Fragments on Psalms 1-150 1.1,2 Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has

 are not deemed worthy of the judgment of resurrection, just as sinners are not of the council of the righteous. For the way of the righteous, being wo

 they have. 3.4 But you, O Lord, are my helper, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. The mind is exalted then, when it applies itself to the man

 The Lord has made his holy one wonderful. Know therefore, you who trust in multitudes, that he has shown to be wonderful the one who trusts in him. -D

 a soul that acts for God, they provoke God, clearly fighting against God. - Cast them out from impiety, having made them pious. - It is a blessing to

 mentions, on account of the many altars throughout the whole earth established through Christ in his churches. Therefore also in the 83rd psalm, it to

 is named among the nations. - His name, therefore, has been blotted out forever. For every rite has been extinguished of men now and of those who are

 a footstool for his feet. For his kingdom is the contemplation of all ages that have been and that will be through which contemplation even enemies b

 from me? Of the same. Teaching, that [forgetfulness] has fallen away from the memory of God at some time (for God makes a forgetting of those who are

 to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 17.9 Smoke went up in his wrath, and fire from his presence devoured, coals were kindled from

 in this way He is shown to be the master of the elements, so as even to bring on night in the middle of the day. 18.6 He set His tabernacle in the sun

 and these on horses. Understand also horses as the leapings of the passions, on [which] the demons ride and chariots as the conspiracy of the impetuo

 The Lord restores the soul, and re-establishes it after shepherding it, and makes it dwell in a place of green pasture then having restored it, he le

 Amalek. And: Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. And: The lifting up of my hands, an evening sacrifice. I would say, then, that our hand

 to consider as the author of creation therefore let these be punished. 27.6,7 Blessed is the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication.

 his saints, because the Lord seeks out truth, and repays those who act with exceeding pride. Be of good courage, and let your heart be strengthened, a

 to use metaphors, as here. Of pride, not being a footed animal, but a state, he has named a foot what he prays for, therefore, is this: may I not bec

 should he be so disposed, he says, the just and good one, that is, God, will not cease to pity him, and to give the things from himself, so that it mi

 saying that he feared the justice he was about to flee, through the words and the frequent misfortunes, which he called hands. 37.4 There is no healin

 my. Those who are not aware of their own sins cannot say these things for some even boast and take pleasure in their own faults, as if carrying them

 of the dragon Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his power is upon the navel of his belly. For the strength of the dia bol is especially a

 This he says: for if I had not hoped in you, I would have defended myself. But now I know this: Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to

 I was dumb and was humbled, and kept silence from good things, and my pain was renewed. - My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire wil

 such by Satan. And you have melted away his soul like a spider's web. But the sinning soul grows thick for such is the nature of sin wherefore it is

 in the contemplation of the things that have happened. Another. First, God leads someone up from a pit of misery second, he sets his feet upon a rock

 we say, the repenting people asks of God why he has forsaken him thus afflicted and sorrowful. -But the Where, spoken of God, which is significant o

 with intelligible sweet odors the daughters of kings have delighted you, that is, at the time when it was necessary for you to be honored by them. For

 discourse, and the daughter, he says, of Tyre will come with gifts, and the rich of the people will entreat your face with gifts, for they do not wors

 minding earthly things, and clinging to the desires of the flesh. Then the sons of men, those who exercise some care and practice of reason for the r

 they did not do, nor was deceit found in their mouth it is likely they have sinned in the final and the last and the very small things, which have be

 from you, and do not take your holy Spirit from me. He prays not to be deprived of divine care (for this he here called face), nor to be stripped of t

 they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they were angry with me. He confesses here, teaching us to confess, as having taken on our person. - Being la

 Likewise: Do not be anxious about what you shall eat or what you shall drink. Depend for your own needs on that providence for thus you will remain u

 he was deemed worthy of the honor of the sons. Who then will return in the evening, and will be hungry as dogs, and will go around the city, but the m

 of the prophecy, for since the Jews themselves did not work his death at the time of the Savior's passion, but this was done by a Roman hand while Pi

 will trace out? 60.9 So will I sing praise to your name for ever and ever, that I may daily perform my vows. He who promises and does not perform his

 to be able for us to succeed without the shelter from the so-called wings of God, that is, of His virtues for by these God is exalted, and raised up,

 the doctrines, or the ordinances and canons handed down by the apostles. And in this, virtue is wonderfully accomplished, called righteousness, that i

 the salvation of all nations. The prophet, having seen with the eyes of the spirit the coming salvation for all men through the divine epiphany, suppl

 that the exultation is worthy in the eyes of God, being not worldly, but a fruit of the Spirit. 67.5 Sing to God, sing psalms to his name, make a way

 likewise those who provoke, those dwelling in tombs. The place of God is a pure soul wherefore it adds, God makes the solitary to dwell, those who ha

 the place of hades, which in the present things he also names matter of the deep and depth of the sea. 68.13 Those who sit in the gate were talking id

 being honored. 69.5,6 And let them say continually: Let God be magnified, you who love your salvation. But I am poor and needy ... And you are my deli

 they say, he says also in deed: Let them not attack do not delay to grant again your aid. 70.14 But I will hope continually. It is possible indeed to

 henceforth, but to be overturned and to be dragged down into a slip. And he adds the reason, saying: 72.3,4 Because I was envious of the lawless, when

 72.23 And I am always with you. One is said to be with God, first, he who knows the Holy Trinity, and after him, he who contemplates the principles co

 I consider, whether perhaps the hand [does things] against the enemies of the people but the right hand, the good things for the people, for instance

 the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father to which those here who have won the good fight will attain incorruptible life, or concerni

 ria, I, he says, will judge you and the Babylonians and the Assyrians. 74.4 The earth melted, and all who dwell in it. But let Jesus also testify to u

 and all to be according to God. And we, therefore, if we do not pray to him with our whole soul devoted, but pray only for the occasion, we will cry o

 it was fitting for him to say: The words of my mouth. For he did not utter his own words, but the words from the Spirit. Therefore, the one speaking i

 is to hear and to know, or only for those who understand the words but not even to all did the fathers by nature relate, but to some, and those accor

 and those who sever the Godhead did not wish to walk in the spiritual law of the creator. -Tanis is called a commandment from judgment, or a humble co

 to the streams. He who causes the divine stream to spring forth for the thirsty, and pours out the water from his side, when the iron opened this vein

 of thought nor as fire be kindled from the fiery darts of the enemy but may the windows of heaven open for us, the expansions of intelligible and sp

 the ark for one hundred years. What else, then, does he want through the one hundred years of the construction of the ark, than to turn men back, so t

 pure and clear is the spring of faith, which they draw through the divine teaching but for those who are Egyptianized by their wicked assumption, the

 firstborn to the devil is the one first born to him in a dogma foreign to salvation, for instance the Marcionites are not firstborn, but Marcion is. A

 to the same place, honoring the day of the resurrection of our Lord, so that the bone of Christ may be gathered to bone, and joint, and veins, and sin

 These things to the unworthy, because they do not ask as worthy but as if God ought to follow Himself, they add: for the glory of Your name, when we

 the time to come. -You will make us alive, no one can make us alive, unless he has said: I am the life for when this firstfruit is taken from us, all

 - He heard His [God's] tongue, the voice that came on Mount Sinai, who, having never enjoyed a divine voice, spoke these words while receiving the law

 to be judged. For he judges them, just as a king on a joyful day, rewarding each one with the honor of their ranks. Who is worthy to rise in the resur

 to become a rest, as all wheels, he says, are brought by and rolled for the wheel touches the earth. 82.19 And let them know that your name is Lord.

