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seize, and there be no one to deliver. O ineffable loving-kindness! The words of a loving mother, or rather of a goodness infinitely surpassing that affection. For he who showed such an accusation, who demonstrated such wrath, takes precaution. He who said, I will rebuke you, and I will set your sins before your face, and having issued a condemning sentence, he reverses the sentence again, not delivering them as convicts to punishment, but entrusting them to exhortation and counsel as those who ought to be corrected, disciplining them with fear, and saying, Lest he seize like a lion, and there be no one to deliver. A sacrifice of praise will glorify me, and there is the way, which I will show him, the salvation of God. Having shown his loving-kindness, having exhorted, having counseled, having threatened, having frightened, having imposed unmitigated punishment, and having introduced counsel, he also tells the way by which it is possible to correct what has been done, saying: A sacrifice of praise will glorify me. What he says is this: It will not only cease my wrath, nor will it annul the condemnation, but it will also glorify me. See the greatness of the good deed, when God is glorified through it. And there is the way, which I will show him, the salvation of God. Have you seen an ineffable reward? Have you seen an excess of loving-kindness? For he promises to show the way of God, 55.258 and the true salvation of God to those who do right. Let us therefore obey him who promises, and through a right life and a sacrifice of praise let us glorify him. For this is the way that leads to salvation, through this sacrifice; which may we all attain, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, for to him is the glory and the power, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ON THE 108TH PSALM.

O God, do not be silent to my praise; for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one has been opened against me. They have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue, and

with words of hatred they have surrounded me, and they have fought against me without a cause. Instead of loving me, they slandered me, but I prayed. And they have set evil against me in return for good, and hatred in return for my love. Appoint over him

a sinner, and let the devil stand at his right hand. When he is judged, may he go forth condemned, and may his prayer become sin. May his days be few, and may another take his office. May his sons become orphans, and his wife a widow; may his sons be shaken and wander, and may they beg,

may they be cast out from their homes. May the creditor search out all that he has, and may strangers plunder his labors.

1. We have need of much understanding here. For the words in their bare utterance and cursory hearing disturb many of those who are not paying attention. For the entire psalm is filled with curses, and the entire discourse has come through to us with such things, and it shows a certain boiling and ardent anger of the speaker, not stopping at the one doing wrong, but also advancing the punishment upon his children, and father, and mother, and not being content with a single calamity, but also joining evils upon evils. For see how many things he prays for against them. Appoint a sinner over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand.

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ἁρπάσῃ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ᾖ ὁ ῥυόμενος. Ὢ φιλανθρωπίας ἀφάτου! Μητρὸς φιλοστόργου τὰ ῥήματα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀπείρως τὴν φιλοστοργίαν ἐκείνην νικώσης ἀγαθότητος. Ὁ γὰρ τοσαύτην ἐμφήνας κατηγορίαν, ὁ τοσαύτην ὀργὴν ἐπιδειξάμενος προασφαλίζεται. Ὁ εἰπὼν, Ἐλέγξω σε, καὶ παραστήσω κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου, καὶ ἀπόφασιν ἐκβαλὼν καταδικάζουσαν, ἀναλύει τὴν ἀπόφασιν πάλιν, οὐχ ὡς καταδίκους τῇ τιμωρίᾳ παραδιδοὺς, ἀλλ' ὡς ὀφείλοντας διορθωθῆναι τῇ παραινέσει καὶ τῇ συμβουλῇ ἐγχειρίζων, τῷ φόβῳ σωφρονίζων, καὶ λέγων, Μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων, καὶ οὐ μὴ ᾖ ὁ ῥυόμενος. Οὐσία αἰνέσεως δοξάσει με, καὶ ἐκεῖ ὁδὸς, ἣν δείξω αὐτῷ, τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ. ∆είξας τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, παραινέσας, συμβουλεύσας, ἀπειλήσας, φοβήσας, ἐπιστήσας τὴν τιμωρίαν ἄκρατον, καὶ συμβουλὴν εἰσενεγκὼν, λέγει καὶ τὸν τρόπον, δι' οὗ δυνατὸν διορθώσασθαι τὰ γεγενημένα, εἰπών· Θυσία αἰνέσεως δοξάσει με. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοῦτό ἐστιν· Οὐ μόνον παύσει μου τὴν ὀργὴν, οὐδὲ λύσει τὴν καταδίκην, ἀλλὰ καὶ δοξάσει με. Ὅρα τοῦ κατορθώματος τὸ μέγεθος, ὅταν ὁ Θεὸς δι' αὐτὸν δοξάζηται. Καὶ ἐκεῖ ὁδὸς, ἣν δείξω αὐτῷ, τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἶδες μισθὸν ἄφατον; εἶδες φιλανθρωπίας ὑπερβολήν; Τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ γὰρ ὁδὸν 55.258 δείξειν ἐπαγγέλλεται, καὶ τὸ ὄντως σωτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῖς κατορθοῦσι. Πειθώμεθα τοίνυν τῷ ἐπαγγελλομένῳ, καὶ διὰ βίου ὀρθοῦ καὶ θυσίας αἰνέσεως τοῦτον δοξάζωμεν. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ ὁδὸς ἐπὶ σωτηρίαν φέρει, διὰ τῆς θυσίας ταύτης· ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΡΗʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ.

Ὁ Θεὸς, τὴν αἴνεσίν μου μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς· ὅτι στόμα ἁμαρτωλοῦ, καὶ στόμα δόλιον ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἠνοίχθη. Ἐλάλησαν κατ' ἐμοῦ γλώσσῃ δολίᾳ, καὶ

λόγοις μίσους ἐκύκλωσάν με, καὶ ἐπολέμησάν με δωρεάν. Ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀγαπᾷν με, ἐνδιέβαλλόν με, ἐγὼ δὲ προσηυχόμην. Καὶ ἔθεντο κατ' ἐμοῦ κακὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν, καὶ μῖσος ἀντὶ τῆς ἀγαπήσεώς μου. Κατάστησον ἐπ' αὐτὸν

ἁμαρτωλὸν, καὶ διάβολος στήτω ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ. Ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαι αὐτὸν, ἐξέλ θοι καταδεδικασμένος, καὶ ἡ προσευχὴ αὐτοῦ γενέσθω εἰς ἁμαρτίαν. Γενηθήτωσαν αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ὀλίγαι, καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λάβοι ἕτερος. Γενηθήτωσαν οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ὀρφανοὶ, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ χήρα· σαλευόμενοι μετα ναστήτωσαν οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπαιτησάτω σαν,

ἐκβληθήτωσαν ἐκ τῶν οἰκοπέδων αὐτῶν. Ἐξερευνησάτω δανειστὴς πάντα ὅσα ὑπάρχει αὐτῷ, καὶ διαρπασάτωσαν ἀλλότριοι τοὺς πόνους αὐτοῦ.

αʹ. Πολλῆς ἐνταῦθα συνέσεως ἡμῖν χρεία. Τὰ γὰρ ῥήματα κατὰ τὴν ψιλὴν προφορὰν, καὶ τὴν πρόχειρον ἀκρόασιν, πολλοὺς τῶν μὴ προσεχόντων θορυβεῖ. Καὶ γὰρ ἀρᾶς ἅπας ὁ ψαλμὸς ἐμπέπλησται, καὶ διὰ τοιούτων ἅπας διεξῆλθεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ἐμφαίνει τινὰ θυμὸν ζέοντα καὶ διακαῆ τοῦ λέγοντος, καὶ οὐ μέχρι τοῦ ἀδικοῦντος ἱστάμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ παῖδας, καὶ πατέρα, καὶ μητέρα προάγοντα τὴν τιμωρίαν, καὶ οὐδὲ μιᾷ ἀρκούμενον συμφορᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ κακὰ ἐπὶ κακοῖς συνάπτοντα. Ὅρα γὰρ ὅσα κατεύχεται. Κατάστησον ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν, καὶ διάβολος στήτω ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ.