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"A song of ascents." This psalm is also suitable for those still living in Babylon. 1. "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence my help will come." Surrounded by many and various pains, I cast my eyes about everywhere, longing to enjoy some assistance. 2. "My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." But I know that I will enjoy no human support, but the favor of God alone is sufficient for me. And showing the power of this help, he added: "Who made heaven and earth." For he who fashioned these things by a word is able to suffice for me also. From this the Prophet explains to them what must be done. 3. "May he not let your foot be moved, nor may he that keeps you slumber." If you remain, he says, having a firm hope in him, you will receive all care from him. However, he put "He that keeps you will not slumber" in human terms, from a metaphor of those who diligently guard flocks, and armies, and cities. For he showed that the divine nature is impassible through what follows. 4. "Behold, he that keeps Israel shall not slumber nor sleep." The guard is wakeful by nature, but if you are shaken, he himself will receive a kind of slumber, which is neglect. For he will no longer take thought for you, but will deliver you to those who have chosen to plot against you. 5. "The Lord will keep you: the Lord is your shelter upon your right hand." This he also said in the 15th psalm: "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I might not be moved." And here 80.1880 therefore, he says, that being at your right hand, he will both shelter, and guard, and deem you worthy of all providence. 6. "The sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night." They say the moon is not only moist, but also hot, and burns bodies just like the sun. But he says that both by night and by day, enjoying his providence, you will be kept unharmed. And he reminds them of an ancient story. For when they were freed from the slavery of the Egyptians, being shaded by the cloud, they did not experience the solar flame. 7, 8. "The Lord will keep you from all evil; the Lord will keep your soul. The Lord will keep your coming in and your going out, from this time forth, and for evermore." Through what has been said he has shown the manifold providence of God; by whose presence, we become stronger than the warring foes, and we escape the snares of things visible and invisible.

INTERPRETATION OF THE 121ST PSALM. "A song of ascents." The prophet adapted the preceding psalms for the disheartened; but this one at hand, for those who have already received the good news of the return, and have begun the much-desired journey. For rejoicing and dancing, they say to one another: 1. "I was glad when they said to me, We will go into the house of the Lord." This is a voice of piety; for they are gladdened and rejoice, not as though they will recover their houses, but as though they will see the divine house. 2. "Our feet have been standing in your courts, O Jerusalem." Already, he says, do we seem to stand in those sacred courts? And to perform the divine liturgies. 3. "Jerusalem, built as a city whose fellowship is in the same." But Symmachus has it thus: Jerusalem which is being built, as a city having connection. For she who is now desolate, and has scattered houses, will again flourish, and will be densely populated, and will regain her former precincts. 4. "For there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord; a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord." In the time of Rehoboam the tribes were divided, and the ten were separated from the Davidic kingdom; but after the return there became one rule, and all ran together to Jerusalem according to the divine law, offering to God the 80.1881 customary liturgy. This, therefore, the prophet here prophesies, that the

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"Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν." Τοῖς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ἔτι διάγουσι καὶ οὗτος πρόσφορος ὁ ψαλμός. αʹ. "Ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου εἰς τὰ ὄρη, ὅθεν ἥξει ἡ βοήθειά μου." Ὑπὸ πολλῶν καὶ παντοδαπῶν πε ριστοιχιζόμενος ἀλγεινῶν, πάντοθεν περιῆγον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, ἐπικουρίας τινὸς ἀπολαῦσαι ποθῶν. βʹ. "Ἡ βοήθειά μου παρὰ Κυρίου, τοῦ ποιήσαν τος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." Ἀλλ' οἶδα ὡς ἀν θρωπίνης μὲν οὐδεμιᾶς ῥοπῆς ἀπολαύσω, ἀπόχρη δέ μοι μόνη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ εὐμένεια. Καὶ δεικνὺς τῆς βοη θείας τὸ δυνατὸν ἐπήγαγε· "Τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὸν οὐ ρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." Ὁ γὰρ ταῦτα τεκτηνάμενος λόγῳ ἱκανὸς ἐπαρκέσαι κἀμοί. Ἐντεῦθεν αὐτοῖς τὸ πρα κτέον ὁ Προφήτης ἐξηγεῖται. γʹ. "Μὴ δῴη εἰς σάλον τὸν πόδα σου, μηδὲ νυ στάξῃ ὁ φυλάσσων σε." Εἰ μείνοις, φησὶ, βεβαίαν ἔχων εἰς αὐτὸν τὴν ἐλπίδα, πάσης παρ' αὐτοῦ τεύξῃ κηδεμονίας. Τὸ μέντοι, "Οὐ νυστάξῃ ὁ φυλάσσων σε," ἀνθρωπίνως τέθεικεν, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν καὶ ποίμνια, καὶ στρατείας, καὶ πόλεις ἐπιμελῶς φυλατ τόντων. Ὅτι γὰρ ἀπαθὴς ἡ θεία φύσις, διὰ τῶν ἐπι φερομένων ἐδήλωσεν. δʹ. "Ἰδοὺ οὐ νυστάξει, οὐδὲ ὑπνώσει ὁ φυλάσσων τὸν Ἰσραήλ." Φύσει μὲν ἄγρυπνος ὁ φύλαξ, σοῦ δὲ σαλευομένου, καὶ αὐτὸς οἷόν τινα νυσταγμὸν δέξεται τὴν ἀμέλειαν. Οὐκ ἔτι γάρ σου φροντίσει, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύειν προῃρημένοις προήσεται. εʹ. "Κύριος φυλάξει σε, Κύριος σκέπη σοι ἐπὶ χεῖρα δεξιάν σου." Τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῷ ιεʹ ἔφη ψαλμῷ· "Προωρώμην τὸν Κύριον ἐνώπιόν μου διὰ παντὸς, ὅτι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἐστὶν, ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῶ." Καὶ ἐνταῦθα 80.1880 τοίνυν, φησὶν, ὅτι παρὰ τὴν δεξιάν σου χεῖρα γε νόμενος, καὶ σκεπάσει, καὶ φρουρήσει, καὶ πάσης ἀξιώσει προνοίας. ʹ. "Ἡμέρας ὁ ἥλιος οὐ συγκαύσει σε, οὐδὲ ἡ σελήνη τὴν νύκτα." Φασὶ τὴν σελήνην μὴ μόνον ὑγρὰν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θερμὴν εἶναι, καὶ καίειν ὁμοίως τῷ ἡλίῳ τὰ σώματα. Λέγει δὲ, ὅτι Καὶ νύκτωρ, καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν, τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ προνοίας ἀπολαύων, ἀβλαβὴς φυλαχθήσῃ. Ἀναμιμνήσκει δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας. Καὶ γὰρ ἡνίκα τῆς Αἰγυπτίων δουλείας ἠλευθερώθησαν, τῇ νεφέλῃ σκιαζόμενοι, τῆς ἡλιακῆς φλογὸς οὐκ ἐλάμβανον πεῖραν. ζʹ, ηʹ. "Κύριος φυλάξει σε ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ, φυλάξει τὴν ψυχήν σου ὁ Κύριος. Κύριος φυλάξει τὴν εἴσοδόν σου, καὶ τὴν ἔξοδόν σου, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος." Τὴν παντοδαπὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοιαν διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ἐδήλωσεν· ἧς παρού σης, κρείττους τῶν πολεμούντων γινόμεθα δυσμε νῶν, καὶ τὰς τῶν ὁρατῶν καὶ ἀοράτων διαφεύγομεν πάγας.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΡΚΑʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. "Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν." Τοὺς μὲν προει ρημένους τοῖς ἀθυμοῦσιν ὁ

προφήτης προσήρμοσε· τοῦτον δὲ τὸν μετὰ χεῖρας, τοῖς ἤδη δεξαμένοις τῆς ἐπανόδου τὰ εὐαγγέλια, καὶ τῆς περιποθήτου πο ρείας ἁψαμένοις. Γεγηθότες γὰρ, καὶ χορεύοντες, πρὸς ἀλλήλους φασίν· αʹ. "Εὐφράνθην ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρηκόσι μοι· Εἰς οἶκον Κυρίου πορευσόμεθα." Εὐσεβείας αὕτη φωνή· γάν νυνται γὰρ καὶ χαίρουσιν, οὐχ ὡς τὰς οἰκίας ἀπολη ψόμενοι, ἀλλ' ὡς τὸν θεῖον οἶκον ὀψόμενοι. βʹ. "Ἑστῶτες ἦσαν οἱ πόδες ἡμῶν, ἐν ταῖς αὐ λαῖς σου, Ἱερουσαλήμ." Ἤδη, φησὶν, ἑστάναι δοκοῦμεν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς ἐκείναις αὐλαῖς; καὶ τὰς θείας λειτουργίας ἐπιτελεῖν. γʹ. "Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἰκοδομουμένη ὡς πόλις, ἧς ἡ μετοχὴ αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό." Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕ τως· Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὴν οἰκοδομουμένην, ὡς πό λιν συνάφειαν ἔχουσαν. Ἡ γὰρ νῦν ἔρημος, καὶ ἐσκεδασμένας ἔχουσα οἰκίας, καὶ πάλιν ἀν θήσει, καὶ πυκνωθήσεται, καὶ τοὺς προτέρους ἀπο λήψεται περιβόλους. δʹ. "Ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἀνέβησαν αἱ φυλαὶ, φυλαὶ Κυ ρίου· μαρτύριον τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, τοῦ ἐξομολογήσα σθαι τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου." Ἐπὶ τοῦ Ῥοβοὰμ διηρέθησαν αἱ φυλαὶ, καὶ τῆς ∆αβιτικῆς αἱ δέκα βασιλείας ἀπεσχοινίσθησαν· μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐπάνοδον μία γέγονεν ἡγεμονία, καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ συν έτρεχον ἅπαντες κατὰ τὸν θεῖον νόμον, τῷ Θεῷ τὴν 80.1881 συνήθη λειτουργίαν προσφέροντες. Τοῦτο τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης ἐνταῦθα προθεσπίζει, ὅτι αἱ