 The Lord loves mercy and truth God will give grace and glory. Mercy and truth, instead of: the Lord loves the merciful and truthful one. For it is cu

 it is necessary to be unceasing in prayer. He lifts his own soul to the Lord, who lightens it through action and contemplation. 85.5 For you, Lord, ar

 The Lord will recount, that which happened in the heavens, which he himself recounted to them, saying: Rejoice, because your names are written in the

 Show Your wondrous power for having died, I will not see it, there is no physician able to avert death or Christ teaches us the causes of His descen

 of his mouth. But having said, I will be mindful of the promise, he adds his words for he entreats the master with what God said. His words, being

 places him among the sons of God, but again places him above them, inasmuch as the clouds are higher than the earth not that he differs from them by

 from God, but are they rational by nature? -But through Theodotion, again the east [understand in Tabor]. It is a mountain of the tribe of Issachar an

 a plot of the Jews, and their undertaking has come to nothing for the Savior lived again on the third day, having trampled death, and he plundered Ha

 O master, the reproaches, an exchange, [that is] the transformation of your Christ, or of David, in that the beginning was changed into a servant thi

 For he dwells in all the faithful. 90.1,2 He who dwells in the help of the Most High, will abide in the shelter of the God of heaven he will say to t

 in a rich old age, many good things abound in a rich old age, and living well they will be in what are called good states, as if in joy and reverence

 to judge the earth, his highest being revealed and in the judging of those on the earth, let us guard ourselves from pride, knowing that God strongly

 Whom the Lord loves, he chastens, says the apostle. But if whom he chastens, he blesses, every one chastened by him becomes passionless, for the Lord

 it was written for God, providing for all, brings forth the healing of all. - Symmachus: Let not a throne of insolence be joined to you, fashioning h

 the rock, the church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. 95.10,11 He will judge the peoples in uprightness. Let the heavens rejoice,

 of the Lord. What the North wind freezes, this the South wind melts. Therefore the bride well says in the Song of Songs Awake, O North wind, and come

 stretched out and tested of the evangelical proclamation by means of the beaten, that is, forged trumpets, it signifies but by the horn, the royal, b

 to narrate the good deeds that have come to pass. The virtues are the gates of wisdom, for through them we enter into the kingdom of heaven. 100.2 I w

 I come to a desolation of things. But if in mountains and caves the men of God avoided the life of the impious, they rightly said this: I have become

 Unless, then, the Lord had looked down from his holy height, a people would not have praised him, a people still being created, and being created unti

 those who desire him. After death the soul does not exist in this life. If, then, our nature is mortal, but the divine love for humanity grants a long

 is restored, though fearful, to its own place. For the waves are lifted up like mountains. For the like is missing, so that it might be: The waters,

 its setting. You appointed darkness, and it became night in it all the beasts of the forest will roam about, young lions roaring to seize and to seek

 that it may desire bodily things since, therefore, the oracle of the Lord also inflamed Joseph, the evil one was not able to inflame him against his

 his people in exultation, and his chosen ones in gladness. If the people went out in exultation, but his chosen ones in the gladness of exultation, si

 to test them in the wilderness but they did not endure the test at all, but lusted with a desire he means the contention over the water. And on this

 Sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in poverty and iron. Inasmuch as the Lord is light, he leads us out of darkness and inasmuch as he

 they sowed fields, and planted vineyards, and produced fruit of increase, and he blessed them. Those who change from worse things to better through th

 I was praying. From this we know that, when someone accuses us, we must pray for our enemies, so that we may not, having fallen into bearing a grudge,

 To one who desires the curse, the blessing does not come, and to one who does not desire the curse, the curse does not come. And who wants a curse to

 his kings. - He will judge among the nations, he will fill them with corpses, he will crush heads over a wide land. By the grace of God, the prophet h

 of him remains forever and ever, but the just are called just because of righteousness, and they therefore remain forever and ever well then did Paul

 Symmachus rendered servants instead of children. For children do not differ from servants, being disciplined by the fear of servitude for which r

 the soul is in its rest for indeed the one who has fallen ill was once in health. This the apostle also says in the passage: I desire to depart and b

 What came to be was not human, he says, it was not of angels, nor of archangels, to establish such a corner. What is wonderful? The corner, the joinin

 in the psalm. 118p.3 For this reason the elements are also placed first here, so that it might be shown to the readers that the elements are the knowl

 the verses, let us make: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. And thus let us begin the second one following. It sho

 to offer a hymn, when I have learned all your judgments and have lived according to them. If I learn, he says, the judgments from your righteousness,

 to the royal and perfect way, Christ, the one who said: I am the way. There are some ways of God, which he travels, that he might be among men, or whi

 118.25 My soul has cleaved to the ground give me life according to your word. The souls of sinners cleave to the ground, minding earthly things but

 the soul of the just man, from which nothing flows away but that of the wicked is not such, but unable to hold on to the word of God which it is taug

 A path is a well-worn way, which many of the righteous before us have trod, for which there is need of God to guide. For we must become imitators of C

 souls of saints. And after a little. For he who does not receive a word from God with much power to preach the gospel speaks things worthy of shame. B

 But for the God-fearing, transgression is dreadful, because he foresees the terror of the punishment. 118.54 Your statutes were my songs in the place

 of those who desire you, and of those who keep your commandments. He who is a partaker with those who fear the Lord, also fears the Lord himself and

 118.72 The law of your mouth is good for me, more than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Being well-pleased instead of, the law is good for me, whi

 in truth you have humbled me, that is, according to truth. 118.76 Let your mercy be to comfort me, according to your word to your servant. But now is

 To those left behind by God for the benefit of the soul: I have not forgotten your ordinances. And in the gospel the body is said to be a wineskin: Fo

 remains. Two are the generations which have contained the truth of God, both the people of the Jews, who had the law and the prophets, and the church

 to have become, since they were the first to receive the law and the prophets we now who are from the nations say: I have understood more than all my

 by the word in every action, as one might say, at every step lifting his foot to walk, this one cannot stumble for he has the lamp, and uses it. But

 I have hoped, and give me life. Why did he not say: 'I hoped in your words,' but 'I have hoped'? Those who hope do not remain as they begin to hope, b

 you may hand me over to the demons those ones do not cease from doing wrong. -Who is he who has done unexpected judgment and justice? who is he who d

 is and is life. And he has given the reason for having drawn spirit into his mouth, saying: Because I longed for your commandments, the desire itself

 is afflicted, which leads to life. And: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and out of them all He will deliver them. Then he says: Your comman

 and not a God from afar, says the Lord. For the power of God is everywhere according to the principle of creation and providence. And after a little.

 he becomes a witness of God. As often as he is persecuted by opposing powers and is not defeated, nor is he overcome by the passions of dishonor, he a

 of the judgment seat of God, and fearing that, and becoming entirely a representation of it and of the punishments laid up there for the one who denie

 they draw near but concerning this, they say a prayer: My prayer has drawn near, and so forth. And what is the difference between these? It is worthy

 to save that which was lost, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 119.π A song of the ascents. Only those who ascend in word and in life are fami

 of Him who gave to the twelve apostles, who sit upon twelve thrones to judge Israel. - For there He commanded to sacrifice, to pray, to celebrate feas

 someone, nor the one who hoped in God, as neither Daniel, nor the three youths, [even if] they were cast out from [their] homeland, and were held by s

 all who hate Zion. -Let them be as the grass of the housetops, which withers before it is plucked up. -With which the reaper has not filled his hand,

 nor in wonderful things beyond me. But in great things he says, referring to arrogant men for he fled those having this passion, seeing the harm fr

 a wedding garment, a priestly garment of righteousness, which one puts on oneself, because one is righteous, so that after this God himself might clot

 spoken of allegorically, the demons under the earth, to whom the earthly demons in the gospels called for Christ not to be sent. But the more precise

 the wonder for many were the things threatening death, plague, drought, thirst, and fierce heat, and a multitude of beasts, and a desert of all neces

 the power. -But according to the other version [before the gods] he calls the priests gods, according to that: You shall not speak evil of the gods. A

