What a virtuous action was that when David wished rather to spare the king his enemy, though he could have injured him! How useful, too, it was, for it helped him when he succeeded to the throne. For all learned to observe faith in their king and not to seize the kingdom but to fear and reverence him. Thus, what is virtuous was preferred to what was useful, and then usefulness followed from what was virtuous. But that he spared him was a small matter; he also grieved for him when slain in war and mourned for him with tears, saying, "You mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew nor rain fall upon you; you mountains of death, for there the shield of the mighty is cast away, the shield of Saul. It is not anointed with oil but with the blood of the wounded and the fat of the warriors. The bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and very dear, inseparable in life, and in death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet with your ornaments, who put on gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was wounded even to death. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me. Your love came to me like the love of women. How have the mighty fallen and the longed-for weapons perished!" What mother could weep thus for her only son as he wept here for his enemy? Who could follow his benefactor with such praise as that with which he followed the man who plotted against his life? How affectionately he grieved, with what deep feeling he bewailed him! The mountains dried up at the prophet's curse, and a divine power filled the judgment of him who spoke it. Therefore the elements themselves paid the penalty for witnessing the king's death.

What is, "Thou that feedest Israel, hearken, Thou that conducteth Joseph like sheep"? (ver. 1). He is being invoked to come, He is being expected until He come, He is being yearned for until He come. Therefore may He find "men guiding:" "Thou that conductest," he saith, "Joseph like sheep:" Joseph himself like sheep. Joseph himself are the sheep, and Joseph himself is a sheep. Observe Joseph; for although even the interpretation of his name doth aid us much, for it signifieth increase; and He came indeed in order that the grain given to death might arise manifold; that is, that the people of God might be increased. ..."Thou that sittest upon the Cherubin." Cherubin is the seat of the glory of God, and is interpreted the fulness of knowledge. There God sitteth in the fulness of knowledge. Though we understand the Cherubin to be the exalted powers and virtues of the heavens: yet, if thou wilt, thou wilt be Cherubin. For if Cherubin is the seat of God, hear what saith the Scripture: "The soul of a just man is the seat of wisdom." How, thou sayest, shall I be the fulness of knowledge? Who shall fulfil this? Thou hast the means of fulfilling it: "The fulness of the Law is love." Do not run after many things, and strain thyself. The amplitude of the branches doth terrify thee: hold by the root, and of the greatness of the tree think not. Be there in thee love, and the fulness of knowledge must needs follow. For what doth he not know that knoweth love? Inasmuch as it hath been said, "God is love." "Appear." For we went astray because Thou didst not appear. "Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasse" (ver. 2). Appear, I say, before the nation of the Jews, before the people of Israel. For there is Ephraim, there Manasses, there Benjamin. But to the interpretation let us look: Ephraim is fruit-bearing, Benjamin son of right hand, Manasses one forgetful. Appear Thou then before one made fruitful, before a son of the right hand: appear Thou before one forgetful, in order that he may be no longer forgetful, but Thou mayest come into his mind that hast delivered him. ...For weak Thou wast when it was being said, "If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross." Thou wast seeming to have no power: the persecutor had power over Thee: and Thou didst show this aforetime, for Jacob too himself prevailed in wrestling, a man with an angel. Would he at any time, except the angel had been willing? And man prevailed, and the angel was conquered: and victorious man holdeth the angel, and saith, "I will not let thee go, except thou shalt have blessed me." A great sacrament! He both standeth conquered, and blesseth the conqueror. Conquered, because he willed it; in flesh weak, in majesty strong. ...Having been crucified of weakness, rise Thou in power: "Stir up Thy power, and come Thou, to save us."

"O God, convert us." For averse we have been from You, and unless You convert us, we shall not be converted. "And illumine Your face, and we shall be saved" [Psalm 80:3]. Hath He anywise a darkened face? He has not a darkened face, but He placed before it a cloud of flesh, and as it were a veil of weakness; and when He hung on the tree, He was not thought the Same as He was after to be acknowledged when He was sitting in Heaven. For thus it has come to pass. Christ present on the earth, and doing miracles, Asaph knew not; but when He had died, after that He rose again, and ascended into Heaven, he knew Him. He was pricked to the heart, and he may have spoken also of Him this testimony which now we acknowledge in this Psalm. You covered Your face, and we were sick: illumine Thou the same, and we shall be whole.

