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to death, and in the graves their 80.1952 bones will be scattered. For he called the graves Hades. 8. "For to you, Lord, Lord, are my eyes, in you have I hoped, do not take away my soul." But I trust in none of human things, but I await your help, and I pray that my soul may not be stripped of it. 9. "Keep me from the trap which they have set for me, and from the snares of the workers of iniquity." He mentioned these traps and snares also in the psalm before this one. And he calls the plots traps and snares, from which he begs to be delivered. 10. "The sinners will fall into his net." That is, of God. For those who set traps for others, as in some net, will be caught by divine punishment, and they will suffer what they do, and will endure what they bring upon others. "I am alone, until I pass by." But I will remain separated from them, until I receive the end of life.

PSALM 141. 1. "Of understanding, for David, when he was in the cave praying."

The hypothesis of the psalm is clear. For the divine David, being pursued by Saul, flees to the cave, and hides in its innermost parts. Then, having seen Saul brought down there, he drove out the cowardice from his mind; and he called upon divine aid, and obtained it. 2. "With my voice I cried to the Lord, with my voice I prayed to the Lord." And from this it is clear, that he calls the eagerness of the mind a cry. For how could one who was hiding and eager to be unnoticed have cried out using his voice? He says, therefore, that with all eagerness I supplicated God. 3. "I will pour out my prayer before him, I will declare my affliction before him." And the calamity, he says, I have made clear to him, and I have diligently offered supplication for it; and he has shown the great extent of his prayer through the phrase "I will pour out". 4. "When my spirit failed within me." And I did these things seeing the excess of evils; for I was encamped next to death itself. "And you knew my paths." All my things are clear to you, and nothing of my deeds has escaped your eye. "In this way, in which I was walking, they hid a trap for me." And those who hunt wild beasts track their paths, and in them they set their traps. Imitating them, Saul was continually meddling in the affairs concerning David, and where he learned he was staying, there he used ambushes. This also 80.1953 the devil does; and for the one walking the path of temperance, he places the trap of love of pleasure; and for the one who rejoices in almsgiving, the net of vainglory; for the one unattached to money, the opportunities for avarice; for virginity, arrogance, and, to put it simply, for each way of life, an ambush that is easy to fall into. 5. "I looked to my right hand, and beheld, and there was no one who knew me." I saw no helper, he says, from any quarter. For he called the help from those who are more well-disposed 'the right hand'. "Flight has perished from me, and there is no one who seeks after my soul." I have fallen into inescapable enclosures, and I find no way of escape, nor anyone to defend me. 6. "I cried to you, Lord, I said: You are my hope." Therefore I beseech you, on whom I have hung my hopes. "You are my portion in the land of the living. [7.] Attend to my prayer, for I am brought very low." Many times the divine David called God his own portion; and now he has done so likewise. For I have, he says, no other help, but you alone as my helper, and through you I implore to obtain life. And here he calls misfortunes "humiliation". For this also Symmachus declared, "Listen to my words, for I have become very weak." "Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I." My enemies have become stronger than me; but through your might I will escape their hands. 8. "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to

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τῷ θανάτῳ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς τάφοις τὰ τούτων 80.1952 ὀστᾶ σκεδασθήσονται. Παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην γὰρ τοὺς τά φους ἐκάλεσεν. ηʹ. "Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε, Κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, μὴ ἀντανέλῃς τὴν ψυχήν μου." Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδενὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θαῤῥῶ, ἀλλὰ τὴν σὴν προσμένω βοήθειαν, καὶ παρακαλῶ ταύτης τὴν ἐμὴν μὴ γυμνωθῆναι ψυχήν. θʹ. "Φύλαξόν με ἀπὸ παγίδος, ἧς συνεστήσαντό μοι, καὶ ἀπὸ σκανδάλων τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνο μίαν." Τῶν παγίδων τούτων καὶ τῶν σκανδάλων ἐμνημόνευσε καὶ ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου ψαλμῷ. Παγίδας δὲ καὶ σκάνδαλα τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς καλεῖ, ὧν ἀπαλλα γῆναι παρακαλεῖ. ιʹ. "Πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ οἱ ἁμαρ τωλοί." Τουτέστι, τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οἱ γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰς παγίδας πηγνύντες, καθάπερ τινὶ δικτύῳ, τῇ θείᾳ συλληφθήσονται τιμωρίᾳ, καὶ ἅπερ δρῶσιν ὑπομε νοῦσιν, καὶ πείσονται ἃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπάγουσιν. "Καταμόνας εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, ἕως οὗ παρέλθω." Ἐγὼ δὲ τούτων κεχωρισμένος διατελέσω, ἕως ἂν δέξωμαι τοῦ βίου τὸ πέρας.

ΡΜΑʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ. "Συνέσεως τῷ ∆αβὶδ, ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ προσευχόμενον."

∆ήλη τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ἡ ὑπόθεσις. ∆ιωκόμενος γὰρ ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σαοὺλ, καταφεύγει μὲν ὑπὸ τὸ σπήλαιον, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐνδοτάτοις τούτου κατακρύπτεται χωρίοις. Εἶτα θεασάμενος τὸν Σαοὺλ ἐκεῖ καταχθέντα, τὴν μὲν δειλίαν τῆς διανοίας ἐξήλασε· τὴν δὲ θείαν ἐπικου ρίαν ἐκάλεσε, καὶ ταύτης τετύχηκε. βʹ. "Φωνῇ μου πρὸς Κύριον ἐκέκραξα, φωνῇ μου πρὸς Κύριον ἐδεήθην." Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δῆλον, ὡς κραυγὴν τὴν τῆς διανοίας προθυμίαν καλεῖ. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐκέκραξε φωνῇ χρησάμενος ὁ κρυπτόμενος, καὶ λαθεῖν προθυμούμενος; Λέγει τοίνυν, ὅτι Μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας ἱκέτευσα τὸν Θεόν. γʹ. "Ἐγχεῶ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τὴν δέησίν μου, τὴν θλίψιν μου ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐπαγγελῶ." Καὶ τὴν συμφορὰν, φησὶν, αὐτῷ πεποίηκα δήλην, καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ ταύτης ἱκετείαν ἐπιμελῶς προσενήνοχα· τὸ πολὺ δὲ τῆς δεήσεως διὰ τοῦ ἐκχεῶ παρεδήλωσεν. δʹ. "Ἐν τῷ ἐκλείπειν ἐξ ἐμοῦ τὸ πνεῦμά μου." Ταῦτα δὲ ἔδρων τὴν ὑπερβολὴν θεώμενος τῶν κα κῶν· παρ' αὐτὸν γὰρ ἐσκηνούμην τὸν θάνατον. "Καὶ σὺ ἔγνως τὰς τρίβους μου." Πάντα δῆλά σοι τὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν ἐμῶν πράξεων τὸν σὸν ἔλαθεν ὀφθαλμόν. "Ἐν ὁδῷ ταύτῃ, ᾗ ἐπορευόμην, ἔκρυψαν παγίδα μοι." Καὶ οἱ θηρεύοντες τῶν θηρίων τὰς ὁδοὺς ἀνιχνεύουσι, καὶ ἐν ἐκείναις ἱστᾶσι τὰ θήρα τρα. Τούτους μιμούμενος ὁ Σαοὺλ, περιεργαζόμενος τὰ κατὰ τὸν ∆αβὶδ διετέλει, καὶ ἔνθα διάγειν αὐτὸν ἐμάνθανεν, ἐκεῖ ταῖς ἐνέδραις ἐκέχρητο. Τοῦτο καὶ 80.1953 ὁ διάβολος δρᾷ· καὶ τῷ μὲν ὁδεύοντι τὴν τῆς σω φροσύνης ὁδὸν, τίθησι τῆς φιληδονίας τὴν πάγην· τῷ δὲ ἐλεημοσύνῃ χαίροντι, τῆς κενοδοξίας τὸ δίκτυον· τῷ ἀφιλοχρημάτῳ, τῆς πλεονεξίας τὰς ἀφορμάς· τῇ παρθενίᾳ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν, καὶ ἁπαξ απλῶς ἑκάστῳ βίῳ τὸν εὐθήρατον λόχον. εʹ. "Κατενόουν εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ, καὶ ἐπέβλεπον, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐπιγινώσκων με." Οὐδένα, φησὶν, οὐδαμόθεν ἑώρων ἐπίκουρον. ∆εξιὰ γὰρ τὸ πρᾶγμα τῶν εὐνουστέρων ἐκάλεσεν. "Ἀπώλετο φυγὴ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὴν ψυχήν μου." Ἀφύκτοις ἕρκεσι περιέπεσα, καὶ πόρον οὐχ εὑρίσκω φυγῆς, οὐδὲ τὸν ἐπαμυνόμενον. ʹ. "Ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε, εἶπα· Σὺ εἶ ἡ ἐλ πίς μου." Σὲ τοίνυν ἱκετεύω, οὗ τὰς ἐμὰς ἐλπίδας ἐξήρτησα. "Μερίς μου εἶ ἐν γῇ ζώντων. [ζʹ.] Πρόσχες πρὸς τὴν δέησίν μου, ὅτι ἐταπεινώθην σφόδρα." Πολλά κις ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ μερίδα οἰκείαν ἐκάλεσε τὸν Θεόν· καὶ νῦν δὲ ὡσαύτως τοῦτο πεποίηκεν. Οὐδεμίαν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἄλλην ἔχω βοήθειαν, ἀλλὰ σὲ μόνον ἐπίκουρον, καὶ διὰ σοῦ τυχεῖν ἀντιβολῶ τῆς ζωῆς. Ταπείνωσιν δὲ τὰς συμφορὰς ἐνταῦθα καλεῖ. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος παρεδήλωσεν, Ἀκρόασαι τὰς λαλιάς μου, ὅτι ἠτόνησα σφόδρα. "Ῥῦσαί με ἐκ τῶν καταδιωκόντων με, ὅτι ἐκραταιώθησαν ὑπὲρ ἐμέ." Ἰσχυρότεροί μοι γεγένηνται οἱ πολέμιοι· διὰ δὲ τῆς σῆς ῥοπῆς τὰς τούτων διαφεύξομαι χεῖρας. ηʹ. "Ἐξάγαγε ἐκ φυλακῆς τὴν ψυχήν μου, τοῦ ἐξομολογήσασθαι