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they have a perception of the gift, since divine grace has previously placed joy within them; and for this reason they give thanks, and have drawn near to receiving. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. This, he says, gladdens my soul, to obtain salvation from you; it gladdens the soul, because you are its salvation. 3. Did you see rejoicing, and rejoicing? the rejoicing of enemies at a fall, and the rejoicing of a soul at its own salvation? The former is of the Evil One, the latter of those who are being saved. The former is a ruin both for the one who seems to rejoice, and for the one over whom he rejoiced; the latter is the salvation and restoration of the one who rejoices. Let us be gladdened and rejoice with this rejoicing and gladness, but let us flee from and abhor the other. I will sing to the Lord who has dealt bountifully with me, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. As a memorial, he says, of this good deed I will offer a song to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me, humbled the enemy, filled him with shame, convicted him as weak, listened to my prayer, turned his face toward me, scattering the mist and the gloom through which I was being carried toward death; and rejoicing in his salvation, as some indelible monument, I offer this 55.153 song of the good deeds done to me, not only singing it now, and recounting his benefits in my thoughts, but also for the time to come I will sing and sing praise to the name of the Lord, carrying the magnitude of his beneficence unforgotten in my soul. Such a soul, therefore, not only, when entangled in evils, is easily delivered from them, but also becomes more secure against falling into similar ones again. For when it always bears in mind the good deed, it is clear that it also bears in mind the hardships, from which it was delivered when it received the good deed. And having the memory of the evils, it carefully considers from where these things befell it, and for what reason it was brought into such evil; and considering this, it then fortifies itself from all sides, so that it may not be brought into similar misfortunes; and so it then orders its own life well, and disciplines it, and confesses much gratitude to the one who delivered it; just as it found a deliverer, so also it asks to have a guardian for all time in the things to come. Let us also emulate this, and if we are carried away by some sin, let us quickly return to our senses, and make our fall a pretext for security, and an occasion for no longer sinning. How then will you do this? You have David as a teacher. Have you sinned? Do not slumber in your sin, but rise up; understand immediately that God has turned his face from you, that he has forgotten you; then weep, groan, wash your bed every night with tears, leap away from those who work iniquity. For these too are the teachings of David. Say with him: How long, O Lord, will you forget 55.154 me forever? How long will you turn your face from me? Say it not with the tongue, but much more with the heart; say also the other righteous words of David. When you have said everything, hope in his mercy, hope, do not doubt. For the one who doubts, he says, is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For let not such a one, he says, think that he will receive anything from God. For a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Hope therefore in his mercy, doubting in nothing, and you will surely obtain your request; but having obtained it, do not become unmindful of your benefactor, and ungrateful, but make a monument of the good deed, and dedicate it as a thankful song to the Master. Perhaps you yourself do not know how to compose one; call together the poor, and use their tongues, and have them prepare one for you. Know well that he will hear this one more gladly than the song of David, which on your behalf

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ἔχουσι τοῦ δώρου συναίσθησιν, τῆς θείας αὐτοῖς χάριτος τὴν εὐφροσύνην προεντιθείσης· καὶ εὐχαριστοῦσι διὰ τοῦτο, καὶ τοῦ λαβεῖν ἐγγὺς καθεστήκασιν. Ἀγαλλιάσεται ἡ καρδία μου ἐπὶ τῷ σωτηρίῳ σου. Τοῦτο, φησὶ, τὴν ἐμὴν εὐφραίνει ψυχὴν, τὸ παρὰ σοῦ τῆς σωτηρίας τυχεῖν· τὴν ψυχὴν εὐφραίνει, ὅτι ταύτης εἶ σὺ σωτηρία. γʹ. Εἶδες ἀγαλλίασιν, καὶ ἀγαλλίασιν; ἀγαλλίασιν ἐχθρῶν ἐπὶ πτώματι, καὶ ἀγαλλίασιν ψυχῆς ἐπὶ οἰκείᾳ σωτηρίᾳ; Ἐκείνη τοῦ Πονηροῦ, αὕτη τῶν σωζομένων. Ἐκείνη λύμη καὶ τοῦ δοκοῦντος ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι, καὶ ἐφ' ᾧ ἠγαλλιᾶτο· αὕτη σωτηρία καὶ ἀνάκλησις τοῦ ἀγαλλιωμένου. Ταύτην τὴν ἀγαλλίασιν καὶ εὐφροσύνην εὐφρανθῶμεν καὶ ἀγαλλιασώμεθα, ἐκείνην δὲ φύγωμεν, καὶ βδελυξώμεθα. Ἄσω τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ εὐεργετήσαντί με, καὶ ψαλῶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου τοῦ ὑψίστου. Μνημόσυνον, φησὶ, τῆς εὐεργεσίας ταύτης ᾠδὴν ἀναθήσω τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι εὐηργέτησέ με, ἐταπείνωσε τὸν ἐχθρὸν, αἰσχύνης ἐπλήρωσεν, ἀσθενῆ ἐπήλεγξεν, εἰσήκουσε τῆς δεήσεώς μου, ἐπέστρεψε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμὲ, τὴν ἀχλὺν καὶ τὸν ζόφον, δι' ὧν πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ἐφερόμην, διασκεδάσας· καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ σωτηρίῳ αὐτοῦ ἀγαλλιώμενος, ὥσπερ τι μνημεῖον ἀνεξάλειπτον, τὴν ᾠδὴν 55.153 ταύτην τῶν εἰς ἐμὲ εὐεργετημάτων ἀνατίθημι, οὐ νῦν μόνον ᾄδων αὐτὴν, καὶ ἀνελίσσων τοῖς λογισμοῖς τὰς εὐεργεσίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὸν ἑξῆς χρόνον ᾄσω καὶ ψαλῶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου, ἀνεπίληστον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ περιφέρων τῆς εὐεργεσίας τὸ μέγεθος. Ἡ τοιαύτη τοίνυν ψυχὴ οὐ μόνον κακοῖς ἐμπαρεῖσα ῥύεται ῥᾳδίως τῶν κακῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσφαλεστέρα γίνεται, εἰς τὸ μηκέτι τοῖς ὁμοίοις περιπεσεῖν. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐπὶ μνήμης ἀεὶ φέρῃ τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὰ δυσχερῆ ἐπὶ μνήμης ἔχει, ὧν ἀπαλλαγεῖσα ἔτυχε τῆς εὐεργεσίας. Ἔχων δὲ καὶ τὴν μνήμην τῶν κακῶν, ἀναλογίζεται ἐπιμελῶς, πόθεν ταῦτα συνέπεσεν αὐτῷ, καὶ διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν εἰς τὸ τοιοῦτον συνηνέχθη κακόν· καὶ ἀναλογιζόμενος λοιπὸν τειχίζει πανταχόθεν ἑαυτὸν, ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ τὰς ὁμοίας περιενεχθῇ συμφοράς· οὕτω τε λοιπὸν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον καλῶς ῥυθμίζων, καὶ παιδαγωγῶν, καὶ τῷ ῥυσαμένῳ πολλὴν ἀνομολογεῖ τὴν χάριν· ὥσπερ εὗρε ῥύστην, οὕτω καὶ φύλακα διὰ παντὸς ἔχειν ἐν τοῖς μέλλουσιν ἐξαιτούμενος. Ταύτην ζηλώσωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς, κἄν τινι παρασυρῶμεν ἁμαρτήματι, ταχέως ἀνανήψωμεν, καὶ ποιησώμεθα τὸ πτῶμα πρόφασιν ἀσφαλείας, καὶ ἀφορμὴν τοῦ μηκέτι ἁμαρτάνειν. Πῶς οὖν ποιήσεις; Ἔχεις διδάσκαλον τὸν ∆αυΐδ. Ἥμαρτες; Μὴ νυστάξῃς ἐπὶ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ διανάστηθι· ἐννόησον αὐτίκα, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ πρόσωπον ἀπὸ σοῦ, ὅτι ἐπελάθετό σου· εἶτα κλαῦσον, στέναξον, λοῦσον καθ' ἑκάστην νύκτα τὴν κλίνην σου δάκρυσι, ἀποπήδησον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν. Καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ μαθήματα τοῦ ∆αυΐδ. Εἰπὲ μετ' αὐτοῦ· Ἕως πότε, Κύριε, ἐπιλήσῃ 55.154 μου εἰς τέλος; ἕως πότε ἀποστρέφεις τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ; Εἰπὲ μὴ τῇ γλώσσῃ, ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρότερον τῇ καρδίᾳ· εἰπὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δικαιώματα τοῦ ∆αυΐδ. Ὅταν εἴπῃς πάντα, ἔλπισον ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, ἔλπισον, μὴ διακριθῇς. Ὁ γὰρ διακρινόμενος, φησὶν, ἔοικε κλύδωνι θαλάσσης ἀνεμιζομένῳ καὶ ῥιπιζομένῳ. Μὴ γὰρ οἰέσθω, φησὶν, ὁ τοιοῦτος, ὅτι λήψεταί τι παρὰ Θεοῦ. Ἀνὴρ γὰρ δίψυχος, ἀκατάστατος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ. Ἔλπισον οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, μηδὲν διακριθεὶς, καὶ τεύξῃ πάντως τῆς αἰτήσεως· τυχὼν δὲ μὴ γένῃ ἀγνώμων περὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην, καὶ ἀχάριστος, ἀλλὰ ποίησον μνημεῖον τῆς εὐεργεσίας, καὶ ἀνάθες αὐτὸ εὐχάριστον τῷ ∆εσπότῃ ᾠδήν. Ἴσως αὐτὸς οὐκ οἶδας συνθεῖναι· συγκάλεσον τοὺς πένητας, καὶ χρῆσαι τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν, καὶ σοὶ παρασκεύασον. Εὖ ἴσθι ὅτι ἡδίω τῆς ∆αυϊδικῆς ᾠδῆς ταύτην ἀκούσεται, ἢν ὑπὲρ σοῦ