 Your providence protected. -And the phrase you have possessed my reins, because the one who possesses cares, and coming forth from the womb, I immed

 flee the letter, for from the judgment of sayings side-by-side the thing sought appears. For you will not, he says, go through all the scriptures, whi

 to the perishing. -And one form of prayer is the converse of the mind with God, preserving the mind without form and I say the mind is without form w

 being deemed worthy and he calls contemplation mercy, because it gives rest to minds that are weary and burdened by iniquities for indeed Solomon in

 but to call upon the Lord his God. 144.2 Every day I will bless you, and I will praise your name [forever]. And these things follow what has been said

 it is easy to extend joined fingers, and to open the hand, thus it is easy for you at the right time to provide the abundance of good things. -If his

 he says: All her gates are destroyed, and she herself is turned backward. For he who, after achieving virtue, is conquered has destroyed within himsel

 to continually receive the powers above as partners in praise. Another says: for His mighty acts. But what is it that he says: Praise Him for His migh

of those who desire you, and of those who keep your commandments. He who is a partaker with those who fear the Lord, also fears the Lord himself; and he who is a partaker with the righteous, is also righteous himself; for the fear of the one is common, but the righteousness of the other. 118.65,66 You have dealt kindly with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me kindness and instruction and knowledge, for I have believed your commandments. The kindness of God is perceived by the tasting faculty of the soul. For, it says, "Taste and see that the Lord is kind." And tasting is the dispassion of a rational soul, which comes through the spiritual law; and kindness is a true taste of the things that have been made by God; and instruction is the moderation of passions; and knowledge is the contemplation of the Trinity. You pour out richly, he says, upon all the fountains of mercy, and you do not bring upon each what they bear: marriages being undermined, being defiled with blood, usurping what belongs to others, and the rest. Having deemed me worthy of this, grant me the knowledge of your statutes; for having had experience of your kindness, I ask to enjoy it again, so that with it I might also learn instruction and knowledge; instruction that is ethical, and knowledge that is contemplative. -The prophet knows the usefulness of instruction, and that the Master, using loving-kindness, brings this upon men; and how instruction produces knowledge, since, having approached your commandments correctly and prudently, I believed in them, so as to keep them, grant me wisdom, and teach me instruction and knowledge. - And Symmachus, instead of "you have dealt kindly," rendered it "you have benefited your servant." And let us be taught not to be insensible towards the divine benefactions. Since there is both kindness and severity with God, according to the apostle, kindness is for those who stand firm in the faith, but severity is for those who have fallen away from it; since, therefore, the saint was confirmed in the faith, he said, "you have dealt kindly with your servant," whoever he might be. And "according to your word" means that the Lord's kindness comes to someone with reasons and a rational cause. 118.67 Before I was humbled, I transgressed; therefore I have kept your word. And although knowing that these things are brought on not only because of sin, but also for testing, he submitted himself to the former manner, but "I have kept," he says, "your word," so that just as by transgressing I was humbled, so by succeeding through the keeping of your word, I might be released from the humbling. - I, he says, brought the instruction upon myself; the verdict of punishment is free from injustice; instruction followed sin, the keeping of the laws followed instruction. I pray, therefore, for teaching, that I might know that the humbling that occurred was according to kindness and instruction. Or before completely suffering sin, we transgress with the consent of our thoughts [out of our own laziness], accepting it, and through these things giving a place of entry to Satan. 118.68,69 You are kind, O Lord, and in your kindness teach me your statutes. The injustice of the proud has been multiplied against me; but I with my whole heart will search out your commandments. Since it is said, "Behold therefore the kindness and severity of God," perhaps those who have fallen are taught His statutes in the severity of God, while the blessed learn them in His kindness? the former being punished by the judgments of God, the latter receiving what is fitting for them. 118.70 Their heart was curdled like milk, but I have meditated on your law. The heart of the saints is thin, but the heart of the proud is fat. 118.71 It is good for me that you have humbled me, that I might learn your statutes. Being well-pleased with the painful temptations and circumstances, which are usually called humbling, he says these things, as if he were saying: "I am well-pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses," so that from having endured these things, I might be judged worthy to learn your statutes, as no one has known them who was not first humbled and afflicted in many things.

βουμένων σε, καὶ τῶν φυλασσόντων τὰς ἐν τολάς σου. ̔Ο μέτοχος τῶν φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸς φοβεῖται τὸν Κύριον· καὶ ὁ μέτο χος τῶν δικαίων, καὶ αὐτὸς δίκαιός ἐστι· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὁ φόβος κοινὸς, τῶν δὲ δικαιο σύνη. 118.65,66 Χρηστότητα ἐποίησας μετὰ τοῦ δούλου σου, Κύριε, κατὰ τὸν λόγον σου. Χρηστότητα καὶ παιδείαν καὶ γνῶσιν δίδα ξόν με, οτι ταῖς ἐντολαῖς σου ἐπίστευσα. ̔Η χρηστότης τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ γευστικῇ δυ νάμει τῆς ψυχῆς ὑποπίπτει. Γεύσασθε γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ιδετε οτι χρηστὸς ὁ Κύριος. Γεῦσις δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἀπάθεια ψυχῆς λογικῆς, διὰ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου προσγινομένη· χρηστότης δέ ἐστιν γεῦσις ἀληθὴς τῶν γε γονότων ὑπὸ Θεοῦ· παιδεία δὲ μετριοπάθεια παθῶν· γνῶσις δέ ἐστιν ἡ θεωρία τῆς Τριά δος. Πλουσίως ἐκχεῖς, φησὶν, ἐπὶ πάντας τὰς τοῦ ἐλέους πηγὰς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπάγεις καθ' ε καστον φέρων, γάμους διορυττομένους, αι ματι μιαινομένους, σφετεριζομένους τὰ ἀλ λότρια, καὶ τὰ λοιπά. Τούτου κἀμὲ ἀξιώ σας, τῶν σῶν δικαίων τὴν γνῶσίν μοι χα ρίσαι· πεῖραν γὰρ λαβών σου τῆς χρηστό τητος, καὶ αυθις ταύτης ἀπολαῦσαι παρα καλῶ, ινα σὺν αὐτῇ καὶ παιδείαν καὶ γνῶσιν μάθοιμι· παιδείαν μὲν τὴν ἠθικὴν, γνῶσιν δὲ τὴν θεωρητικήν. -Οιδεν ὁ προφήτης τῆς παιδείας τὸ χρήσιμον, καὶ οτι φιλανθρωπίᾳ χρώμενος, ὁ δεσπότης ταύτην ἐπιφέρει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· καὶ ὡς ἡ παιδεία τὴν γνῶσιν ἐρ γάζεται, ἐπεὶ ὀρθῶς καὶ φρονίμως ταῖς πα ρὰ σοῦ ἐντολαῖς προσελθὼν ἐπίστευσα αὐ ταῖς, ὡς τηρῆσαι αὐτὰς, ορεξόν μοι σοφίαν, καὶ δίδαξον παιδείαν καὶ γνῶσιν. - ̔Ο δὲ Σύμμαχος ἀντὶ τοῦ χρηστότητα ἐποίησας, εὐηργέτησας τὸν δοῦλόν σου ἐξέδωκε. ∆ι δασκώμεθα δὲ μὴ ἀναισθήτως διακεῖσθαι πρὸς τὰς θείας εὐεργεσίας. Ουσης περὶ τὸν Θεὸν χρηστότητος καὶ ἀ ποτομίας κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον, ἡ μὲν χρηστό της γίνεται ἐπὶ τοὺς ἑστηκότας τῇ πίστει, ἡ δὲ ἀποτομία ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀφεστηκότας αὐτῆς· ἐπεὶ ουν ὁ αγιος ἐβεβαίωτο ἐν τῇ πίστει, χρηστότητα, ειπεν, ἐποίησας μετὰ τοῦ δού λου σου, οστις ποτ' αν ῃ αὐτός. Τὸ δὲ κατὰ λόγιόν σου, ἀντὶ τοῦ σὺν λόγοις καὶ αἰτίᾳ λογικῇ γίνεσθαι μετά τινος τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου χρηστότητα. 