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I am with him in affliction; I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. I will satisfy him with length of days, and I will show him my salvation. The things concerning the tabernacle were commanded to angels, according to what was previously stated, so that angels might care for and guard the man perfected in Christ, or also his Church, or also the flesh, which he used as an instrument for the salvation of men. For these things, being lesser and more humble, were entrusted to angels; and I think that, just as one might entrust to servants the ministry of sandals, or the service of some other more humble things, so also whatever small and bodily things were effected through the flesh of our Savior, of these things angels were appointed as servants, and ministered to him; concerning which the writing of the Gospel also testifies, saying, that Angels came and ministered to him. But the more important and greater and higher things he no longer assigns to angels, but to the Savior himself. And what these were has been shown by the preceding; among which was also this: A thousand shall fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand. And the end of all things and the final victory of our Savior over all things is presented through this: You will tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the dragon and the lion. And I believe that through these are signified the principalities and powers and world-rulers, and the spiritual forces of wickedness. The Savior himself, therefore, is said to tread upon these and to trample so many beasts with the more divine steps of his indwelling power; but as for not stumbling in anything, nor having any hindrance to his more bodily activities, angels had received this ministry. But just as concerning his bodily tabernacle it was said, A scourge will not come near your dwelling, and the cause was added through this, Because he will command his angels concerning you; so also now after the, 23.1165 You will tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the dragon and the lion, again the cause is added, referring not to angels, but to the Most High himself, from whose person it was said, Because he has hoped in me, I will deliver him. And how he hoped in him, the word taught beforehand, saying: He who dwells in the help of the Most High; and, He will say to the Lord: You are my helper and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in him. Therefore, the victorious and final act after all the aforementioned ones of our Savior, or of the man being perfected in him, or of his own perfect body, his Church, signified through, You will tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the dragon and the lion, assigns the entire reference and the cause of the victory to the Most High. Wherefore it is said: Because he has hoped in me, I will deliver him, because he knew my name. I am with him in affliction, I will deliver and glorify him. And it seems to me that according to another sense the prophecy foretells the entire manner of our Savior's life as a man; I mean the first temptation, and that during the passion, and the assault on the opposing powers after the dissolution of the body. And the first parts of the psalm: let the present prophecy be said more generally to allude to the temptation in the wilderness, which he is introduced in the Gospels as having been tempted by the devil; and the second parts, in which the word presented angels ministering to his body, his sojourn during his human life; and the third parts, through which he is said to have trodden upon the asp and basilisk, and to have trampled the dragon and lion, the victory after death against the ruling spirits; after all of which it is added: I will deliver him and glorify him; I will satisfy him with length of days, and I will show him my salvation, by which are represented the salvation from the dead after death, and the long-aged and immortal life, and the divine glory and the honor and kingdom with the Father.

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μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει· ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτὸν, καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Μακρότητα ἡμερῶν ἐμπλήσω αὐτὸν, καὶ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου. Τὰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ σκηνώματος ἀγγέλοις ἐνετέλλετο, κατὰ τὰ προαποδοθέντα, ὅπως ἄγγελοι τημελῶσι καὶ φυλάττωσι τοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ τετελειωμένου ἀνδρὸς, ἢ καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ, ἢ καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς, ᾗ κέχρητο δίκην ὀργάνου ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας. Ταῦτα γὰρ ὡς βραχύτερα καὶ εὐτελέστερα ἀγγέλοις ἐπετέτραπτο· καὶ οἶμαι ὅτι, ὡς ἄν τις οἰκέταις ἐπιτρέψειεν ὑποδημάτων διακονίαν, ἢ ἄλλων τινῶν εὐτελεστέρων ὑπηρεσίαν, οὕτως ὅσα μικρὰ καὶ σωματικὰ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐνηργεῖτο σαρκὸς, τούτων ὑπηρέται καθίσταντο ἄγγελοι, καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ· περὶ ὧν καὶ ἡ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου γραφὴ μαρτυρεῖ λέγουσα, ὅτι Προσῆλθον ἄγγελοι, καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ. Τὰ δὲ προὐργιαίτερα καὶ μείζονα καὶ ὑψηλότερα οὐκέτι ἀγγέλοις, ἀλλ' αὐτῷ τῷ Σωτῆρι ἀνατίθησι. Τίνα δὲ ἦν ταῦτα, δεδήλωται διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν· ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ τὸ, Πεσεῖται ἐκ τοῦ κλίτους σου χιλιὰς καὶ μυριὰς ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν σου. Τέλος δὲ πάντων καὶ ὑστάτη κατὰ πάντων τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν νίκη παρίσταται διὰ τοῦ, Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις δράκοντα καὶ λέοντα. ∆ηλοῦσθαι δὲ διὰ τούτων ἡγοῦμαι ἀρχὰς καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ κοσμοκράτορας, καὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας. Ταύταις μὲν οὖν ἐπιβαίνειν, καὶ τὰ τοσαῦτα θηρία καταπατεῖν τοῖς θειοτέροις τῆς ἐνθέου δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ βαδίσμασιν αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ λέγεται· τὸ δὲ ἐν μηδενὶ προσκόπτειν, μηδ' ἐμποδὼν γίνεσθαί τινα ταῖς σωματικωτέραις ἐνεργείαις αὐτοῦ, ἄγγελοι τὴν διακονίαν εἰλήφεσαν. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ σωματικοῦ σκηνώματος αὐτοῦ ἐλέγετο, Μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ ἐν τῷ σκηνώματί σου, καὶ τὸ αἴτιον ἐπήγετο διὰ τοῦ, Ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ· οὕτω καὶ νῦν μετὰ τὸ, 23.1165 Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις δράκοντα καὶ λέοντα, πάλιν ἡ αἰτία ἐπιλέγεται, οὐκ ἐπ' ἀγγέλους ἀναφέρουσα, ἀλλ' ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὸν Ὕψιστον, οὗ ἐκ προσώπου λέλεκται, Ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἤλπισε, καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτόν. Πῶς δὲ ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἤλπισε, προλαβὼν ἐδίδαξεν ὁ λόγος εἰπών· Ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου· καὶ, Ἐρεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ· Ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ, καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ ἐπ' αὐτόν. Ἡ τοίνυν ἐπινίκιος καὶ τελευταία πρᾶξις μετὰ πάσας τὰς προκαταλεχθείσας τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἢ καὶ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ τελειουμένου ἀνδρὸς, ἢ καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τελείου σώματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ, δηλωθεῖσα διὰ τοῦ, Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις δράκοντα καὶ λέοντα, τὴν πᾶσαν ἀναφορὰν καὶ τῆς νίκης τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑψίστῳ ἀνατίθησι. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἤλπισε, καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἔγνω τὸ ὄνομά μου. Μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει, ἐξελοῦμαι καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Καί μοι δοκεῖ καθ' ἑτέραν διάνοιαν ἡ προφητεία θεσπίζειν πάντα τὸν τρόπον τοῦ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον βίου τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν· λέγω δὲ τὸν πρῶτον πειρασμὸν, καὶ τὸν κατὰ τὸ πάθος, τήν τε μετὰ τὴν λύσιν τοῦ σώματος ἐπὶ τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις ἔφοδον. Καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τοῦ ψαλμοῦ· κοινότερον δὲ οὕτω λεγέσθω ἡ παροῦσα προφητεία τὸν πειρασμὸν αἰνίττεσθαι τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου, ὃν ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις εἰσῆκται πειραθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου· τὰ δὲ δεύτερα, ἐν οἷς ἀγγέλους διακονεῖσθαι τῷ αὐτοῦ σώματι παρέστησεν ὁ λόγος, τὴν κατὰ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον διατριβὴν αὐτοῦ· τὰ δὲ τρίτα, δι' ὧν λέγεται ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβεβηκέναι, καὶ καταπεπατηκέναι δράκοντα καὶ λέοντα, τὴν μετὰ τὸν θάνατον κατὰ τῶν ἀρχοντικῶν πνευμάτων νίκην· μεθ' ἃ πάντα ἐπιλέγεται· Ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτὸν καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν· Μακρότητα ἡμερῶν ἐμπλήσω αὐτὸν, καὶ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου, τῆς μετὰ τὸν θάνατον ἐκ νεκρῶν σωτηρίας, καὶ τῆς μακραίωνος καὶ ἀθανάτου ζωῆς, τῆς τε ἐνθέου δόξης καὶ τῆς παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ τιμῆς τε καὶ βασιλείας διὰ τούτων παρισταμένης.