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and the most powerful word of God, as if to say in thanksgiving, You have set my feet upon a rock. 668a Ps 65,10 One is tried by fire like silver, falling into flaming circumstances; which one who bears nobly is shown to be approved, having nothing blameworthy in himself. for this you will take, Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life. 669a Ps 65,11b.12 Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven. but even if You have made men ride over our heads, yet we are confident through patience to lift them up, while the enemy men who are set upon them are dragged down from them. Here the name of the head signifies, as also in other scriptures, the ruling faculty, as in The blessing of the Lord is on the head of the righteous, and The eyes of the wise man are in his head. And of the enemies wanting to afflict me, you have thrown them behind me, preparing me to run swiftly. therefore even while hastening to overtake me they always remain behind, as I run swiftly with your help; whence I have the afflictions on my back, not wishing to see them at all; for I do not turn towards them, since toil or neglect might draw me. We went through fire and water. that it may say the circumstances that are able to try by fire and fervently move the soul might be called fire, and in another sense also called water because they submerge and suffocate those not bearing them nobly. He who has passed through these things with the help of God comes out into a place of refreshment, hoping for the rewards for them. And since the beginnings and the progressions in practical matters are ours, but the ends are from the gift of God, having attributed the passing through fire and water to themselves, they ascribe the cause of the end to God. But that fire and water are the circumstances, is shown from the prophet Isaiah speaking from the person of God, Fear not, I am with you; and if you pass through fire, the flame will not burn you; and if you pass through water, the rivers will not overwhelm you. 670a Ps 65,13.14a I will go into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows; that is, the sacrifices according to the law before the advent of the Savior, or spiritual ones, entering into the house of God (which is the church) with burnt offerings, performing as a priest perfect and whole virtues from all things, rendering vows suitable to this whole burnt offering, and which his lips have uttered. 671a Ps 65,15 The spiritual burnt offerings previously interpreted happen to be well-fed and with marrow, when they are offered not for the sake of another, but of God. These things, then, in order that they may be accomplished in the way they ought, are offered with supplication; and it is signified by the very name of incense. For let my prayer be directed as incense before you. and the offering is made not with incense alone but also with rams. the rams are movements and passions, having their origin from the spirited part of the soul. Along with the burnt offerings with marrow and the incense and the rams, he promises to offer up bulls with goats, perhaps he who offers his own body as a living sacrifice to God sacrifices a bull; for the animal is a tiller of the soil, whence it has an analogy to the body, which has its formation from the earth. But the goats are the works and words of repentance; for the goat is offered for sin. 672a Ps 65,17 Without tongue and its offering, according to that which is silent in the mind I have exalted. 673a Ps 65,18 It is possible to understand the verse with such a thought: If I had regarded iniquity in my heart, let the Lord not hear. For this you will take what is said by Paul, I am conscious of nothing in myself, but I am not hereby justified, since it is possible for God to see iniquity in me even if my heart does not see it. For this you will also take, Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from my secret faults. 674a Ps 65,20 And this has come to me, not so much on account of my sinlessness as on account of his mercy, which he has not removed from me, since the divine mercy is removed from one who is not heard because he does not ask for good things but for things that are dear and pleasant to men.