118.67 Πρὸ τοῦ με ταπεινωθῆναι ἐγὼ ἐπλημμέλησα· διὰ τοῦτο τὸ λόγιόν σου ἐ φύλαξα. Καίπερ δὲ εἰδὼς οτι μὴ μόνον δι' ἁμαρ τίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ δοκιμασίαν ἐπάγεται ταῦ τα, τῷ προτέρῳ τρόπῳ ὑπέβαλλεν ἑαυτὸν, ἀλ λὰ ἐφύλαξα, φησὶ, τὸ λόγιόν σου, ιν' ωσπερ πλημμελήσας ἐταπεινώθην, ουτω κατορθώ σας διὰ τῆς τοῦ λογίου σου φυλακῆς, ἀφε θῶ τῆς ταπεινώσεως. - ̓Εγὼ, φησὶν, ἐμαυ τῷ τὴν παιδείαν προυξένησα· ἀδικίας ἐλευ θέρα τῆς τιμωρίας ἡ ψῆφος· τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἠ κολούθει ἡ παιδεία, τῇ παιδείᾳ τῶν νόμων ἡ φυλακή. ∆έομαι ουν διδασκαλίας, ινα γνῶ οτι ἡ γενομένη ταπείνωσις κατὰ χρηστότη τα καὶ παιδείαν ἐγένετο. Η πρὸ τοῦ πα θεῖν τελείως τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, πλημμελοῦμεν ἡμεῖς τῇ συνέσει τῶν λογισμῶν [ἐκ τῆς ἡ μετέρας ῥᾳθυμίας] αὐτὴν καταδεχόμενοι, καὶ τόπον εἰσόδου διδόντες διὰ τούτων τῷ Σατανᾷ. 118.68,69 Χρηστὸς ει σὺ, Κύριε, καὶ ἐν τῇ χρηστότητί σου δίδαξόν με τὰ δικαιώ ματά σου. ̓Επληθύνθη ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἀδικία ὑπε ρηφάνων· ἐγὼ δὲ ἐν ολῃ καρδίᾳ μου ἐξερευ νήσω τὰς ἐντολάς σου. ̓Επεὶ λέγεται· ιδε ουν χρηστότητα καὶ ἀποτομίαν Θεοῦ, μήποτε οἱ μὲν πεσόντες διδάσκωνται ἐν τῇ ἀποτομίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ δικαιώματα αὐτοῦ, οἱ δὲ μακάριοι μανθάνω σιν αὐτὰ ἐν τῇ χρηστότητι αὐτοῦ; οἱ μὲν ἐκ δικαιωμάτων Θεοῦ κολαζόμενοι, οἱ δὲ κατὰ τῶν ἁρμοζόντων αὐτοῖς τυγχάνοντες. 118.70 ̓Ετυρώθη ὡς γάλα ἡ καρδία αὐ τῶν, ἐγὼ δὲ τὸν νόμον σου ἐμελέτησα. Λεπτὴ μὲν ἡ τῶν ἁγίων, πίων δὲ ἡ τῶν ὑπερηφάνων καρδία. 118.71 ̓Αγαθόν μοι οτι ἐταπείνωσάς με, οπως αν μάθω τὰ δικαιώματά σου. Εὐαρεστούμενος τοῖς ἐπιπόνοις πειρασμοῖς καὶ περιστάσεσιν, ατινα εθος ταπείνωσιν ὀ νομάζεσθαι, ταῦτά φησιν, ὡσεὶ ελεγεν· Εὐ δοκῶ ἐν ἀσθενείαις, ἐν υβρεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγ καις, ἐν διωγμοῖς, ἐν στενοχωρίαις, ιν' ἐκ τοῦ ταῦτα ὑπομεμενηκέναι, αξιος κριθῶ τοῦ μανθάνειν τὰ δικαιώματά σου, οὐδενὸς αὐτὰ εἰδομένου, μὴ πρότερον ταπεινωθέντος καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς θλιβέντος.