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this psalm was appointed by the fathers to be said each evening, not just because of the one phrase which says: The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Since other psalms also have this phrase, like that one which says, At evening and morning and at noon I will declare and announce. And again, Yours is the day, and yours is the night. And again the verse, Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning; and one might find many psalms suitable for the time of evening. It was not for this reason, therefore, that the fathers designated this psalm, but they legislated it to be said as some saving remedy and purification for sins, so that whatever we may be defiled by throughout the length of the day, whether in the marketplace, or at home, or wherever we may be spending our time, when we come to the evening, we might put these things off through this spiritual song. For it is a remedy destructive of all these things. Such also is the morning psalm; for nothing prevents us from mentioning that one briefly. For it kindles longing for God, and rouses the soul, and having set it greatly on fire, and filled it with much goodness and love, it thus allows it to draw near. Let us see also where it begins, and what it teaches us: O God, my God, to you I rise early. My soul has thirsted for you. Do you see how it shows the words of a soul on fire? And where there is love of God, all evil things are gone; where there is remembrance of God, there is forgetfulness of sins, and the destruction of evils. Thus have I appeared to you in the holy place, 55.428 to see your power and your glory. What is, Thus? With this longing, he says, with this love, so as to see your glory, which it is possible to see everywhere on earth. But lest, leaving the matter at hand, we introduce a digression, having referred the hearer to what has been said about that one, let us now take up the matters before us. But what does this one say? Lord, I have cried to you, hear me. What are you saying? Tell me; because you have cried out, you deem yourself worthy to be heard, and you put this forward as a reasonable cause for being heard? Is there therefore now a need for loud voices, and for those with volume? But this would not be reasonable. For what sin did he commit, the one with a small voice, and a weak voice, and a slow tongue? Was not Moses such a man, and he was heard more than all? Did not the Jews cry out more than all, but God did not grant their petitions? For to have a loud voice or a small one is an advantage and a disadvantage of nature. But these things neither cause one to be heard, nor cause one to be unheard; for they are worthy neither of praises nor of accusations. For many of the advantages of nature also belong to the defiled. Was not Absalom handsome, and well-formed, and did he not draw the beauty of his body even to his locks of hair? What then? Was not Elisha bald, so as even to be mocked by the children? But his beauty did not benefit the one, nor did his deformity harm the other. And why do I speak of the weak-voiced, or the slow of tongue, when indeed Moses was heard even while silent, and Hannah while not even speaking? But God, speaking to the Jews, said: If you make many prayers, I will not hear you. What then does this one say, I have cried to you, hear me? He speaks here of the inward cry, which the fervent heart brought forth, and the contrite mind, by which Moses, crying out, was also heard. For just as one who shouts empties all his strength, so also one who cries out with the heart gathers together all his mind. βʹ. Therefore, God seeks such a cry, one that concentrates the heart, one that does not allow the psalmist to yawn and be lax. And he seeks not only such a cry, but also that one pray to him. For there are many who stand, but do not cry out to God; rather, their lips cry out to God, and utter the name of God, but their mind perceives nothing of what is being said. Such a one does not cry out, even if he shouts loudly; the

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ψαλμὸν τοῦτον τετάχθαι παρὰ τῶν πατέρων καθ' ἑκάστην ἑσπέραν λέγεσθαι, οὐδὲ διὰ τὴν μίαν λέξιν τὴν λέγουσαν· Ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου θυσία ἑσπερινή. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλοι ψαλμοὶ ταύτην ἔχουσι τὴν λέξιν, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος ὁ λέγων, Ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωῒ καὶ μεσημβρίας διηγήσομαι καὶ ἀπαγγελῶ. Καὶ πάλιν, Σή ἐστιν ἡ ἡμέρα, καὶ σή ἐστιν ἡ νύξ. Καὶ πάλιν τὸ, Ἑσπέρας αὐλισθήσεται κλαυθμὸς, καὶ εἰς τὸ πρωῒ ἀγαλλίασις· καὶ πολλοὺς ἂν εὕροις τις ψαλμοὺς ἐπιτηδείους τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ἑσπέρας. Οὐ διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν τοῦτον τὸν ψαλμὸν ἐτύπωσαν οἱ πατέρες, ἀλλ' ὥς τι φάρμακον σωτήριον καὶ ἁμαρτημάτων καθάρσιον ἐνομοθέτησαν λέγεσθαι, ἵν' ὅσαπερ ἂν προστριβώμεθα δι' ὅλου τοῦ μήκους τῆς ἡμέρας, ἢ ἐν ἀγορᾷ, ἢ ἐν οἰκίᾳ, ἢ ὅπου δήποτε διατρίβοντες, ταῦτα ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν ἑσπέραν, διὰ τῆς ἐπῳδῆς ταύτης ἀποδυσώμεθα τῆς πνευματικῆς. Φάρμακον γάρ ἐστιν ἁπάντων τούτων ἀναιρετικόν. Τοιοῦτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ ἑωθινὸς ψαλμός· οὐδὲν γὰρ κωλύει ἐν βραχεῖ κἀκείνου ἐπιμνησθῆναι. Τὸν πόθον γὰρ ἀνάπτει τὸν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ διεγείρει τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ σφόδρα πυρώσας, καὶ πολλῆς ἐμπλήσας ἀγαθότητος καὶ ἀγάπης, οὕτως ἀφίησι προσελθεῖν. Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ πόθεν ἄρχεται, καὶ τί διδάσκει ἡμᾶς· Ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Θεός μου, πρὸς σὲ ὀρθρίζω. Ἐδίψησέ σε ἡ ψυχή μου. Ὁρᾷς πῶς πεπυρωμένης δείκνυσι ψυχῆς ῥήματα; Ἔνθα δὲ ἀγάπη Θεοῦ, πάντα οἴχεται τὰ πονηρά· ἔνθα μνήμη Θεοῦ, ἐνταῦθα ἁμαρτημάτων λήθη, καὶ κακῶν ἀναίρεσις. Οὕτως ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὤφθην 55.428 σοι, τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὴν δύναμίν σου, καὶ τὴν δόξαν σου. Τί ἐστιν, Οὕτως; Μετὰ τοῦ πόθου, φησὶ, τούτου, μετὰ τῆς ἀγάπης ταύτης, ὥστε ἰδεῖν σου τὴν δόξαν, ἢν πανταχοῦ τῆς γῆς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ τὸ ἐν χερσὶν ἀφέντες, τὸ πάρεργον ἐπεισαγάγωμεν, παραπέμψαντες τὸν ἀκροατὴν εἰς τὰ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου εἰρημένα, τῶν προκειμένων νῦν ἁψώμεθα. Τί δέ φησιν οὗτος; Κύριε, ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, εἰσάκουσόν μου. Τί λέγεις; εἰπέ μοι· ἐπειδὴ ἐκέκραξας, ἀκουσθῆναι ἀξιοῖς, καὶ ταύτην τίθης αἰτίαν, ὡς εὔλογον τοῦ ἀκουσθῆναι; Οὐκοῦν μεγαλοφώνων νῦν χρεία, καὶ τόνον ἐχόντων; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τοῦτο λόγον. Τί γὰρ ἥμαρτεν ὁ μικρόφωνος καὶ ἰσχνόφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος; Οὐχὶ τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ Μωϋσῆς, καὶ πάντων μᾶλλον ἠκούετο; οὐχὶ πλείω πάντων οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐβόων, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπένευσεν αὐτῶν ταῖς δεήσεσιν ὁ Θεός; Τὸ γὰρ μέγα φωνῆσαι καὶ μικρὸν, φύσεως πλεονέκτημα καὶ ἐλάττωμα. Ταῦτα δὲ οὔτε ἀκούεσθαι, οὔτε παρακούεσθαι ποιεῖ· οὔτε γὰρ ἐγκωμίων, οὔτε κατηγορημάτων ἄξια. Πολλὰ γὰρ τῶν τῆς φύσεως πλεονεκτημάτων καὶ μιαροῖς πρόσεστιν. Οὐχὶ καλὸς ἦν, καὶ εὐειδὴς, καὶ μέχρι τῶν βοστρύχων αὐτῶν εἷλκε τοῦ σώματος τὴν ὥραν ὁ Ἀβεσσαλώμ; Τί δαί; οὐχὶ φαλακρὸς ἦν ὁ Ἐλισσαῖος, ὡς καὶ σκώπτεσθαι παρὰ τῶν παιδίων; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνον ἡ ὥρα ὠφέλησεν, οὔτε τοῦτον ἡ ἀμορφία παρέβλαψε. Καὶ τί λέγω τὸν ἰσχνόφωνον, ἢ βραδύγλωσσον, ὅπου γε καὶ σιγῶν ἠκούετο ὁ Μωϋσῆς, καὶ μηδὲ φθεγγομένη ἡ Ἄννα; Ἰουδαίοις δὲ διαλεγόμενος ὁ Θεὸς ἔλεγε· Ἐὰνπληθύνητε τὴν δέησιν, οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι ὑμῶν. Τί οὖν οὗτος λέγει, Ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, εἰσάκουσόν μου; Κραυγὴν ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἔνδον φησὶν, ἢν ἡ καρδία ἔτικτεν ἡ πεπυρωμένη, καὶ ἡ διάνοια ἡ συντετριμμένη, ἣν καὶ Μωϋσῆς βοῶν ἠκούετο. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ βοῶν πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ κενοῖ, οὕτω καὶ ὁ καρδίᾳ βοῶν πάντα τὸν νοῦν συστρέφει. βʹ. Τοιαύτην οὖν κραυγὴν ζητεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, τὴν συστρέφουσαν τὴν καρδίαν, τὴν οὐκ ἐῶσαν χασμᾶσθαι, καὶ ἀνακλᾶσθαι τὸν ψάλλοντα. Οὐ μόνον δὲ κραυγὴν τοιαύτην ζητεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ πρὸς αὐτὸν εὔχεσθαι. Εἰσὶ γὰρ πολλοὶ οἳ ἑστήκασι μὲν, οὐ βοῶσι δὲ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν χείλη πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν βοᾷ, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ περιφέρει, ἡ δὲ διάνοια οὐδενὸς ἐπαισθάνεται τῶν λεγομένων. Ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐ κράζει, κἂν μέγα βοᾷ· ὁ