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our God, and make the voice of His praise be heard.” We have observed from the beginning of our discourse that the psalm is evangelical; which is also evident throughout the whole fabric of the prophecy. For in the beginning it called upon all the earth; then in the middle, having taught more things, it makes a clearer prophecy about the nations, saying: “His eyes look upon the nations.” Therefore, after this teaching, it fittingly commands all the nations, as those who have benefited from having learned what was said before, to bless the maker of so many wonders and terrible works, saying: “Bless, O nations, our God.” For not your own, it says, those formerly erroneously considered gods, but our God, whom we have claimed from our fathers, knowing this one to be the true God. Now at least, even if not before, you also bless. And praising him, and blessing him as the only true and common God of all of us and of you, do this not in silence, nor with a quiet voice; but with much boldness and courage, use loud voices and great shouts; so that the praise sent up by you to God may be heard even by outsiders; which indeed the Savior also indicated, saying: “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” This, then, is the meaning of the oracle that says: “And make the voice of His praise be heard;” or according to Symmachus: “Make the voice of His hymn audible.” One can marvel at the result of the saying, when throughout the whole inhabited world of men, in the midst of cities, and in villages and countries, in all the Churches of God, the peoples of Christ gathered from all 23.660 the nations, send up their hymns and psalms, not to their ancestral gods, nor to the god-fighting demons, but only to Him who is theologized by the prophets, with a great cry, so that the voice of those who are singing is audible even to those standing outside; the oracle spoken here being fulfilled in deed: “Bless, O nations, our God, and make the voice of His praise be heard.” Then the following is connected: “Who has set my soul to life, and has not allowed my feet to be moved.” But instead of, “my soul,” all the other interpreters have rendered it, “our soul;” and again instead of, “my feet,” all have likewise interpreted it, “our feet.” For not only, it says, for the ancient works of God, which were shown through the things before, do you send up the hymn and praises to him; but also for the benefits to us ourselves who are saying these things. For since He strengthened our feet, which ran far to preach the saving Gospel to all you nations, and kept them steadfast in the streams of life, removing the hindrances in the way; and when many were plotting against our soul, he himself became its savior and guardian; and for these very reasons “bless, O nations, our God, and make the voice of His praise be heard.” And these things were clearly proclaimed beforehand from the person of the preachers of the Gospel, whose course and the excellence of their feet Isaiah, or rather the Holy Spirit through him, admiringly exclaimed: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good things, of those who preach peace!” Since, therefore, having toiled much, and having endured the persecutions from the unbelieving nations, bonds and imprisonments and all sorts of plots, they have remained steadfast; they rightly command all the nations to bless Him who strengthened them, and who kept the soul to life, so that it might not fall into the death of sin, and who made their feet firm so as to endure no shaking, nor slip and fall, to make audible the voice of

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Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀκουτίσατε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς αἰνέσεως αὐτοῦ.» Εὐαγγελικὸν εἶναι τὸν ψαλμὸν καὶ ἀρχόμενοι τοῦ λόγου τετηρήκαμεν· ὃ καὶ δι' ὅλου τοῦ ὕφους τῆς προφητείας παρίσταται. Ἐκάλει μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν· εἶτα ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ πλείονα διδάξας, σαφέστερον περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ποιεῖται προφητείαν λέγων· «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσιν.» Μετὰ δὴ οὖν τὴν τούτων διδασκαλίαν ἀκολούθως πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὡς ἂν ὠφελημένοις ἐκ τοῦ προμεμαθηκέναι τὰ προλεχθέντα, εὐλογεῖν τῶν τοσούτων θαυμάτων τῶν τε φοβερῶν ἔργων ποιητὴν παρακελεύεται λέγων· «Εὐλογεῖτε, ἔθνη, τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν.» Μὴ γὰρ τοὺς ὑμετέρους, φησὶ, τοὺς πάλαι πεπλανημένως νομιζομένους θεοὺς, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἡμέτερον, ὃν ἐκ πατέρων ἡμεῖς ἐπεγραψάμεθα, τοῦτον γνόντες εἶναι τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεόν. Νῦν γοῦν, εἰ καὶ μὴ πρότερον, καὶ ὑμεῖς εὐλογεῖτε. Εὐφημοῦντες δὲ αὐτὸν, καὶ εὐλογοῦντες ὡς μόνον ἀληθινὸν καὶ κοινὸν ἁπάντων ἡμῶν τε καὶ ὑμῶν Θεὸν, μὴ σεσιωπημένως, μηδὲ ἠρεμέᾳ τῇ φωνῇ τοῦτο πράττετε· σὺν πολλῇ δὲ παῤῥησίᾳ καὶ θάρσει, φωναῖς τε γεγωνοῖς καὶ βοαῖς χρήσασθε μεγάλαις· ὡς καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἀκούεσθαι τὴν ἀναπεμπομένην εἰς Θεὸν ὑφ' ὑμῶν αἴνεσιν· ὃ δὴ καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐδήλου λέγων· «Ὃ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ εἴπατε ἐν τῷ φωτὶ, καὶ ὃ εἰς τὸ οὖς ἀκούετε, κηρύσσετε ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων.» Ταύτης οὖν ἔχεται τῆς διανοίας τὸ φάσκον λόγιον· «Καὶ ἀκουτίσατε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς αἰνέσεως αὐτοῦ·» ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «Ἐξάκουστον ποιεῖτε τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ ὕμνου αὐτοῦ.» Θαυμάσαι δὲ ἔστι τοῦ λόγου τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα, ὅτε καθ' ὅλης τῆς ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένης, ἐν μέσαις ταῖς πόλεσι, ἔν τε κώμαις καὶ χώραις κατὰ πάσας τὰς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λαοὶ ἐξ ἁπάν 23.660 των τῶν ἐθνῶν συνειλεγμένοι, τοὺς ὕμνους καὶ τὰς ψαλμῳδίας, οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς πατρῴοις θεοῖς, οὐδὲ τοῖς θεομάχοις δαίμοσι, μόνῳ δὲ τῷ παρὰ τοῖς προφήταις θεολογουμένῳ μετὰ μεγάλης ἀναπέμπουσι βοῆς, ὡς καὶ τοῖς ἐκτὸς ἑστῶσιν ἐξάκουστον εἶναι τῶν ψαλλόντων τὴν φωνήν· ἔργῳ πληρουμένου τοῦ φάσκοντος ἐνταῦθα λογίου· «Εὐλογεῖτε, ἔθνη, τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀκουτίσατε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς αἰνέσεως αὐτοῦ.» Εἶθ' ἑξῆς συνῆπται· «Τοῦ θεμένου τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ζωὴν, καὶ μὴ δόντος εἰς σάλον τοὺς πόδας μου.» Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, «τὴν ψυχήν μου, τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν,» οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες ἑρμηνευταὶ ἐκδεδώκασι· καὶ πάλιν ἀντὶ, «τοὺς πόδας μου, τοὺς πόδας ἡμῶν,» ὁμοίως οἱ πάντες ἡρμήνευσαν. Μὴ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς παλαιοῖς, φησὶ, μόνοις ἔργοις τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἃ διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐδηλοῦτο, τὸν ὕμνον αὐτῷ καὶ τὰς αἰνέσεις ἀναπέμπετε· ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὰς εἰς ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς τοὺς ταῦτα λέγοντας εὐεργεσίας. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοὺς ἡμετέρους πόδας, πολλὰ δραμόντας, ὥστε πᾶσιν ὑμῖν τοῖς ἔθνεσι κηρύξαι τὸ σωτήριον Εὐαγγέλιον, ἐδυνάμωσεν, ἐφύλαξέ τε ἀδιατρέπτους ἐν τοῖς τοῦ βίου ῥεύμασι τὰ ἐμποδὼν κωλύματα περιελών· πολλῶν τε τῇ ψυχῇ ἡμῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων, αὐτὸς ταύτης σωτὴρ καὶ φύλαξ ἐγένετο· καὶ τούτων αὐτῶν ἕνεκα «εὐλογεῖτε, ἔθνη, τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀκουτίσατε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς αἰνέσεως αὐτοῦ.» Ταῦτα δὲ ἄντικρυς ἐκ προσώπου τῶν κηρύκων τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου προανεφωνεῖτο, ὧν τὸν δρόμον καὶ τῶν ποδῶν τὴν ἀρετὴν Ἡσαΐας, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον δι' αὐτοῦ ἀποθαυμάζον ἐβόα· «Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων ἀγαθὰ, τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων εἰρήνην!» Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν, πολλὰ κεκμηκότες. καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἀπίστων ἐθνῶν διωγμοὺς ὑπομείναντες, δεσμά τε καὶ φυλακὰς καὶ παντοίας ἐπιβουλὰς, ἀδιάτρεπτοι μεμενήκασιν· εἰκότως τὸν δυναμώσαντα αὐτοὺς, καὶ τὴν μὲν ψυχὴν εἰς ζωὴν φυλάξαντα. ὡς μὴ ἐκπεσεῖν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατον, τοὺς δὲ πόδας αὐτῶν στεῤῥοὺς ἀπεργασάμενον πρὸς τὸ μὴ σάλον ὑπομεῖναι, μηδὲ ὄλισθον καὶ πτῶσιν, εὐλογεῖν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι παρακελεύονται, ἐξάκουστόν γε ποιεῖν τὴν φωνὴν τῆς