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On Psalm XXVIII

ON THE 28TH PSALM. Worship the Lord in his holy court.

Outside the holy court one must not worship the Lord, but having come within;

that is, for one who ought to truly worship God not to depart 30.73 from the system of the Church, and on his own authority to start a rival assembly and schisms. For it is not fitting. And just as someone makes himself a house of the Lord, to become a temple of God; so also can he surround himself with a court, walling himself in with his life, and with reason, and with divine thoughts, worshipping God within himself, a sufficient occasion for worship existing within him, both from his bodily constitution and from the dispensation concerning the soul from his Creator who understands. And already the Lord also called the court of the Jews a court, saying: And other sheep I have that are not of this court, clearly indicating that there is also another court which is truly holy, which is to gather Christ's sheep, those from the nations predestined for salvation; that is, this Church, in which the true worshippers worship in spirit and in truth. But no one who deifies anything other than God can worship God in his holy court. Some, on the one hand, deify the belly; whose God is their belly; others, money; those who are given over to covetousness, which is idolatry, and indeed each one confers the glory of God upon that which he has honored most of all. Such a one is not in the holy court, nor does he worship God, even if he seems to be inseparable from the visible assemblies. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.

In order to understand what the voice of the Lord is, it is worthwhile for us to gather, as far as possible from the divine Scripture, what has been written about 'voice.' Thus we have found written in Genesis the word of the Lord to Abraham, speaking in a vision: Fear not, Abraham; I am your shield, your reward will be great; and Abraham answered: 'Master, what will you give me? For I am departing childless.' And after a little: And straightway a voice came to him. And again in Exodus he says: Let them be ready for the third day. And, When the voices and the trumpets and the cloud depart from the mountain, they shall go up to the mountain. And after the Decalogue: And all the people saw the voice and the torches, and the voice of the trumpet. And in Isaiah it is written: A voice of one saying: 'Cry out.' A voice, then, is a striking of the air, or some form that is produced in the air, according to which the one speaking wishes to give it shape. Those who speak to one another through the flesh, striking the air, and as it were imposing a certain type and form 30.76 on it, push it by means of the breath so that it reaches the hearing of the one to whom it is directed; but the voice of the Lord is of another kind, with God causing an impression for those whom he wishes to hear his voice, so that this impression has an analogy to that which occurs in dreams. For there too, it is not by the striking of the external air that the perception of what is said enters through the hearing, but the ruling faculty itself having received the thoughts, it is its nature to remain in the memory of those who have beheld them. So a voice came to Abraham, because he had ears able to hear the commands of God, as the divine will was invisibly resounding in him. But to the people the voice that came was visible; that is, easily known, intelligible to all. For indeed it was not colored by some color and delineated, so that the spoken voice became perceptible to the eyes, but the people saw the voice;

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In Psalmum XXVIII

ΕΙΣ ΚΗʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ. Προσκυνήσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν αὐλῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐτοῦ.

Ἔξω τῆς ἁγίας αὐλῆς οὐ χρὴ προσκυνεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλλ' ἔνδον γενόμενον·

τουτέστι, μὴ ἐκβαίνειν 30.73 τοῦ συστήματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν κατάρχειν παρασυναγωγῆς καὶ σχισμάτων, τὸν ὀφεί λοντα ἀληθινῶς τῷ Θεῷ λατρεύειν. Οὐ γὰρ προσ ῆκεν. Ὥσπερ δὲ οἶκόν τις ἑαυτὸν κατασκευάζει τοῦ Κυρίου, τοῦ γενέσθαι ναὸς Θεοῦ· οὕτω καὶ αὐλὴν περιβαλέσθαι δύναται, περιτειχίζων ἑαυτὸν τῷ βίῳ, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ τοῖς θείοις νοήμασιν, ἐν ἑαυτῷ προσκυνῶν τὸν Θεὸν, ἀρκοῦσαν ἀφορμὴν εἰς προσ κύνησιν τὴν ἐνυπάρχουσαν αὐτῷ, ἔκ τε τῆς σωματι κῆς κατασκευῆς, καὶ ἐκ τῆς περὶ ψυχὴν οἰκονομίας συνέντος τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ ὁ Κύριος αὐλὴν εἶπεν τὴν Ἰουδαίων, εἰπών· Καὶ ἄλλα πρό βατα ἔχω ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς αὐλῆς ταύτης, ἐν δεικνύμενος δηλονότι καὶ ἄλλην εἶναι αὐλὴν τὴν ὄν τως ἁγίαν, τὴν μέλλουσαν συνάγειν τὰ Χριστοῦ πρό βατα, τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν προωρισμένους εἰς σωτη ρίαν· τουτέστι, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ταύτην, ἐν ᾗ οἱ ἀλη θινοὶ προσκυνηταὶ προσκυνοῦσιν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ. Οὐδεὶς δὲ θεοποιῶν τι ἄλλο παρὰ τὸν Θεὸν δύναται προσκυνῆσαι τῷ Θεῷ ἐν αὐλῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐ τοῦ. Θεοποιοῦσι δὲ, οἱ μὲν, κοιλίαν· ὧν ὁ Θεὸς ἡ κοιλία· οἱ δὲ, ἀργύριον· οἱ τῇ πλεονεξίᾳ, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία, προσκείμενοι, καὶ ἕκαστός γε ὃ πάντων μᾶλλον τετίμηκε, τούτῳ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ περιτίθησι δόξαν. Ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐλῇ, οὔτε προσκυνεῖ τῷ Θεῷ, κἂν ἀχώριστος τῶν αἰσθη τῶν συνάξεων εἶναι δοκῇ. Φωνὴ Κυρίου ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων.

Ἄξιον ὑπὲρ τοῦ νοῆσαι τί ἐστιν ἡ φωνὴ τοῦ Κυρίου, συναγαγεῖν ἡμᾶς κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐκ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς τὰ γε γραμμένα περὶ φωνῆς. Εὕραμεν τοίνυν ἐν τῇ Γενέσει γεγραμμένον ῥῆμα Κυρίου πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ, ἐν ὁράματι λέγοντος· Μὴ φοβοῦ, Ἀβραάμ· ἐγὼ ὑπερασπίζω σου, ὁ μισθός σου πολύς· καὶ ἀπ εκρίνατο Ἀβραάμ· ∆έσποτα, τί μοι δώσεις; Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπολύομαι ἄτεκνος. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Καὶ εὐθὺς φωνὴ ἐγένετο πρὸς αὐτόν. Καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῇ Ἐξ όδῳ φησίν· Ἔστωσαν ἕτοιμοι εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν τρίτην. Καὶ, Ὅταν αἱ φωναὶ καὶ αἱ σάλπιγ γες καὶ ἡ νεφέλη ἀπέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους, ἐκεῖνοι ἀναβήσονται ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος. Καὶ μετὰ τὴν ∆εκάλο γον· Καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἑώρα τὴν φωνὴν καὶ τὰς λαμπάδας, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν τῆς σάλπιγγος. Καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ γέγραπται· Φωνὴ λέγοντος· Βόησον. Ἔστιν οὖν φωνὴ, πληγὴ ἀέρος, ἤ τι τὸ γινόμενον εἶ δος περὶ τὸν ἀέρα, πρὸς ὃ βούλεται τυποῦν τὸ φωνοῦν. Οἱ μὲν διὰ σαρκὸς ὁμιλοῦντες ἀλλήλοις, πλήττοντες τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ οἱονεὶ τύπον τινὰ καὶ εἶδος 30.76 ἐπιβάλλοντες αὐτῷ, ὠθοῦσι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος πρὸς τὸ φθάνειν μέχρι τῆς ἀκοῆς τοῦ πρὸς ὃν γίνεται· ἡ δὲ τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴ, ἑτερογενής τίς ἐστι, φαντα σιοῦντος τοῦ Θεοῦ οἷς ἀκούειν βούλεται τῆς φωνῆς αὐ τοῦ, ὥστε ἀναλογίαν ἔχειν τὴν φαντασίαν ταύτην πρὸς τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὀνείροις γινομένην. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ, οὐχὶ τοῦ ἔξωθεν ἀέρος πληγέντος, εἰσέπεσε διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς τῶν λεγομένων ἡ αἴσθησις, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἡγεμονι κοῦ παραδεξαμένου τὰ νοήματα, τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν θεασαμένων πέφυκε παραμένειν. Ἐγένετο οὖν πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ φωνὴ, διότι εἶχεν ὦτα ἀκούειν δυνά μενα τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ τὸ ἀφανὲς ἐν ηχοῦντος αὐτῷ τοῦ θείου βουλήματος. Πρὸς δὲ τὸν λαὸν ἡ φωνὴ γινομένη ὁρατὴ ἦν· τουτέστιν εὔγνω στος, συνετὴ πᾶσιν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ ὑπὸ χρώματός τινος ἐχρώννυτο καὶ περιεγράφετο, ὥστε αἰσθητὴ ὀφθαλ μοῖς γενέσθαι ἡ λαλουμένη φωνὴ, ἀλλ' ἑώρα ὁ λαὸς τὴν φωνήν·