Commentary on the Psalms 27

'When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion.'

Here he bears witness to the great gentleness and kindness of God.

And what manner of gentleness is this? That He first furnishes proofs of His own power, and only then requires worship.

'When Israel went forth out of Egypt, Judah became His sanctuary.'

For then, he says, He displayed His power, through the signs in Egypt, through the signs in the wilderness;

then too He took the people to Himself as His own.

This He did in the case of Adam also.

For having first made the world, and shown the might of both His wisdom and His power, He then fashioned man, and required worship of him.

So too the only-begotten Son of God, having first supplied many and manifold signs, then required faith.

For this reason, to those who came to Him at the very outset, inasmuch as they had no pledges of His power, nor proof of His Godhead, He did not say, 'Believe that I am able to do this?' but only displayed the signs.

But when He had everywhere throughout Palestine laid up memorials of His own power—restoring maimed bodies, driving out wickedness, discoursing concerning the kingdom, introducing the laws that bring salvation—then at last He also required faith of those who came to Him.

For men indeed first wish to rule, and only then set about doing good;

but God begins from His benefactions.

And why do I speak of His other benefactions, when He even endured the cross itself, and only then gained the mastery over the whole world, having demonstrated His providential care by His deeds? This indeed the psalm here declares, saying:

'When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judah became His sanctuary.'

That is to say, in the exodus, in the deliverance, in the setting-free, from Egypt.

And he did not say simply 'of Egypt,' but he added, 'of a barbarous people.'

by the very name of the enemies displaying the watchful care of God.

For they would never have been able to be delivered from those harsh, savage Egyptians, who were disposed more barbarously than barbarians, had they not enjoyed the mighty hand and the invincible right hand.

For they were fiercer than wild beasts and harder than rock, being smitten with countless blows yet not yielding.

Having therefore called the people barbarous, he showed the surpassing greatness of God's power, that one so barbarous, so cruel, He now persuaded, and now, even against his will, compelled to let the slaves go; and later, when they persisted in strife, He handed them over to the sea, and thus set free His own people.

But what does it mean, 'Judah became His sanctuary'? It stands for: a people that worships Him, a people dedicated to Him, a people made His own.

Now the temple, in the strict sense, was called a sanctuary—the

inner shrines, the Holy of Holies; just as Zechariah too introduces certain ones inquiring and saying:

'or shall we fast?'—signifying the matter concerning the return of the ark and of all the other things.

'Judah became His sanctuary.'

For before this the land was in some sense unclean and defiled;

but when the people returned, the city became His sanctuary;

that is, it was accounted a sanctuary through the divine oversight, through the sacrifices, through the worship, through all the rest of the holy service.

What does 'Israel His dominion' mean? 'Under His rule,' he says.

And yet the whole inhabited world was under His rule; but these were His also by a different bond of kinship.

Since they also received prophecies, and He conversed with them, and ordered their affairs in a greater measure.

Then in yet another manner they were also designated His people.

For often at His nod they went forth even to wars, and did many other things.

For having delivered them from barbarian hands, and from tyranny, and slavery, and utmost peril, and lawless purpose, He became their king.

This indeed also elsewhere, pleading His cause and showing that first, having displayed what came from Himself, He then required what should come from them, He said:

'Have I become a wilderness to the house of Israel, or a barren land?' And what He means is this:

'Have I,' He says, 'become fruitless to you? Did I not show forth countless good things toward you? Did I not change nature itself? Did I not order the elements for your service? Did I not grant you a way of life freed from human toils?' For this reason He says:

'Have I become a wilderness to the house of Israel?' That is, did I not bring forth countless fruits?—freedom from Egypt, deliverance from barbarians, the display of wonders, the sustenance in the wilderness, the inheritance of Palestine, the mastery over the nations, the continual trophies, the successive victories, the marvelous wonders, the unceasing prodigies, the fruitfulness of the land, the increase of your race, the glory throughout the whole inhabited world, and countless other things? Have you seen the fruits of God? For this reason He added:

'Have I become a barren land?' That is, did you not reap countless fruits from me? Did I not bless your coming in and your going out, your flocks and your herds, your bread and your water? Did I not establish you in safety? Did I not make you unconquerable by all, formidable and invincible? Did not all things flow to us as from fountains—the things from the earth and the things from heaven? For these things above all mark the ruler: to take forethought for his subjects, to care for them and be concerned for them.

Wherefore Christ also said:

'The good shepherd'—He did not say, 'is honored and served,' but, 'lays down his life for the sheep.'

This is rule; this is the pastoral science: to overlook one's own interests and to be anxious for those of the governed.

For what the physician is, that the ruler is;

or rather, even more than a physician.

For the physician procures healing by his art;

but the ruler does so even amid his own perils.

Which very thing Christ also did, being buffeted, crucified, suffering countless things.

For Christ also did not please Himself, but as it is written:

'The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell upon Me.'

Here, then, he sets forth two—or rather three, indeed countless—benefits: that He delivered them from barbarians, that He set them free from a foreign land, that He cast out slavery, that He loosed their toils and hardships, that He worked countless wonders;

then also that He counted them worthy to become His sanctuary and His subjects.

For this too is no small kind of benefit: to enroll them in the rank of His subjects.

'The sea saw it, and fled;'

'the Jordan was turned back.'

Observe the discourse coming to its climax, and the benefit ever increasing.

For what need is there to speak, he says, of barbarians and of the nations, when even

creation itself withdrew and gave way, and was moved over to the opposite state, beholding the One who led as commander and yielding to the leader of the people? For all things then withdrew and gave way before the people of the Hebrews, that they might learn that what took place was not a matter of human sequence, but that all these wonders were the work of a divine and ineffable power.

And observe the force of the expression, how admirably he has set it down.

'It withdrew,' not 'It gave way';

'The sea saw, and fled';

wishing by the word 'flight' to set before us the swiftness of the withdrawal, the greatness of the amazement, and the ease of God's working.

And lest anyone should suppose that this happened by some cycle or chance coincidence, from that time it never occurred again, but only once, when God commanded, and upon different persons.

For the disorderly rush of the waters, as though it were some rational and living thing, at God's command thus saved some and destroyed others, becoming to the one a tomb, and to the other a chariot.

This one may see also in the case of the Babylonian furnace.

For the fire also, which of itself moves at random and as it chances, displayed great orderliness when God enjoined it, preserving those whom it held within, but seizing and consuming those who sat round about outside.

'The Jordan was turned back.'

Do you see the wonders taking place at different times and in different places? For that they might learn that God's power is extended everywhere and is not confined to a place, both in the wilderness and in the land of the barbarians, everywhere He was present working wonders—now in the sea, now in the rivers, and at one time under Moses, and later under Joshua;

and everywhere they were escorted by signs, that their insensible disposition and their hardened understanding, being softened by the wonders, might be rendered tractable and more fit for the reception of the knowledge of God.

'The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of the flock.'

Here a question of no small importance arises for us.

For some, being perplexed, say:

That the former things happened, we know;

for history has handed down that the Red Sea was divided at the exodus, and that the Jordan was turned back when the ark was passing over;

but that mountains skipped and hills, this we nowhere see written.

What then is to be said? That the Prophet, wishing to set forth in a heightened manner the joy and the greatness of the wonders, introduces even the inanimate things themselves as all but dancing and leaping—which is what happens in the case of those who rejoice.

For this reason too there is the addition of the image, the 'like rams' and 'like lambs of the flock.'

For those irrational creatures too, when they rejoice, make their pleasure plain by their leapings.

Just as, therefore, in calamities another prophet says that even the vine mourned, and the wine;

not that the vine was mourning—for how could a vine mourn?—but wishing to display the excess of the dejection, and speaking hyperbolically as though even the inanimate things themselves were touched by it;

so also here he introduces creation as sharing in the joy, that he might show the greatness of the gladness.

This too is our custom to say, when a place has become bright and cheerful, whenever we see some honored person arriving:

'You have filled the house with joy';

not speaking about the walls, but setting forth the excess of the gladness.

'What ails you, O sea, that you fled? and you, O Jordan, that you were turned back? You mountains, that you skipped like rams, and you hills, like lambs of the flock?' He advances the discourse by way of question, and converses with the elements, from the same intent with which he said that they skipped.

For just as it was not because he gave them sensation that he said these things, but, as I said before, because he was displaying the excess of the joy and the greatness of the achievements;

so also he directs the question to them;

not as to things able to answer and possessing sensation, but so as to make the discourse clearer and to show the marvel.

For as though something new had occurred, and not something that came about by natural sequence, he brings on the question, and adds to it the answer.

And what was this answer? 'At the presence of the Lord the earth was shaken, at the presence of the God of Jacob.'

Here again by 'shaking' he means the astonishment, the wonder, the ecstasy, so as to show the greatness of what had come to pass.

Then, showing how great is the virtue of a man, from the servant he named the Master.

This is what Paul also said had been given to those holy ones as the greatest honor, namely, that they were delivered from all the concerns of this life.

For he does not merely set down the honor, but adds also the cause of the honor, that he may teach the hearer the way by which he is able to enjoy this precedence.

And what is this? That the Master should be named from His servants.

For which cause God is not ashamed to be called their God.

But how was He called their God?

'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

Then, setting forth above the reason for such a title, he said:

'And these all died, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and having greeted them, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims.'

This is the reason for which he also added:

'For which cause God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God.'

Namely, because they confessed themselves to be strangers and pilgrims, and to have nothing in common with things present, but, having torn themselves away from the affairs of this life, so lived on in a foreign land.

'Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the flint into fountains of water.'

What excuse, tell me, could the hard and unyielding have, when the rock, the flint, both hard and unyielding, gives way to the command of God, while man, who is honoured with reason and gentler than all creatures, becomes more insensible than that stone? For by 'flint' he here means that which does not readily yield to iron, but is with difficulty broken off only at its edges.

Yet nevertheless even that was dissolved into the contrary nature, and sent forth fountains of water.

For the Maker of nature is able both to alter its very bounds, and to display things contrary to it;

which He has done often and in many places, showing that He is the One who made all things out of nothing.

Having then recounted the ancient benefits, the wonders, the marvels — how He delivered them from barbaric bondage, how He led them by the hand into freedom, and changed the elements, and filled all things with delight — he asks also on behalf of things present, fleeing for refuge to the same harbour.

Then, since that also came to pass not because of the worthiness of those benefited, but because of the loving-kindness of God, and for His name's sake;

as He said, 'That My name be not profaned, but that all may learn, through the things that come to pass, His strength and His power, and that this may become a theme of instruction';

this very plea he now also puts forward, saying:

'Even if we have been betrayed by our manner of life, and are without boldness because of our works, act for Your name's sake' — which Moses also said at that time.

This too this one says, uttering words in harmony with that man:

'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your name give glory.'

'Not for our sakes,' he says, 'that You may make us more splendid and distinguished, but that You Yourself may make Your power everywhere manifest.'

But just as His name is glorified when He takes our part and helps us,

so again it is glorified when we live in virtue and shine forth in our manner of conduct.

'For let your light so shine before men,' He says, 'that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.'

Just as, therefore, it is glorified when we are in virtue, so again it is blasphemed when we abide in vice.

This indeed, declaring it also through the prophet, He said:

'My name is blasphemed among the nations because of you.'

But since he has no other source from which to make the plea on their behalf, to

this he flees for refuge, just as Moses also did.

Yet God does not always do this, being solicitous for the salvation of men.

For if He were always going to do this, many of the slothful would have become worse, holding as a mighty pledge against suffering ill the fact that they would continually be saved for the sake of His glory.

For His glory is not so much a care to Him as is the salvation of men.

For if men despise this, much more does God, who has need of nothing from us;

but, as I said, the Prophet, since he holds the rank of an advocate, makes his plea from the resources available, and doubles it in his speech, saying:

showing exceedingly the unworthiness of those who are being saved:

'But unto Your name give glory.'

'For we indeed are worthy of ten thousand evils;

yet, that Your name be not profaned.'

'For Your mercy, and for Your truth.'

Another translator says, 'Because of Your mercy.'

You see how he too clearly knows this, that often God, disregarding this, looks to one thing only — the correction of those who sin.

For the sake of Thy mercy, and of Thy truth.

That is to say: For the sake of Thy mercy, help us; even if Thou hast no concern for the glory that comes from men, yet for the sake of Thy mercy and Thy truth do it.

For it is possible—yes, it is possible—to receive glory even in punishing, and not only in showing mercy.

But not in that way, he says, but for the sake of Thy mercy.

For it were fitting that glory should be given to Thy name by us, through our life and our manner of conduct;

but since we have already forfeited this, do it through Thy succour, through Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness.

Lest the nations should say, Where is their God? IV.

Even now I hear many, when they pray, saying these very words;

but there is cause for fear, lest others say in a different sense, Where is their God? namely when many plunder, and do wrong, and commit countless outrages.

But our God is in heaven, and in earth He hath done all things whatsoever He willed.

Here he corrects the error of the senseless.

For since many are ignorant that there is a God, correcting such a notion, he says:

But our God is in heaven; He hath done all things whatsoever He willed.

And if in heaven, then much more upon the earth.

But what does this mean, In heaven He hath done all things whatsoever He willed? Either he means the powers on high, and those countless hosts, or those commands which are accomplished with ease.

But if the earth has much confusion and disorder, do not marvel.

This comes from the wickedness of men and the depravity of those who pursue it, not from any weakness of God.

For that He is strong and mighty, the things done in heaven make plain.

And if it is not so upon the earth, those who render themselves unworthy are the cause.

And one might handle this saying in yet another way: that many, on account of God's long-suffering, do not yet receive the recompense according to their deserts.

For this reason even the wicked prevail over the righteous, since the God who loves mankind does not will to demand of each man on the spot the reckoning for his transgressions;

since otherwise our race would long ago have been swept away.

This, then, is what he says here: that He is indeed mighty and strong, and able to bring men to account;

and this is evident from the things done in heaven;

yet He does not do this, everywhere using His long-suffering, and drawing to repentance those who live in wickedness.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they will not speak;

they have eyes, but they will not see;

they have ears, but they will not hear;

they have noses, but they will not smell;

they have hands, but they will not handle;

they have feet, but they will not walk;

neither will they make a sound in their throat.

Let those that make them become like unto them.

In the hundred and fifth psalm, recounting their madness, he said that They sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto the demons;

but in the present psalm, their senselessness—that they are wedded to lifeless matter.

And he goes over all their members, making the mockery still more sweeping.

Let those that make them become like unto them, and all those who put their trust in them.

And yet this is a virtue—to be equal to God;

but here it has become a curse.

Consider, then, what sort of people these must be, when to be made like them is brought forward in place of the uttermost curse.

And he framed his discourse well in this way, holding them up to ridicule for their extreme folly, and showing them to be objects of derision.

For how is it not ridiculous, tell me, to be tied fast to a carved image bearing the likeness of the utmost indecency? For who would choose to look upon a naked woman? Yet the demon sits beside even a naked figure.

And now the carved images are figures of fornication, and now of the madness that rages against males.

For what does the eagle mean? And what Ganymede? And what Apollo pursuing the maiden? And what the other abominable representations? Everywhere there is lewdness, everywhere licentiousness, everywhere figures of unlawful couplings and of raving lusts.

For indeed the carved images, and the feasts, and the public festivals, and the mystic rites, are proofs and memorials and teachings of things absurd.

And not only of shameful things, but also of murders committed against human beings.

Whence also they seek to avert the demons by rites of aversion.

For among them there is nothing else but lewdness, and unbridled drunkenness, and cruelty, and inhumanity, and bloodthirsty deeds; and one may see that their whole feasts are constituted out of these things.

Having then held up to ridicule the insensibility of the idols and the folly of those who trust in them, he shifts his discourse to the hymn of God, saying:

The house of Israel hoped in the Lord;

he is their help and their shield.

The house of Aaron hoped in the Lord;

he is their help and their shield.

You that fear the Lord hoped in the Lord;

he is their help and their shield.

For through these words he proclaims both the power of God and his incomparable and all-surpassing supremacy over all things.

For by bringing into public view the things that were done for the Jewish people, he shows his beneficence to be twofold, or rather even threefold.

First, that he delivered them from demons;

next, that he made himself known;

and third, that he also supplied them with the help that comes from himself.

And he divides his discourse into Israel, and the priestly race, and those from among the nations who draw near to him.

For priest and layman are not on an equal footing, but this one has something more;

wherefore he fittingly makes the distinction.

For indeed the honour bestowed upon them was greater.

Then, showing that his providence was not shut up within Jewish affairs, he made mention also of the proselytes, those from among the nations who draw near, saying that both the help and the blessing came to be for all.

The Lord, being mindful of us, has blessed us.

He has blessed the house of Israel;

he has blessed the house of Aaron;

he has blessed those who fear the Lord.

What does 'He has blessed' mean? He filled them, he says, with countless good things.

For man indeed blesses God, as when it says, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul.'

But he who blesses God himself gains the profit, making himself more glorious, not bestowing any favour upon him;

while God, when he blesses, makes us more glorious, and himself receives nothing in addition.

so that on both sides the gain is ours.

And how did he bless them? He gave them bread from heaven, he rained down water from the rock, he guarded their goings in and their goings out, he multiplied their herds and their flocks, he named them a peculiar people and a royal priesthood, he gave them the Law, he sent them prophets.

Proclaiming these things elsewhere also, he says, 'He has not dealt so with any other nation, and his judgments he has not made known to them.'

'What nation is so wise, to whom the Lord God draws near?' The small together with the great.

Not a single race, he says, was destitute of blessing, but it was stretched out to all.

May the Lord add upon you;

upon you, and upon your sons.

Do you see another kind of blessing, namely, that the race is increased? And precisely for this reason, in the manner of a punishment, another writer sets forth the opposite and says:

And we were made few, and we are but a small number in comparison with all who dwell upon the earth.

This blessing they enjoyed even while they were in Egypt, although there were countless things hindering it—the labours, the hardship, the cruelty of those who oppressed them;

yet nothing cut short the word of God, but the works of the blessing so advanced that within two hundred years there came to be six hundred thousand.

But then the things of the blessing were of this sort, whereas now, under the New Covenant, they are of a far better kind.

Blessed be the God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Now to Him who is able to do above all things, exceeding abundantly beyond what we ask or think, to Him be the glory in the Church.

For this very reason the prophets also of old, when they sought some benefaction, bestowed this blessing.

For Elisha requited the woman who had received him with the gift of a child.

But under the New Covenant it is not these things, but things far greater.

The seller of purple, at any rate, did not ask these things of the apostles, but what? 'If you have judged me not unworthy of the Lord, come into my house and abide with me.'

Do you see how great the difference is—what those under the Old asked for, and what those under the New? And again Christ says:

'Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.'

And may God fill you with all grace and hope in believing, that you may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you see the power of the blessing, which grants ineffable goods and has nothing earthly about it? And again Paul says:

'The God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet shortly.'

But under the Old Covenant, when the affairs of men were disposed in a more material fashion, the things of the blessing were woven out of things perceptible to the senses, and having many children was accounted a very great matter.

For since death entered through sin, God, comforting the race and showing that He would not only not consume it, nor deliver it over to utter destruction, but that they would be far more numerous than before, says:

'Increase and multiply.'

But when death came to be recognized as sleep, then the beauty of virginity was introduced.

'I would that all men were in self-control, even as I myself am.'

'It is good for a man not to touch a woman.'

'There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.'

And in another way too He hinted at this even from the beginning: that there is need of virtue, not of many children.

'Do not desire a multitude of useless children, if the fear of God is not with them;

and do not rely upon their number;

for better is one than a thousand, and to die childless than to have ungodly children;

and better is one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand lawless ones.'

But the insensible Jews, ever gaping after the flesh and neglecting virtue, used to say:

'What does God seek but seed?' Therefore, showing them that this is not what He seeks, He destroyed them ten thousand times over, since they were destitute of virtue.

'Blessed are you of the Lord.'

Well did he add, 'of the Lord.'

For this above all is a blessing. There are indeed those who are blessed even among men, but the things of such men are merely human.

But this is the greatest blessing.

For men indeed bless—that is, they extol and praise—those who are in wealth and dominion and glory.

But this blessing is temporary, and even when it is present it holds no gain;

whereas the blessing of God is perpetual, and bestows its benefit in the greatest things.

'By Him who made heaven and earth.'

Do you see how great is the strength of the blessing? For His words become deeds.

The heaven, at any rate, His word has made.

'For by the word of the Lord,' it says, 'were the heavens made.'

By that word He blesses you, the word that is able to accomplish so great things.

'The heaven of heavens is the Lord's, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.'

What are you saying? Did He choose heaven as a dwelling for Himself, and taking the upper chambers, assign to us the things here below? Away with the thought!

It is not so; rather, the word is one of condescension.

For if this were so, how would that other statement stand which is spoken by God: 'Do I not fill the heaven and the earth? says the Lord.'

For that saying is contrary to this one, if we were to take it according to its surface expression, and not consider the contemplation laid up within them.

'The heaven of heavens is the Lord's, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.' He has used a word of condescension, not shutting God up within heaven.

For neither is the saying, 'Heaven is His throne, and the earth His footstool,'

just as neither is the saying, 'I fill the heaven and the earth,' spoken in a manner worthy of Him;

but this too is a condescension.

For He Himself encompasses all things, He bears all things, having no need of place, but Himself holding all things together;

but heaven is called His house because it is a region pure of wickedness.

As, then, here heaven is not a matter of selective choice,

so neither is it when He says, 'He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God,' or that 'He chose the house of Jacob.'

For neither does He mean this here, that the Jews are His, while the rest of mankind are no longer His,

but that they are bereft of His providence, and deprived of His creating care.

For He is the common God of all;

but He has used this word to show His longing love for them, since they seemed in some way to be better than the rest.

For that He did not choose them alone, but was the guardian of all, is shown both by the things before Moses, and no less by the things in his own day;

and after him, by what came to pass in each successive age.

For the sun, the earth, the sea, and all other things He gave in common to all, and He sowed the natural law in all.

And Abraham, though a Persian, He loved and translated;

for the Egyptians, and those in Canaan, and those who came from Persia, He set right through him;

and again, through that man's son and grandson He made many of the neighbors there better, at least so far as it lay in His own part.

And when Moses too was born, thereafter, through the things done toward the Jews, He led the Egyptians by the hand toward the knowledge of God, and those in Palestine, and after these, those in Babylon.

Thus when He says, 'The heaven of heavens is the Lord's,' He means this: that for this reason He rests upon those who are there, because they are set free from all wickedness.

And you too, if you are not nailed to the earth but become an angel, will swiftly ascend to heaven and to the Father's house; and even before the resurrection you have already removed thither from here, and you possess the dignity.

For just as many of those who belong to the great senate possess their dignity even while dwelling in the country;

so also you, if you are willing to have your citizenship in heaven, will enjoy that dignity even while dwelling here.

'The dead shall not praise You, O Lord, neither all those who go down into Hades.'

'But we the living will bless the Lord, from this time forth and even for evermore.'

By 'the dead' he does not mean those who have died, but those who have died in impieties, or those who have rotted away in sins.

Since Abraham also had died, and Isaac and Jacob, yet nevertheless they so lived that the living kept their memory.

Moses, at any rate, praying on behalf of the people whom he led, entreats God through them, taking them up into his supplication.

And the three young men too ask to be saved on account of these;

'Do not withdraw Your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham who is beloved by You, and for the sake of Isaac Your servant, and Israel Your holy one.'

But if they had such power, how were they dead? And again Christ says:

'Let the dead bury their own dead.'

For this reason Paul does not call those who have died 'dead,' but 'those who have fallen asleep,' writing thus:

'But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those' who are asleep.

For the righteous man, even though he comes to his end, has not died, but sleeps.

For he who is destined to be conveyed onward into a better life is but asleep;

but he who is destined to be led away into a deathless death, even while living has come to his end, and is dead.

The former go down into Hades;

these latter shall ascend into heaven, and shall be with Christ.

For this very reason the Prophet too did not say simply, 'They that live,' but, 'We that live,' setting down what pertains to himself.

And why did he not say, 'They that live,' but added, 'We'? Because Paul too spoke thus, saying, 'We that are alive and remain shall in no wise arrive before' the coming of the Lord.

Just as there the added word 'We' does not allow what is said to be spoken of all men, but only of the faithful, and of those who resemble him in their manner of life;

so here also the phrase 'We that live' refers to those who are like David, and to those who live in virtue.

'From henceforth and even for evermore.'

Do you see how the added clause also makes this plain? This—what, exactly? That he is speaking of those who live according to virtue.

For no one lives this life forever, but only those who also perpetually live the life that is attended with glory.

For indeed the sinners also live;

but in chastisement and torment, and in the gnashing of teeth;

whereas these live in splendour and glory, having for their occupation the offering up of the mystic hymns to God together with the bodiless powers.

In order, then, that we too may enjoy this joy, let us pursue this life, so that we may also attain to that portion which neither speech, nor mind, nor anything else can set forth, but which experience alone reveals in its blessedness;

which may it be granted us all to obtain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ;

to whom be the glory and the might, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.