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secretly, and they watched my steps, lying in wait for my soul. By what has been said, he has revealed their words, and their snares, and their plots. 8. "For nothing you will cast them down." It is easy for you, he says, and very simple to cast them down, and to overthrow them, and to deliver them to death; for "for nothing" he has put in place of "without effort" and "easily." "In wrath you will bring down the peoples, O God." For not only these, but also all who choose to live in transgression, you will deliver to punishment [filled with wrath]." 9. "My life I have declared to you." All my affairs have been made clear to you, my deeds, my words, my thoughts. For thus also Symmachus interpreted, "My inner parts have been numbered by you." "You have put my tears before you, as also in your promise." You have assented, he says, to my tears, and have fulfilled your promises. For you promised in your lawgiving to hearken to the groaning of the wronged. For thus it says in the law: "He will groan to me, and I will hearken to him, for I am merciful." 80.1288 10. "My enemies will be turned back." And when you have received my prayer, the enemies will flee, and will cease from their audacity. "In whatever day I call upon you, behold, I knew that you are my God." For by accepting my petitions, I am persuaded by the deeds themselves how great is the care you take for me. 11. "In God I will praise his word; in the Lord I will praise his saying; in God I have hoped; I will not fear what man can do to me." [Here too the prophetic mind is beautiful. How does he offer equal prayer to the immaculate and consubstantial Trinity?] I will not endure, he says, even to utter a sound without your invocation. But both in offering a short saying and in using longer words, I will adorn them with your name, and trusting in you, I will despise human plots. 12. "In me, O God, are vows which I will pay of praise to you." I will gratefully fulfill, he says, my promises to you; for "vows" he calls the promises made to God. Thus also elsewhere: "I will pay you my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth has spoken in my affliction." Then he teaches for what and what the promises are. 13. "For you have delivered my soul from death; my eyes from tears; and my feet from slipping." [Having armed me with all these things and made me secure; and having a firm trust in these things, trusting in these things I will also fulfill the present song.] "I will be well-pleasing before the Lord in the light of the living." For having enjoyed so many benefits, and having appeared superior to various plots, I will be mindful of your service, and I will choose a way of life which will be pleasing to you, and for me will procure eternal life, and that light which is promised to those who live according to the law. These things, as I said, are fitting both for the blessed David and for the captives in Babylon. And they are also fitting for us, who endure many plots from men and from demons, but through divine providence, escape the harm that arises from them.

INTERPRETATION OF THE 50TH PSALM 1. "For the end. Do not destroy; for David for a pillar inscription, when he

fled from the face of Saul into the cave." Having escaped both the first and the second danger [the great David], as on a certain pillar, he inscribed the divine benefit in his memory. And both this one and that one direct those who read them to the end; since they contain a prediction of future events. For that one foretold the things concerning the people; but this one prophesies the calling of the nations. And the phrase, "Do not destroy," is added, revealing to us the reasoning of David. For since, though being able to kill Saul, and by the slaughter to destroy the enemy and take the leadership, he did not endure it, having said as it were to himself, "Do not destroy the virtue of forgiveness." "For far be it from me," he says, "to lift my hand against him, because he is the Lord's anointed." Rightly to the inscription the phrase, "Do not destroy,"