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καὶ ἰσχυρότατον τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, ὡς χαριστηρίως εἰπεῖν Εστησας ἐπὶ πέτραν τοὺς πόδας μου. 668a Ps 65,10 Πυροῦταί τις ὡς τὸ ἀργύριον φλεγούσαις περιστάσεσιν ὑποπίπτων· ας γενναίως τις ἐνέγκων δόκιμος ἀναδείκνυται, οὐδὲν εχων ψεκτὸν ἐν ἑαυτῷ. εἰς τοῦτο λήψῃ Μακάριος ἀνὴρ ος ὑπομένει πειρασμόν, οτι δόκιμος γενόμενος λήψεται τὸν στεφανὸν τῆς ζωῆς. 669a Ps 65,11b.12 ∆ιὰ πολλῶν θλίψεων δεῖ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ ̓Επεβίβασας ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν, ἀλλ' ουν θαρροῦμεν δι' ὑπομονῆς μετεωρίσαι αὐτάς, κατασπωμένων ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν ἐπικειμένων πολεμίων ἀνθρώπων. σημαίνει ἐνταῦθα τὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς ονομα ὡς καὶ ἐν ἑτέραις γραφαῖς τὸ ἡγεμονικόν, ὡς ἐν τῷ Εὐλογίᾳ κυρίου ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν δικαίου, καὶ Τοῦ σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ. Τῶν δ' ἐχθρῶν θλίβειν με θελόντων, ὀπίσω μου αὐτοὺς ερριψας, παρασκευάσας με συντόνως τρέχειν. διὸ καὶ σπεύδοντες καταλαμβάνειν με ὀπίσω μένουσιν ἀεί, ὀξέως μου τρέχοντος συνεργείᾳ σῇ· οθεν ἐπὶ τοῦ νώτου εχω τὰς θλίψεις, οὐδ' ολως ἰδεῖν αὐτὰς βουλόμενος· οὐ γὰρ στρέφομαι πρὸς αὐτάς, πόνου η ὀλιγωρίας ἑλκυσάντων. ∆ιήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ υδατος. ινα ειπῃ τὰ περιστατικὰ ἱκανὰ οντα πυρῶσαι καὶ θερμῶς κινῆσαι ψυχήν, ῥηθείη πῦρ, καθ' ἑτέραν δὲ ἐπίνοιαν καὶ υδωρ λεγόμενα διὰ τὸ βυθίζειν καὶ ἀποπνίγειν τοὺς μὴ γενναίως αὐτὰ φέροντες. ὁ ταῦτα διεληλυθὼς συνεργείᾳ θεοῦ ἐξέρχεται εἰς ἀναψυχήν, ἐλπίζων τὰς ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἀμοιβάς. Καὶ ἐπεὶ αἱ ἀρχαὶ καὶ αἱ προκοπαὶ τοῖς πρακτικοῖς ἡμετέραι, τὰ δὲ τέλη τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δωρεᾶς, τὸ μὲν διελθεῖν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ υδατος ἑαυτοῖς δόντες, τοῦ δὲ τέλους τὴν αἰτίαν τῷ θεῷ ἐπιγράφουσιν. οτι δὲ πῦρ καὶ υδωρ τὰ περιστατικά, παρίσταται ἐκ τοῦ προφήτου ̔Ησαΐου λέγοντος ἐκ προσώπου θεοῦ Μὴ φοβοῦ, μετὰ σοῦ εἰμι· καὶ ἐὰν διέλθῃς διὰ πυρός, φλὸξ οὐ κατακαύσει σε· καὶ ἐὰν διέλθῃς δι' υδατος, ποταμοὶ οὐ συγκλείσουσί σε. 670a Ps 65,13.14a Εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οικόν σου ἐν ὁλοκαυτώμασιν, ἀποδώσω σοι τὰς εὐχάς μου· ητοι τὰς κατὰ νόμον θυσίας πρὸ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας η πνευματικὰς εἰσερχόμενος εἰς τὸν οικον τοῦ θεοῦ (ουτος δ' ἐστὶν ἡ ἐκκλησία) ἐν ὁλοκαυτώμασι τελείας καὶ ὁλοκλήρους ἀρετὰς ἐξ ολων ἱερουργῶν, καταλλήλους ταύτῃ τῇ ὁλοκαυτώσει ἀποδιδοὺς καὶ ας διέστειλεν τὰ χείλη αὐτοῦ εὐχάς. 671a Ps 65,15 Τὰ προερμηνευθέντα πνευματικὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα εὐτραφῆ καὶ μεμυαλωμένα τυγχάνει, οτε μὴ αλλου του χάριν ἀλλὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναφέρεται. ταῦτα γοῦν, οπως ον δεῖ τρόπον ἀνυσθῇ, μεθ' ἱκεσίας ἀναφέρεται· σημαίνεται δὲ αὐτῇ τῇ ὀνομασίᾳ τοῦ θυμιάματος. Κατευθυνθήτω γὰρ ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου. καὶ οὐ μετὰ μόνου θυμιάματος ἡ προσφορὰ γίνεται ἀλλὰ καὶ κριῶν. εἰσὶν οἱ κριοὶ κινήσεις καὶ θυμία, ἀπὸ τοῦ θυμικοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἀρχὴν εχουσαι. Σὺν τοῖς μεμυαλωμένοις ὁλοκαυτώμασι καὶ τοῦ θυμιάματος καὶ τῶν κριῶν ἀνοίσειν ἐπαγγέλλεται βόας μετὰ χιμάρων, ἱερουργοῦντος τάχα βοῦν τοῦ προσάγοντος θυσίαν ζῶσαν τῷ θεῷ τὸ ιδιον σῶμα· γεωπόνον γὰρ τὸ ζῷον, οθεν ἀναλογίαν εχει τῷ σώματι ἐκ γῆς τὴν πλάσιν εχοντι. οἱ χίμαροι δέ εἰσι τὰ μετανοίας εργα καὶ λόγοι· περὶ ἁμαρτίας γὰρ προσφέρεται ὁ χίμαρος. 672a Ps 65,17 Ανευ γλώττης καὶ προσφορᾶς αὐτῆς κατὰ τὸ σιωπώμενον ἐν διανοίᾳ υψωσα. 673a Ps 65,18 ∆υνατὸν δὲ τὸν στίχον ἐκλαβεῖν τῇ νοήσει τοιαύτῃ· εἰ τῇ καρδίᾳ μου ἀδικίαν ἐθεώρουν, μὴ εἰσακουσάτω κύριος. εἰς τοῦτο λήψῃ τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ Παύλου Οὐδὲν ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ δεδικαίωμαι, τῷ ἐγχωρεῖν θεὸν ὁρᾶν ἐν ἐμοὶ ἀδικίαν καν ἡ ἐμὴ καρδία μὴ θεωρεῖ αὐτήν. εἰς τοῦτο παραλήψῃ καὶ τὸ Παραπτώματα τίς συνήσει; ἀπὸ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθάρισόν με. 674a Ps 65,20 ̔Υπῆρκται δέ μοι τοῦτο, οὐ τοσοῦτον διὰ τὸ ἀναμάρτητόν μου οσον διὰ τὸ ελεος αὐτοῦ, ο οὐκ ἀπέστησέ μου, ἀφισταμένου τοῦ θεϊκοῦ ἐλέους ἀπὸ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακουομένου διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀγαθὰ αἰτεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ τὰ ἀνθρώποις φίλα τε καὶ ἡδέα.