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they will yield a fragrant and fertile and perfect fruit-bearing produce, having been transplanted into the courts of our God, that is, in the heavenly mansions; since there are many with the Father, where those now planted in the house of God, having been divided according to worth, will blossom at the proper time. They will still be multiplied in a prosperous old age, and they will be thriving, to proclaim that the Lord our God is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in him. He does not only say that those today planted in his house will blossom in the courts of God, but also that they themselves will be multiplied, just as above the cedar in Lebanon was multiplied. And when will this be for them, but in a prosperous old age? And be persuaded that "old age" here is said to be the perfection of the soul, in which those now planted in the house of the Lord will be thriving. For even though especially at the present time, in which they are planted in the house of the Lord, they continue to suffer hardship, enduring the first labors of husbandry; but when they are deemed worthy of a prosperous old age, they will become thriving, resting from their labors and about to receive the prizes for their struggles; And they will confess, That the Lord our God is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in him. For if the enumerated goods were not to succeed those dedicated to God, and if a destructive end did not await the impious and the workers of iniquity, it would perhaps be possible to charge the providence of God with injustice. But when such ends have been prepared for the just, which we also pray to obtain, and for the impious such punishments have been threatened, from which may we be delivered; how would it not be consistent to confess, That the Lord our God is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in him? 23.1184 But the foolish man will not know these things, nor will the senseless man understand these things, because he is darkened by his own foolishness; but I, who know and understand them because I have been enlightened by the divine Spirit, and because I see how very deep the thoughts of God have become; rightly I rejoice and am glad in the divine administration, and I bear present things nobly for the sake of the hope of things to come. For which reasons, dedicating all my leisure and inactivity from evils to God, I try to observe the delightful and holy Sabbaths, by confessing and singing psalms and proclaiming in the morning the mercy of God, and his truth by night. For then most of all the truth of the God-fearing soul is shown, when, being in gloom and darkness, as in the brightest light and in the clearest day it displays the genuine and sincere nature of its conscience. Such also is the psalm spoken with a song for the day of the Sabbath, that is, the time of leisure and rest in God, in which it is fitting for us too, being at leisure for the study of the divine teachings, to send up to God the thanksgiving words of the present song. PSALM OF AN ODE TO DAVID. II. The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself with majesty. Since according to the Apostle death reigned from Adam until Moses, that is, from the first generation of men until the bodily worship according to Moses, which was formerly performed for the earthly Jerusalem long ago until the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ; rightly when death was reigning, and he who had the power of death, that is, the devil, held sway, the Lord was not then reigning over men, but a certain polytheistic and demonic deceit. And the same Apostle teaches concerning our Savior, saying: Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, he himself likewise partook of the same sufferings, that through death he might destroy him who has the power

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ἀποδώσουσιν εὐῶδες καὶ γόνιμον καὶ τῶν τελείων καρπῶν οἰστικὸν, ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν μεταφυτευθέντες, τουτέστιν ἐν ταῖς ἐπουρανίοις μοναῖς· εἴ γε πολλαὶ παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ, ἔνθα κατ' ἀξίαν διαμερισθέντες οἱ νῦν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ πεφυτευμένοι, κατὰ καιρὸν τὸν προσήκοντα ἐξανθήσουσιν. Ἔτι πληθυνθήσονται ἐν γήρᾳ πίονι, καὶ εὐπαθοῦντες ἔσονται, τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαι, ὅτι εὐθὴς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῷ. Οὐ μόνον φησὶν, ὅτι ἐξανθήσουσιν ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ σήμερον ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ πεφυτευμένοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ πληθυνθήσονται, ὥσπερ ἀνωτέρω ἡ κέδρος ἡ ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ ἐπληθύνετο. Πότε δὲ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς ἔσται, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ γήρᾳ τῷ πίονι; Γῆρας δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν τελείωσιν πέπεισο λέγεσθαι τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐν ᾗ γενόμενοι εὐπαθοῦντες ἔσονται οἱ νῦν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου πεφυτευμένοι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν, ἐν ᾧ φυτεύονται ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου κακοπαθοῦντες διατελοῦσι, τοὺς πρώτους τῆς γεωργίας πόνους ὑπομένοντες· ἀλλ' ἐπὰν τοῦ γήρως τοῦ πίονος ἀξιωθῶσιν, εὐπαθοῦντες γενήσονται ἀναπαυόμενοι τῶν καμάτων καὶ τῶν ἀγώνων τὰ ἔπαθλα ἀποληψόμενοι· Ὁμολογήσουσί τε, Ὅτι εὐθὴς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῷ. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τὰ κατηριθμημένα ἀγαθὰ ἔμελλε διαδέχεσθαι τοὺς τῷ Θεῷ ἀνακειμένους, καὶ εἰ μὴ τὸ ὀλέθριον τέλος περιέμενε τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν, ἦν ἂν τάχα ἀδικίαν ἐπικαλέσαι τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίᾳ. Ὅτε δὲ τοιαῦτα τέλη καὶ τοῖς δικαίοις ἡτοίμασται, οἵων καὶ ἡμεῖς εὐχόμεθα τυχεῖν, καὶ τοῖς ἀσεβέσι τοιαῦται ἠπείληνται τιμωρίαι, ἀφ' ὧν γένοιτο ἡμᾶς ῥυσθῆναι· πῶς οὐκ ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη ὁμολογεῖν, Ὅτι εὐθὴς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῷ; 23.1184 Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἄφρων ταῦτα οὐ γνώσεται, οὐδὲ ἀσύνετος συνήσει ταῦτα, διὰ τὸ σκοτίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς οἰκείας ἀφροσύνης· ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ γνοὺς αὐτὰ καὶ συνιεὶς διὰ τὸ ὑπὸ θείου Πνεύματος πεφωτίσθαι, καὶ διὰ τὸ θεωρεῖν ὅπως ἐβαθύνθησαν σφόδρα οἱ διαλογισμοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· εἰκότως εὐφραίνομαι καὶ ἀγαλλιῶ ἐπὶ τῇ θείᾳ διοικήσει, φέρω τε τὰ παρόντα γενναίως διὰ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδα. Ὧν ἕνεκα τὴν πᾶσαν ἐμαυτοῦ σχολὴν, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν ἀργίαν ἀνατιθεὶς τῷ Θεῷ, τὰ τρυφερὰ καὶ ἅγια Σάββατα ἐπιτελεῖν πειρῶμαι, διὰ τοῦ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι καὶ ψάλλειν καὶ ἀναγγέλλειν τὸ πρωῒ τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ κατὰ νύκτα. Τότε γὰρ μάλιστα ἡ ἀλήθεια τῆς θεοσεβοῦς δείκνυται ψυχῆς, ὅτε, ἐν σκοτίᾳ καὶ σκότει τυγχάνουσα, ὡς ἐν λαμπροτάτῳ φωτὶ καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ διαυγεστάτῃ τὸ γνήσιον καὶ εἰλικρινὲς τῆς συνειδήσεως ἐπιδείκνυται. Τοιοῦτος καὶ ὁ μετ' ᾠδῆς εἰρημένος ψαλμὸς εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ Σαββάτου, τουτέστι τὸν τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν σχολῆς τε καὶ ἀναπαύσεως καιρὸν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἡμᾶς τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν θείων μαθημάτων σχολάζοντας, τοὺς εὐχαριστηρίους λόγους τῆς προκειμένης ᾠδῆς ἀναπέμπειν προσήκει τῷ Θεῷ. ΣΙΝΟΣ Ω∆ΗΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆. Βʹ. Ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, εὐπρέπειαν ἐνεδύσατο. Ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως, τουτέστιν ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἀνθρώπων γενέσεως μέχρι τῆς κατὰ Μωϋσέα σωματικῆς λατρείας, ἥτις ἐπιγείου Ἱερουσαλὴμ πάλαι πρότερον μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας συνετελεῖτο· εἰκότως ὅτε ὁ θάνατος ἐβασίλευε, καὶ ὁ τὸ κράτος ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστιν ὁ διάβολος κατεκράτει, οὐκ ἦν τότε ἀνθρώπων βασιλεύων ὁ Κύριος, ἀλλά τις πολύθεος καὶ δαιμονικὴ πλάνη. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς Ἀπόστολος περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν λέγων· Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκὸς, καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα