοῦ εἰς πρόσωπον Ἀβιμέλεχ. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν αὐτὸς, τῶν ἄρτων τῆς προθέσεως μεταλαβὼν, ἠλλοίωσε τὸ γεῦμα αὐτοῦ, εἶτ' ἀπὸ τῆς γεύσεως ᾔσθετο δυνάμεως θείας χορηγηθείσης αὐτῷ· τούτου χάριν κατὰ τό· Ἀδόλως ἔλαβον, ἀφθόνως μεταδίδομαι, παρακαλεῖ καὶ ἑτέρους σπεύδειν ἐπὶ τὴν ὁμοίαν αὐτῷ γεῦσιν, εὔξασθαί τε τραφῆναι τῷ ἄρτῳ τῆς ζωῆς· οὗ σύμβολον καὶ εἰκὼν ἐτύγχανον οἱ διὰ Μωϋσέως νενομοθετημένοι ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως. ∆ιόπερ ὁ ∆αυῒδ, νοήσας τίνος ἦν εἰκὼν ὁ τῆς προθέσεως ἄρτος, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸν σωματικὸν σπεύδειν προτρέπει, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸν δι' αὐτοῦ νοούμενον. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβεβηκότος τοῦ ἄρτου καὶ τοῦ Λόγου κενώσαντος ἑαυτὸν καὶ σμικρύναντος μεταλαμβάνομεν· οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν πλήρους αὐτοῦ καὶ τελείου μεταλαμβάνουσι, τρεφόμενοι αὐτοῦ τῇ θεότητι, καὶ τῶν τῆς σοφίας θεωρημάτων ἀπολαύοντες, ὧν καὶ ἡμᾶς καιρῷ ποτε μετασχεῖν ἐλπίζειν προσήκει, διὸ λέλεκται· Μακάριος ἀνὴρ ὃς ἐλπίζει ἐπ' αὐτόν. Φοβήθητε τὸν Κύριον, πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὑστέρημα τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτόν. Πάντα ταῦτα γνωμικῶς ὁ ∆αυῒδ εἰς τὴν ἑτέρων ὠφέλειαν προφέρεται, αὐτὸς πρότερον ἀπολαύσας αὐτῶν, ὅτε, ἐκζητήσας τὸν Κύριον, ἐπηκόου αὑτοῦ τετύχηκε. Παρακελεύεται τοίνυν τὸν φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τίθεσθαι τοὺς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ· ὑπὸ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ φόβου ἅγιοι ἀνατελοῦνται· διὸ λέλεκται ἐν ἑτέρῳ ψαλμῷ· Ὁ φόβος Κυρίου ἁγνὸς, ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἁγνοποιός, ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ θεῖος νόμος φησίν· Ἅγιοι ἔσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν ἅγιος. Καὶ σημεῖον τοῦ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν Κύριον τοῦτ' ἂν γένοιτο, τὸ καθαρεύειν μὲν πάσης ῥυπαρίας καὶ αἰσχρᾶς πράξεως, φυλάττειν δὲ αὑτοὺς ἁγίους καὶ σώματι καὶ πνεύματι. Τοῖς δὲ τὸν Κύριον φοβουμένοις, καὶ διὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ φόβον ἡγιασμένοις, οὐδὲν ἂν δεήσῃ ὡς ἂν μέγαν πλοῦτον καὶ θησαυρὸν ἀγαθὸν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ φόβῳ Κυρίου εὑρηκόσιν. ΤΟΥ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ Λ∆ʹ· ∆ίκασον, Κύριε, τοὺς ἀδικοῦντάς με, πολέμησον τοὺς πολεμοῦντάς με. Ἐπιλαβοῦ ὅπλου καὶ θυρεοῦ· καὶ ἀνάστηθι εἰς βοήθειάν μοι. Ἔκχεον ῥομφαίαν, καὶ σύγκλεισον ἐξεναντίας τῶν κατα 23.297 διωκόντων με. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ πολλὰ περὶ ῥομφαίας εἴρηται· Ῥομφαία γὰρ, φησὶ, ῥομφαία, ἐξεγέρθητι, καὶ φάγε αἷμα τραυματιῶν· καὶ πάλιν· Γῆ ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ μοι, καὶ ἀποστελῶ ῥομφαίαν ἐπ' αὐτήν· πάντα δὲ ταῦτα κατὰ τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις κακίας ἐπαφίησιν, ὡς ἀγαθὸς, πρὸς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ὑπ' αὐτῆς κεκρατημένων· ἐπεὶ καὶ πολέμων σώζει, ὥσπερ ἰατρὸς, τέμνων καὶ καίων τὰ πεπονθότα τοῦ σώματος πρὸς θεραπείαν παντός· τούτοις ἐπιφέρει λέγων ἑξῆς· Εἶπον τῇ ψυχῇ μου· Σωτηρία σου ἐγώ εἰμι· πιστεύων καὶ ἀκριβῶς πεπεισμένος, ὅτι τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἀργῶς πρόεισιν, ἀλλ' εἰς ἔργον ἐκβαίνει πάντως τὸ λεγόμενον. Καὶ ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τὴν μὲν ἑαυτοῦ ἠρνεῖτο σωτηρίαν, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρῃτεῖτο ζωὴν, τὴν δὲ τοῦ Κυρίου σωτηρίαν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ χαρισθῆναι ηὔχετο, ὅπως καὶ αὐτὸς ἔχοι λέγειν· Ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγὼ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῶν· τοῦτο γοῦν αὐτὸ σημαίνει καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὀνόματος ἑρμηνεία. Αἰσχυνθήτωσαν καὶ ἐντραπήτωσαν οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχήν μου. Τούτου γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριε, ὑπὸ σοῦ γενομένου, καὶ ἐπακούσαντός μου τῆς εὐχῆς, αἰσχυνθήσονται καὶ ἐντραπήσονται ὡς μάτην ἐπιχειρήσαντες· διὸ καὶ ἀπέτυχον τοῦ σπουδαζομένου. Ἀποστραφήτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καὶ καταισχυνθήτωσαν οἱ λογιζόμενοί μοι κακά. Οὐκέτι γὰρ στήσονται πρὸ προσώπου μου· νῶτα δὲ δόντες παραχωρήσουσί μοι τὰ νικητήρια. Φεύγοντας δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω χωροῦντας διασκορπισμὸς λήψεται. Γενηθήτωσαν γὰρ ὡσεὶ χοῦς κατὰ πρόσωπον