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λάθρα, καὶ τὰ ἴχνη μου παρετήρουν, προσδοκῶντες τὴν ψυχήν μου. ∆εδήλωκε δὲ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων τοὺς λόγους αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰς ἐνέδρας, καὶ τὰς ἐπιβουλάς. ηʹ. "Ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηθενὸς ὤσεις αὐτούς." Ῥᾴδιόν σοι, φησὶ, καὶ λίαν εὐπετὲς ὦσαι αὐτοὺς, καὶ καταβαλεῖν, καὶ παραδοῦναι θανάτῳ· τὸ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηθενὸς, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπόνως, καὶ ῥᾳδίως τέ θεικε. "Ἐν ὀργῇ λαοὺς κατάξεις αὐτοὺς, ὁ Θεός." Οὐ γὰρ τούτους μόνους, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς παρα νομίᾳ συζῇν προαιρουμένους, κολάσει παραδώσεις [ὀργῆς πεπληρωμένῃ]." θʹ. "Τὴν ζωήν μου ἐξήγγειλά σοι." Πάντα σοι τὰ ἐμὰ δῆλα καθέστηκε, τὰ πράγματα, τὰ ῥή ματα, τὰ ἐνθυμήματα. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Σύμ μαχος ἡρμήνευσε, Τὰ ἔνδον μου ἐξηρίθμηταί σοι. "Ἔθου τὰ δάκρυά μου ἐνώπιόν σου, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ σου." Ἐπένευσας, φησὶ, τοῖς ἐμοῖς δάκρυσι, καὶ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας πεπλήρωκας. Σὺ γὰρ ὑπέσχου νομοθετῶν τῶν ἀδικουμένων ἐπακούειν στενόντων. Οὕτω γὰρ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ φησί· "Στενάξει πρός με, καὶ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ. ἐλεήμων γάρ εἰμι." 80.1288 ιʹ. "Ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ ἐχθροί μου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω." Σοῦ δὲ τὴν ἐμὴν δέησιν δεξαμένου, φεύξονται οἱ πολέμιοι, καὶ τῆς θρασύτητος παύσονται. "Ἐν ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπικαλέσωμαι, ἰδοὺ ἔγνων, ὅτι Θεός μου εἶ σύ." ∆εχόμενος γὰρ τὰς αἰτήσεις, δι' αὐτῶν πείθομαι τῶν πραγμάτων, ὅσην μου κηδεμονίαν ποιῇ. ιαʹ. "Ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ αἰνέσω ῥῆμα· ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ αἰνέσω λόγον· ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ ἤλπισα· οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος." [Καλὸς καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ προφητικὸς νοῦς. Πῶς ἴσην τὴν προσευχὴν τῇ ἀχράντῳ καὶ ὁμοουσίῳ Τριάδι προσφέρει;] Οὐδὲ φθέγξασθαι, φησὶν, ἄνευ τῆς σῆς ἐπικλήσεως ἀν έξομαι. Ἀλλὰ καὶ σμικρὸν ῥῆμα προσφέρων, καὶ μακροτέροις χρώμενος λόγοις, τῇ σῇ τούτους προσηγορίᾳ κοσμήσω, καὶ σοὶ πεποιθὼς κατα φρονήσω τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἐπιβουλῶν. ιβʹ. "Ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὁ Θεὸς, εὐχαὶ ἃς ἀποδώσω αἰνέ σεώς σοι." Τὰς ὑποσχέσεις σοι, φησὶν, εὐ γνωμόνως ἐκτίσω· εὐχὰς γὰρ, τὰς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑποσχέσεις καλεῖ. Οὕτω καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· "Ἀποδώσω σοι τὰς εὐχάς μου, ἃς διέστειλε τὰ χείλη μου, καὶ ἐλάλησε τὸ στόμα μου ἐν τῇ θλίψει μου." Εἶτα διδά σκει ὑπὲρ τίνων, καὶ τίνες αἱ ὑποσχέσεις. ιγʹ. "Ὅτι ἐῤῥύσω τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ θανάτου· τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου ἀπὸ δακρύων· καὶ τοὺς πό δας μου ἀπὸ ὀλισθήματος." [∆ιὰ πάντων με τούτων θωρακίσας καὶ ἀσφαλισάμενος· καὶ ἑδραίαν ἔχειν τὴν πεποίθησιν ἐπὶ τούτοις πεπιστευκὼς ἐν τούτοις πληρώσω καὶ τὴν παροῦσαν ᾠδήν.] "Εὐαρεστήσω ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἐν φωτὶ ζώντων." Τοσούτων γὰρ εὐεργεσιῶν ἀπολαύσας, καὶ τῶν διαφόρων ἐπιβουλῶν κρείττων φανεὶς, τῆς σῆς φροντιῶ θεραπείας, καὶ πολιτείαν αἱρήσομαι, ἣ σοὶ μὲν ἀρέσει, ἐμοὶ δὲ προξενήσει ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐκεῖνο τὸ τοῖς ἐννόμως ζῶσιν ἐπηγγελμένον. Ταῦτα δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, καὶ τῷ μακαρίῳ ἁρμόττει ∆αβὶδ, καὶ τοῖς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι δορυαλώτοις. Ἁρμόττει δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν, πολλὰς μὲν ὑπομένουσι παρὰ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ παρὰ δαιμόνων, ἐπιβουλὰς, διὰ δὲ τῆς θείας κηδε μονίας, τὴν ἐκεῖθεν φυομένην διαφεύγουσι λώβην.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ Νʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ αʹ. "Εἰς τὸ τέλος. Μὴ διαφθείρῃς· τῷ ∆αβὶδ εἰς στηλογραφίαν, ἐν τῷ αὐτὸν

ἀποδιδράσκειν ἀπὸ προσώπου Σαοὺλ εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον." Καὶ τὸν πρότε ρον καὶ τὸν δεύτερον διαφυγὼν κίνδυνον [ὁ μέγας ∆αβὶδ], ὥσπερ ἐν στήλῃ τινὶ, τῇ μνήμῃ τὴν θείαν εὐεργεσίαν ἀνέγραψε. Καὶ εἰς τὸ τέλος δὲ καὶ οὗτος κἀκεῖνος παραπέμπει τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας· ἐπειδὴ πρόῤῥησιν ἔχουσιν ἐσομένων πραγμάτων. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ τὰ κατὰ τὸν λαὸν προηγόρευσεν· οὗτος δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν προθεσπίζει τὴν κλῆσιν. Πρόσ κειται δὲ τὸ, Μὴ διαφθείρῃς, τοῦ ∆αβὶδ τὸν λογι σμὸν ἡμῖν ἐκκαλύπτον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δυνάμενος ἀνελεῖν τὸν Σαοὺλ, καὶ τῇ σφαγῇ καταλῦσαι τὸν πολέμιον, καὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν λαβεῖν, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, μονονουχὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰρηκὼς, Μὴ δια φθείρῃς τῆς ἀμνησικακίας τὴν ἀρετήν. "Μὴ γένοιτο γάρ μοι, φησὶν, ἐποῖσαι τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ὅτι χριστὸς Κυρίου ἐστίν." Εἰκότως τῇ ἐπιγραφῇ τὸ, Μὴ διαφθείρῃς,