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by intimacy with and patronage of rulers, placing their own hopes on some other of mortal and perishable things, will be put to shame. "For cursed is the man who has his hope in man, and makes flesh his arm." And the word has cried out, shouting: "Do not trust in rulers, nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation;" and again: "If riches flow, do not set your heart on them." And in other places we are taught to say: "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man shall do to me. It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in man. It is good to hope in the Lord, rather than to hope in rulers." But he who is conscious of good things in himself might say to the Lord also, "In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me." For with great confidence he has taken courage, that God, judging most righteously, will find him worthy not of condemnation, nor of rejection, but of help and support; wherefore he says: "In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me." And with a 23.776 purified conscience, sending up his suppliant cries to God, he would say also, "Incline your ear to me, and save me." But also as a matter of necessity he besought God, saying: "Be to me a protecting God and a strong place to save me." For God, protecting and defending, would not have done this for some small matter; but only the perfect man could say to God: "For you are my stronghold and my refuge." Instead of which, Aquila translated: "For you are my rock and my fortress;" and Symmachus: "For you are my rock and my refuge." -"My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of the lawless and the unjust. For you are my patience, O Lord, my hope from my youth." The perfect man calls upon God as his own possession, saying: "My God;" since there is a promise of God concerning the worthy, saying: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." And he who says, "In you, O Lord, have I hoped," and has put all things second, and has cast himself upon God alone, would rightly say, "My God." He prays to be delivered from the hand of the sinner, so that he may not become like the sinner in his deeds, nor like the lawless one; wherefore he adds: "From the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of the lawless and the unjust;" but also so that he may not fall into the hands of such men, and he would reasonably call God his own God, not only for the reasons stated before, but also for the reasons that are added next. For you, he says, are my patience, and you are my hope from my youth. For I have never ceased to wait for you, nor has there ever been a time when I did not set you forth as my hope. For these reasons I beseech you to be delivered from the hand of sinners and lawless men. "Upon you have I been stayed from the womb, from my mother's belly you are my protector." Hoping in God from a young age might also be said of David. Since, when he was young and shepherding the sheep of Jesse his father, with faith and hope in God he went against lions and bears for the sake of the salvation of the sheep; imitating the good shepherd, of whom it is said: "As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear." But also, being a boy, he drove the evil spirit from Saul by the power of faith and hope in God. Since also everyone who from a young age has been deemed worthy of election according to God, such as Timothy was, having learned the holy Scriptures from a child, "My hope from my youth." But the words, "Upon you have I been stayed from the womb, from my mother's belly, you are my protector," would fit only our Savior, who was untroubled and unconfused during the time he was carried in the womb. For all other men, while being conceived and receiving the first constitution of the body, living as it were a vegetative life, use neither the senses of the body, nor the consequent intellect; but also the ruling principle

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ἀρχόντων οἰκειότητι καὶ προστασίᾳ, ἐφ' ἑτέρῳ τινὶ τῶν θνητῶν καὶ ἐπικήρων τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀνατιθέντες ἐλπίδας, αἰσχύνην ὀφλήσουσιν. «Ἐπικατάρατος γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ὃς τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχει ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον, καὶ στηρίζει σάρκα βραχίονος αὐτοῦ.» Κέκραγέ τε βοῶν ὁ λόγος· «Μὴ πεποίθατε ἐπ' ἄρχοντας, μηδὲ ἐφ' υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι σωτηρία·» καὶ πάλιν· «Πλοῦτος ἐὰν ῥέῃ, μὴ προστίθεσθε καρδίαν.» Καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις δὲ λέγειν διδασκόμεθα· «Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος. Ἀγαθὸν πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ ἄνθρωπον. Ἀγαθὸν ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ ἄρχοντας.» Ὁ δὲ ἀγαθὰ ἑαυτῷ συνειδὼς εἴποι ἂν τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ τὸ, «Ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ σου ῥῦσαί με καὶ ἐξέλου με.» Πολλῇ γὰρ πεποιθήσει τεθάῤῥηκεν, ὅτι, κατὰ τὸ δικαιότατον κρίνας ὁ Θεὸς, εὑρήσει αὐτὸν οὐ κατακρίσεως, οὐδὲ ἀποβολῆς ἄξιον, ἀλλὰ βοηθείας καὶ ἀντιλήψεως· διό φησιν· «Ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ῥῦσαί με καὶ ἐξέλου με.» Συνειδήσει 23.776 δὲ κεκαθαρμένῃ τὰς ἱκετηρίους φωνὰς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀναπέμπων, καὶ τὸ, «Κλῖνον πρὸς μὲ τὸ οὖς σου, καὶ σῶσόν με,» ἔλεγεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἀναγκαίως τῷ Θεῷ παρεκάλει λέγων· «Γενοῦ μοι εἰς Θεὸν ὑπερασπιστὴν καὶ εἰς τόπον ὀχυρὸν τοῦ σῶσαί με.» Προασπίζων γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ὑπερμαχῶν, οὐκ ἂν περὶ μικροῦ τινος τοῦτ' ἐποίησε· μόνος δὲ ὁ τέλειος εἴποι ἂν τῷ Θεῷ· «Ὅτι στερέωμά μου καὶ καταφυγή μου σὺ εἶ.» Ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας· «Ὅτι πέτρα μουκαὶ ὀχύρωμά μου,» ἡρμήνευσεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· «Ὅτι πέτρα μου καὶ καταφυγή μου σὺ εἶ.» -»Ὁ Θεός μου, ῥῦσαί με ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ, καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς παρανομοῦντος καὶ ἀδικοῦντος. Ὅτι σὺ εἶ ἡ ὑπομονή μου, Κύριε, ἡ ἐλπίς μου ἐκ νεότητός μου.» Ὁ τέλειος ὥσπερ ἴδιον κτῆμα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπικαλεῖται λέγων· «Ὁ Θεός μου·» Ἐπειδήπερ ἐπαγγελία ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ τῶν ἀξίων λέγουσα· «Ἔσομαι αὐτῶν Θεὸς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι λαός.» Ὁ δὲ λέγων, «Ἐπὶ σοὶ, Κύριε, ἤλπισα,» καὶ πάντα δεύτερα θέμενος, ἐπὶ μόνον δὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἑαυτὸν ἐπιῤῥίψας, εἰκότως εἴποι ἂν, «Ὁ Θεός μου.» Ῥυσθῆναι δὲ ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ εὔχεται, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς πράξεσιν ὅμοιος γένηται τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ, μηδὲ τῷ παρανομοῦντι· διὸ ἐπιλέγει· «Ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ, καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς παρανομοῦντος καὶ ἀδικοῦντος·» ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅπως μὴ ὑποχείριος γένηται τοῖς τοιούτοις, εὐλόγως δὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἑαυτοῦ Θεὸν ὀνομάζοι ἂν, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν λελεγμένα, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὰς ἑξῆς ἐπιλεγομένας αἰτίας. Σὺ γάρ μου, φησὶ, τυγχάνεις ὑπομονὴ, καὶ σύ μου ἐλπὶς ἐκ νεότητος. Οὐ γὰρ πώποτε διέλιπόν σε ὑπομένων, οὐδὲ γέγονέ τις καιρὸς, ἐν ᾧ οὐχί σε προεθέμην ἐμαυτοῦ ἐλπίδα. Ὧν χάριν ἱκετεύω ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ παρανομούντων ῥυσθῆναι. «Ἐπὶ σὲ ἐπεστηρίχθην ἀπὸ γαστρὸς, ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου σύ μου εἶ σκεπαστής.» Τὸ μὲν ἐκ νέας ἡλικίας ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπίζειν λέγοιτ' ἂν καὶ περὶ τοῦ ∆αυΐδ. Ἐπείπερ, νέος ὢν καὶ ποιμαίνων τὰ πρόβατα Ἰεσσαὶ τοῦ πατρὸς, πίστει καὶ ἐλπίδι τῇ εἰς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ λέουσι καὶ ἄρκτοις ἐπῄει τῆς τῶν προβάτων σωτηρίας ἕνεκα· τὸν καλὸν μιμούμενος ποιμένα, περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· «Ὃν τρόπον ὅταν ἐκσπάσῃ ὁ ποιμὴν ἐκ στόματος τοῦ λέοντος δύο σκέλη, ἢ λοβὸν ὠτίου.» Ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδάριον ὢν ἤλαυνε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ πονηρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Σαοὺλ δυνάμει πίστεως καὶ ἐλπίδος τῆς εἰς τὸν Θεόν. Ἐπειδὰν καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἐκ νέας ἡλικίας τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ἐκλογῆς κατηξιωμένος, οἷος ἦν Τιμόθεος ἐκ παιδὸς ἅγια Γράμματα μεμαθηκὼς τὸ, «Ἡ ἐλπίς μου ἐκ νεότητός μου.» Τὸ δὲ, «Ἐπὶ σὲ ἐπεστηρίχθην ἀπὸ γαστρὸς, ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου, σύ μου εἶ σκεπαστὴς,» μόνῳ ἂν ἁρμόζοι τῷ Σωτῆρι ἡμῶν ἀθολώτῳ καὶ ἀσυγχύτῳ γενομένῳ καθ' ὃν ἐκυοφορεῖτο καιρόν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ λοιποὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἐν τῷ κυΐσκεσθαι, καὶ πρώτην λαμβάνειν σύστασιν τοῦ σώματος, φυτικὴν ὥσπερ ζωὴν ζῶντες, οὔτε τοῖς τοῦ σώματος αἰσθητηρίοις, οὔτε τῇ διανοίᾳ παρακολουθούσῃ κέχρηνται· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν