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we shall be magnified, and may the Lord fulfill all your requests.” 4.16.14 In all these things we are taught to say, “now I know that the Lord has saved his anointed,” not having known this long ago, except when we formerly understood his salvation, having comprehended the power of his resurrection. Psalm 27. “The Lord is the strength of the people and is the defender of the salvation of his anointed.” 4.16.15 And the psalm at hand refers to Christ, containing a prayer of Christ himself, which he prayed at the time of his passion. Therefore, at the beginning of the psalm he says: “To you, Lord, I have cried; my God, do not be silent from me, lest I become like those who go down into the pit.” 4.16.16 And toward the end it proclaims his resurrection from the dead, saying: “Blessed is the Lord, for he has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my helper and my defender; in him my heart has hoped, and I was helped, and my flesh has revived; and by my will I will confess to him.” To which the divine and prophetic spirit adds: “The Lord is the strength of his people, and is the defender of the salvation of his anointed,” 4.16.17 teaching us that indeed all the wonders of Christ recorded in the divine scriptures, which occurred for the salvation of humanity, whether now called teachings or writings or mysteries concerning his resurrection from the dead, have come about by the will and power of the Father, who in all the wondrous and saving words and deeds defended his own Christ. 4.16.18 Psalm 83. “Behold, O God our defender, and look upon the face of your anointed. For one day in your courts is better than thousands. I have chosen to be cast aside in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners.” 4.16.19 Those who know that Christ is the Word of God and wisdom and true light and life, since, having understood his incarnation, they were astonished at the paradox of his will, so that they proclaimed: “And we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty, but his form was without honor, and lacking compared to the sons of men; a man in suffering, and knowing how to bear weakness, because his face was turned away, he was dishonored,” 4.16.20 rightly they beseech God to look upon the face of Christ, which was dishonored and insulted for our sake, and to be merciful to us on his account, since “he has taken up our sins and suffers for us.” And they entreat these things, almost yearning and holding in prayer to see the face of the glory of Christ and to behold the day of his light; and this was the day of his resurrection from the dead, which, being one and only, as truly the Lord's and the Lord's day, they say is better than countless commonly understood days, or than those legislated by Moses in feasts and new moons and sabbaths, which the divine apostle teaches are a shadow of days but not days themselves. And this one Lord's day of our Savior alone is said to give light not in every place but only in the courts of the Lord. 4.16.21 These would be the churches of Christ throughout the whole world, being courts of the one house of God, in which one who knows such things loves and chooses “to be cast aside,” declaring the time spent in them to be far better than that in the “tents” of “sinners;” if not... the synagogues of the Jews, who deny the Christ of God, or even those of the godless heretics and of the other unbelieving nations, than which every one who chooses the churches of Christ declares them to be much better. Psalm 88. “But you have rejected and despised, you have cast off your anointed; you have overthrown the covenant of your servant, you have profaned his sanctuary to the ground” and what follows. To which he adds: “Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants, which I have held in my bosom from many nations, with which the... reproached

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μεγαλυνθησόμεθα, καὶ πληρώσαι κύριος πάντα τὰ αἰτήματά σου». 4.16.14 ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις διδασκόμεθα λέγειν τὸ «νῦν ἔγνων ὅτι ἔσωσεν κύριος τὸν χριστὸν αὐτοῦ», μὴ πάλαι τοῦτο εἰδότες, εἰ μὴ ὅτε πρότερον τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῦ συνήκαμεν, τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν κατανοήσαντες. Ψαλμοῦ κζʹ. «Κύριος κραταίωμα τοῦ λαοῦ ἐστιν καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς τῶν σωτηρίων τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.» 4.16.15 Καὶ ὁ μετὰ χεῖρας ψαλμὸς εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀναφέρεται, αὐτοῦ δὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περιέχων εὐχήν, ἣν παρὰ τὸν τοῦ πάθους προσηύξατο καιρόν. διὸ ἐν μὲν τῇ καταρχῇ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ φησιν· «πρὸς σέ, κύριε, ἐκέκραξα· ὁ θεός μου, μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ ὁμοιωθήσομαι τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν εἰς λάκκον». 4.16.16 πρὸς δὲ τῷ τέλει τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ θεσπίζει λέγων· «εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὅτι εἰσήκουσεν τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου. κύριος βοηθός μου καὶ ὑπερασπιστής μου· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἤλπισεν ἡ καρδία μου, καὶ ἐβοηθήθην, καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ σάρξ μου· καὶ ἐκ θελήματός μου ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ». ἐφ' οἷς τὸ θεῖον καὶ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα ἐπιλέγει· «κύριος κραταίωμα τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς τῶν σωτηρίων τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν», 4.16.17 παιδεῦον ἡμᾶς, ὅτι δὴ πάντα τὰ ἐν ταῖς θείαις γρα φαῖς ἀνάγραπτα τοῦ Χριστοῦ θαυμάσια, ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γενόμενα, εἴτε οὖν μαθήματα εἴτε γράμματα εἴτε κατὰ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ μυστήρια νῦν ὀνομαζόμενα, νεύματι καὶ δυνάμει γεγένηται τοῦ πατρός, ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς παραδόξοις καὶ σωτηρίοις λόγοις τε καὶ ἔργοις ὑπερασπίζοντος τοῦ ἰδίου Χριστοῦ. 4.16.18 Ψαλμοῦ πγʹ. «Ὑπερασπιστὰ ἡμῶν ἴδε ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἐπίβλεψον ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ χριστοῦ σου. ὅτι κρεῖσσον ἡμέρα μία ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς σου ὑπὲρ χιλιάδας. ἐξελεξάμην παραρριπτεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ μου μᾶλλον ἢ οἰκεῖν με ἐν σκηνώμασιν ἁμαρτωλῶν.» 4.16.19 Οἱ ἐπιστάμενοι τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὄντα λόγον καὶ σοφίαν καὶ φῶς ἀληθινὸν καὶ ζωήν, ἐπεὶ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν αὐτοῦ συννοήσαντες, κατεπλάγησαν τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ θελήματος, ὥστε ἀνειπεῖν· «καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλ' ἦν τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὤν, καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ἠτιμάσθη», 4.16.20 εἰκότως παρακαλοῦσι τὸν θεὸν ἐπιβλέψαι εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ δι' ἡμᾶς ἠτιμωμένον καὶ καθυβρισμένον, ἵλεώ τε ἡμῖν γενέσθαι δι' αὐτόν, ἐπεὶ «τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἀνείληφεν καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται». ταῦτα δ' ἱκετεύουσι, μονονουχὶ ποθοῦντες καὶ ἐν εὐχῇ τιθέμενοι τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς δόξης ἰδεῖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτοῦ θεάσασθαι· αὕτη δὲ ἦν ἡ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ, ἥντινα, μίαν οὖσαν καὶ μόνην ὡς ἀληθῶς κυρίαν οὖσαν καὶ κυριακήν, κρείττονα εἶναί φασιν μυρίων ὅσων τῶν κοινοτέρως νοουμένων ἡμερῶν, ἢ τῶν παρὰ Μωσεῖ νενομοθετημένων ἐν ἑορταῖς καὶ νουμηνίαις καὶ σαββάτοις, ἃς σκιὰν εἶναι ἡμερῶν ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡμέρας ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος διδάσκει. μόνη δὲ αὕτη ἡ μία κυριακὴ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἡμέρα οὐκ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ φωτίζειν ἀλλ' ἐν μόναις ταῖς αὐλαῖς τοῦ κυρίου λέλεκται. 4.16.21 εἶεν δ' ἂν αὗται αἱ κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκκλησίαι, ἑνὸς οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ τυγχάνουσαι αὐλαί, ἐν αἷς ἀγαπᾷ καὶ αἱρεῖται «παραρριπτεῖσθαι» ὁ τὰ τοιαῦτα εἰδώς, παρὰ πολὺ κρείττονα τὴν ἐν ταύταις διατριβὴν ἀποφηνάμενος τῆς ἐν τοῖς «σκηνώμασιν» τῶν «ἁμαρτωλῶν»· εἰ μὴ ... τὰς τῶν Ἰουδαίων συναγωγάς, τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀρνουμένας, ἢ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀθέων ἑτεροδόξων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπίστων ἐθνῶν, ὧν πολὺ βελτίους εἶναι τὰς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ πᾶς ὁ ταύτας αἱρούμενος ἀποφαίνεται. Ψαλμοῦ πηʹ. «Σὺ δὲ ἀπώσω καὶ ἐξουδένωσας, ἀνεβάλου τὸν χριστόν σου· κατέστρεψας τὴν διαθήκην τοῦ δούλου σου, ἐβεβήλωσας εἰς τὴν γῆν τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. οἷς ἐπιλέγει· «μνήσθητι, κύριε, τοῦ ὀνειδισμοῦ τῶν δούλων σου, οὗ ὑπέσχον ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ μου πολλῶν ἐθνῶν, οὗ ὠνείδισαν οἱ