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of him, which he made. And yet it was necessary, if indeed the things indicated by the psalm referred to the Jewish Sabbath, that he be said to rejoice in God's leisure, and in His, as one might say, rest and inactivity; but now he does not say so, but, "You have made me glad, O Lord, in Your work, and in the works of Your hands I will rejoice," clearly showing that the "work" is to be understood in one sense, and again the "works of the hands" of God in another, in which he confesses to have been made glad, but not in inactivity.

In one sense, the "work" would be this day, about which it is said: "This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it;" and it indicates the day of resurrection and the Lord's day, as we have demonstrated elsewhere, citing from the creation account, in which Moses says: "In the beginning, God made the heaven and the earth;" and he adds, "Let there be light," and there was light; and God called the light day. For you see that no other creation happens on this day, but only this day itself, so that the saying applies to it, "This is the day which the Lord has made." For He made nothing else but the day itself, which was the first Lord's day, about which it is now said, "For you have made me glad, O Lord, in Your work;" but the works of His hands are those recorded as having come into being on the subsequent days.

In another sense, the "work" might be said to be the intelligible, rational, and bodiless 23.1176 creations of God, in which sense the soul made in the image of God is also recorded to have been made; while the "works of his hands" are his sensible and corporeal creations, about which it is said: "For I will see the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have established."

The Scripture before us teaches, therefore, that in the leisure of divine exercises, and in the freedom from and inactivity of corporeal and mortal works, which the word calls Sabbath and rest, we should, while contemplating the intelligible and sensible works of God, say: "For you have made me glad, O Lord, in Your work, and in the works of Your hands I will rejoice," for from the greatness and beauty of the creatures, their creator is seen in proportion; and the intelligible, bodiless, and super-cosmic things, even His invisible attributes, are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood through the things that are made, according to the holy Apostle.

How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man will not know, and a fool will not understand these things.

"You," he says, "have made me glad, O Lord, in Your work, and in the works of Your hands;" "but not every man has the same disposition as I." For there are many senseless and foolish, not knowing nor understanding these very things in which I myself confess to rejoice and be glad.

Therefore the truly senseless and foolish man denies that the universe was established by the providence and reason of God, but ascribes the great works of God to fate and necessity, and to irrational impulse and chance. And as a fool, he stumbles at the governance of the universe, because he seems to see many irregularities in mortal life. The senseless and foolish man, being displeased, immediately turns to blasphemous and impious reasoning, asserting that godlessness and lack of providence, and randomness, and chance, are the causes of these things; but I, having been taught to be pious even concerning the aforementioned unclear things, am persuaded that the reasons for Your judgment and governance are beyond my littleness. Therefore I say: How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are exceedingly exalted.

For how can mortal reasonings search the depths of God, and know His thoughts by which He governs human affairs? For as no one among men knows the things of a man except the spirit that is in him, so also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God, and is not able to say. But we, not the spirit of the world

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αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἐποίησε. Καὶ μὴν ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ ἄρα εἰς τὸ Ἰουδαϊκὸν Σάββατον ἀνεφέρετο τὰ διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ δηλούμενα, ἐπὶ τῇ σχολῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τῇ, ὡς ἂν εἴποιεν, ἀναπαύσει καὶ ἀργίᾳ αὐτοῦ ηὐφράνθαι λέγεσθαι· νῦν δὲ οὐχ οὕτω φησὶν, ἀλλ' Εὔφρανάς με, Κύριε, ἐν τῷ ποιήματί σου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν σου ἀγαλλιάσομαι, ἄντικρυς παριστὰς ἰδίως μὲν νοεῖσθαι τὸ ποίημα, καὶ πάλιν ἰδίως τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐφ' οἷς ηὐφράνθαι ὁμολογεῖ, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀργίᾳ. Εἴη δ' ἂν ποίημα μὲν καθ' ἕνα τρόπον αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα, περὶ ἧς εἴρηται· Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ· δηλοῖ δὲ τὴν ἀναστάσιμον καὶ Κυριακὴν ἡμέραν, ὡς ἐν ἑτέροις ἀποδεικτικῶς παρεστήσαμεν, τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς κοσμοποιίας παραθέμενοι, καθ' ἣν ὁ Μωϋσῆς· Ἐν ἀρχῇ, φησὶν, ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· καὶ ἐπιλέγει, Γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς· καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν. Ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὡς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐν ταύτῃ γίνεται δημιούργημα, ἀλλ' αὕτη μόνη ἡ ἡμέρα, ὡς ἐφαρμόζειν αὐτῇ τὸ φάσκον λόγιον, Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλο τι ἀλλ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐποίησεν, ἥτις ἦν ἡ πρώτη Κυριακὴ, περὶ ἧς καὶ νῦν λέγεσθαι τὸ, Ὅτι ηὔφρανάς με, Κύριε, ἐν τῷ ποιήματί σου· ἔργα δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ τὰ ἐν ταῖς μετὰ ταῦτα ἡμέραις γεγενῆσθαι ἀναγεγραμμένα. Κατὰ δὲ ἕτερον τρόπον λεχθείη ἂν ποίημα μὲν τὰ νοητὰ καὶ λογικὰ καὶ ἀσώματα τοῦ 23.1176 Θεοῦ κτίσματα, καθ' ὃ καὶ ἡ κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγενημένη ψυχὴ πεποιῆσθαι ἀναγέγραπται· ἔργα δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ τὰ αἰσθητὰ καὶ σωματικὰ αὐτοῦ δημιουργήματα, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· Ὅτι ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου, σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας, ἃ σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας. ∆ιδάσκει τοίνυν· ἡ μετὰ χεῖρας Γραφὴ, ἐν τῇ σχολῇ τῶν θείων ἀσκήσεων, καὶ τῇ τῶν σωματικῶν καὶ θνητῶν ἔργων ἀσχολίᾳ τε καὶ ἀργίᾳ, ἥν τινα Σάββατον καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν ὁ λόγος ἀποκαλεῖ, ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῶν τε νοητῶν ὁμοῦ καὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἔργων τοῦ Θεοῦ σχολάζοντας λέγειν· Ὅτι ηὔφρανάς με, Κύριε, ἐν τῷ ποιήματί σου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν σου ἀγαλλιάσομαι, ἐκ μεγέθους γὰρ καὶ καλλονῆς κτισμάτων ἀναλόγως ὁ γενεσιουργὸς αὐτῶν θεωρεῖται· καὶ τὰ νοητὰ δὲ καὶ ἀσώματα καὶ ὑπερκόσμια, τά τε ὁρατὰ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται, κατὰ τὸν ἱερὸν Ἀπόστολον. Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε, σφόδρα ἐβαθύνθησαν οἱ διαλογισμοί σου. Ἀνὴρ ἄφρων οὐ γνώσεται, καὶ ἀσύνετος οὐ συνήσει ταῦτα. Ἐμὲ, φησὶν, ηὔφρανας, ὦ Κύριε, ἐν τῷ ποιήματί σου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν σου· ἀλλ' οὐ καὶ πᾶς ἀνὴρ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐμοὶ φέρει διάθεσιν. Πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσιν ἄφρονες καὶ ἀσύνετοι, οὐ γινώσκοντες, οὐδὲ συνιέντες αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα, ἐφ' οἷς αὐτὸς εὐφραίνεσθαι καὶ ἀγαλλιᾷν ὁμολογῶ. ∆ιόπερ ὁ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄφρων καὶ ἀσύνετος ἀναιρεῖ μὲν τὸ προνοίᾳ καὶ λόγῳ Θεοῦ συνεστάναι τὸ πᾶν, εἱμαρμένῃ δὲ καὶ ἀνάγκῃ, ἀλόγῳ τε φορᾷ καὶ τύχῃ προσγράφει τὰ τηλικαῦτα τοῦ Θεοῦ δημιουργήματα. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἀσύνετος προσκόπτει τῇ διοικήσει τοῦ παντὸς, διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν πολλὰς ἀνωμαλίας ἐν τῷ θνητῷ βίῳ θεωρεῖν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἄφρων καὶ ἀσύνετος δυσχεραίνων εὐθὺς ἐπὶ βλάσφημον καὶ ἀσεβῆ λογισμὸν τρέπεται, ἀθεότητά τε καὶ ἀπρονοησίαν, καὶ τὸ εἰκῆ, καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε, τούτων εἶναι φάσκων αἴτια· ἐγὼ δὲ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν προειρημένων ἀδήλων εὐσεβεῖν δεδιδαγμένος, πέπεισμαι, ὅτι ὑπὲρ τὴν ἐμὴν σμικρότητα τυγχάνουσιν οἱ τῆς σῆς κρίσεως καὶ διοικήσεως λόγοι. ∆ιό φημι· Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε! σφόδρα ὑπερυψώθησαν οἱ διαλογισμοί σου. Καὶ πόθεν γὰρ θνητοῖς λογισμοῖς ἐρευνᾷν τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ γινώσκειν τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτοῦ καθ' οὓς διοικεῖ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα; Ὡς γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ δεὶς ἔγνω εἰ μὴ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐχ οἷός τε λέγειν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κόσμου