For whatever other words we may say, whatever words the fervor of the suppliant utters at the beginning of his petition to define it or follows up afterward to intensify it, we say nothing that is not found in this prayer of the Lord, if we pray properly and fittingly. But whoever says anything in his prayer that does not accord with this Gospel prayer, even if his prayer is not of the forbidden sort, it is carnal, and I am not sure it ought not to be called forbidden, since those who are born again of the Spirit ought to pray only in a spiritual manner. For instance, he who says, "Be sanctified among all people, as you have been sanctified among us," and, "May your prophets be found faithful," what else does he say but "Hallowed be your name"? And he who says, "O God of hosts, convert us and show your face, and we will be saved," what else does he say but "Your kingdom come"? He who says, "Direct my steps according to your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me," what else does he say but "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? He who says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches," what else does he say but "Give us this day our daily bread"? He who says, "O Lord, remember David and all his meekness," or "Lord, if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in my hands, if I have rendered to them that have repaid me evils," what else does he say but "Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors"? He who says, "Take from me the greediness of the belly and let not the lusts of the flesh take hold of me," what else does he say but "Lead us not into temptation"? He who says, "Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and defend me from them that rise up against me," what else does he say but "Deliver us from evil"? And if you were to run over all the words of holy prayers, you would find nothing, according to my way of thinking, that is not contained and included in the Lord's Prayer. Hence when we pray, it is allowable to say the same things in different words, but it ought not to be allowable to say different things.

"O God of hosts, restore us to our own; smile on us, and we shall find deliverance." For wherever the soul of a person may turn, unless it turns to you, it clasps sorrow to itself. Even though it clings to things of beauty, if their beauty is outside God and outside the soul, it only clings to sorrow.Yet these things of beauty would not exist at all unless they came from you. Like the sun, they rise and set. At their rise they have their first beginning; they grow until they reach perfection; but, once they have reached it, they grow old and die. Not all reach old age, but all alike must die. When they rise, therefore, they are set on the course of their existence, and the faster they climb toward its zenith, the more they hasten toward the point where they exist no more. This is the law they obey. This is all that you have appointed for them, because they are parts of a whole. Not all the parts exist at once, but some must come as others go, and in this way together they make up the whole of which they are the parts. Our speech follows the same rule, using sounds to signify a meaning. For a sentence is not complete unless each word, once its syllables have been pronounced, gives way to make room for the next. Let my soul praise you for these things, O God, Creator of them all; but the love of them, which we feel, through the senses of the body, must not be like glue to bind my soul to them. For they continue on the course that is set for them and leads to their end, and if the soul loves them and wishes to be with them and finds its rest in them, it is torn by desires that can destroy it. In these things there is no place to rest, because they do not last. They pass away beyond the reach of our senses. Indeed, none of us can lay firm hold of them even when they are with us. For the senses of the body are sluggish, because they are the senses of flesh and blood. They are limited by their own nature. They are sufficient for the purposes for which they were made, but they cannot halt the progress of transient things, which pass from their allotted beginning to their allotted end. All such things are created by your word, which tells them, "Here is your beginning, and here your end."

"O Lord God of virtues, how long will You be angry with the prayer of Your servant?" [Psalm 80:4]. Now Your servant. You were angry at the prayer of Your enemy, will You still be angry with the prayer of Your servant? You have converted us, we know You, and will You still be angry with the prayer of Your servant? You will evidently be angry, in fact, as a father correcting, not as a judge condemning. In such manner evidently You will be angry, because it has been written, "My son, drawing near unto the service of God, stand thou in righteousness and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation." [Sirach 2:1] Think not that now the wrath of God has passed away, because you have been converted. The wrath of God has passed away from you, but only so that it condemn not for everlasting. But He scourges, He spares not: because He scourges every son whom He receives. [Hebrews 12:6] If you refuse to be scourged, why do you desire to be received? He scourges every son whom He receives. He who did not spare even His only Son, scourges every one. But nevertheless, "How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your servant?" No longer your enemy: but, "You will be angry with the prayer of Your servant," how long?

"You have set us for a contradiction to our neighbours" [Psalm 80:6]. Evidently this did come to pass: for out of Asaph were chosen they that should go to the Gentiles and preach Christ, and should have it said to them, "Who is this proclaimer of new demons?" "You have set us for a contradiction to our neighbours." For they were preaching Him who was the subject of the contradiction. Whom did they preach? That after He was dead, Christ rose again. Who would hear this? Who would know this? It is a new thing. But signs did follow, and to an incredible thing miracles gave credibility. He was contradicted, but the contradictor was conquered, and from being a contradictor was made a believer. There, however, was a great flame: there the martyrs fed with the bread of tears, and given to drink in tears, but in measure, not more than they are able to bear; in order that after the measure of tears there should follow a crown of joys. "And our enemies have sneered at us." And where are they that sneered? For a long while it was said, Who are they that worship the Dead One, that adore the Crucified? For a long while so it was said. Where is the nose of them that sneered? Now do not they that censure flee into caves, that they may not be seen?