ADJUVIT ME, DOMINE, ET LEX MEA MEDITATIO MEA EST [707]
. A I desire, he says, to obtain salvation from thee. What is "Thy law"? It is the continuous meditation upon it. Which is the Saviour? The one who has become man for the sake of one of the Trinity, Christ our God. For he was saved from the grasp of the enemy, and I learned to meditate upon the evangelical commands. "My soul shall live and shall praise thee, and thy judgments shall help me." Here he calls "life" the one being born of God. I know that I shall not fail in my hope, but will receive true life from thee, and I will praise the giver of good things. "I have gone astray like a sheep that was lost." It was fitting for the prophet, and for all human nature, to say this after the sin. "Seek thy servant, for I have not forgotten thy commandments." When Adam had fallen, because of the transgression, from paradise, sin passed through unto all men, as the Apostle said (Rom. 5:12), into all the precipices and chasms of sin, where there was no visitation of God, serving demons and idols. But the Good Shepherd came, who "lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11), and when he had sought the one that was lost, he found it, recalled it, carried it on his shoulders, and added it to his own flock (Luke 15:5). For he made peace between things on earth and things in heaven in his own carnal advent. Therefore the shepherds with the angels at his birth were glorifying him, saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace" (Luke 2:14). "For I have not forgotten thy commandments." For although one may have transgressed, yet one did not completely admit the forgetting of these. But the prophet offered this prayer, yet the whole nature of men has obtained salvation. But as it was said above, the Good Shepherd ran to the straying sheep, and when he had sought it, he found it, and carried it back on his shoulders, and rejoiced over it more than over the ninety-nine which had not strayed (Luke 15:4-6). Furthermore, by these things is signified that as often as we do not forget his commandments, God seeks us and recalls us to himself. Let us, however, consider the beginning and the end of the Psalm. For in the opening it says: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 118:1); and at the end of the same: "Seek thy servant, for I have not forgotten thy commandments." Those, therefore, who walk in the law of the Lord do not forget his commandments at all; and those who do not forget the commandments walk in the law of the Lord. We, however, having made an interpretation of the Psalm in summary, beseech the readers not to be content with the things written by us, nor to think that these apply to the prophet alone; but let each one reap from here the fruit appropriate to himself, and prepare salutary medicine against his own ailments. And these, brothers, are the monuments and teachings of the fathers, from which we have drawn and handed them down to you with due care and solicitude, so that the commandments of God may flourish in you. For this is proper to a Christian, that according to our sincere faith the works should be good. In which the Lord God will strengthen you, giving you the riches of his mercy and his compassions; guarding you from every evil, and bestowing on you the heavenly kingdom, through the intercessions of our immaculate Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin, and of all his saints, to the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.ADMONITION ON THE FOLLOWING HOMILY
The reader will immediately perceive that this homily is full of trifles and was rightfully sent away among the spurious ones: nor would it be necessary to preface anything else; we translate it into Latin not without nausea.ON THAT PHRASE, "DELIVER ME, O LORD, FROM THE EVIL MAN" (Ps. 139:1)
B I wonder why the prophet did not pray to be rescued from demons, or from lions, or from dragons, but from an evil man. It is clear, therefore, that evil men are worse than lions. For-lions revered Daniel, but the Jews crucified the Lord: ravens fed Elijah on the mountain, but the brothers of Joseph sold him and were eating, whom he even besought as they ignored him. For the boy prayed to them not to be sold to foreigners: but they, because of excessive cruelty, despised his supplication; and they neither pitied his youthful age, nor revered the bowels of brotherhood; not because he was sown by the same sower, and they had grown from almost the same field, but because of excessive cruelty they sold an innocent man and their brother into slavery. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man." Wild bees fed John in the desert, but Herodias beheaded him at a banquet. Dragons and cerastes and vipers had revered that man, but the wicked woman did not shudder at the prophet. Daniel killed the dragon in Babylon, David could not overcome the envy of Saul. The serpent only deceived Eve: but Cain killed his own brother with deceit. That dog Cain, once whipped, is subjected to the Lord: but Judas, even while he is being fed, betrayed the Lord. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man": not from wild beasts; for wild beasts exhibit open malice; but wicked men cover their iniquity under a guise of moderation. And just as those who offer poisonous drugs often soften the bitterness with honey and sweetness, so also wicked men carry the sweetness of words in their mouths, and retain the bitterness of their manners in their hearts: they carry honey in their mouth, and forge a sword in their mind, and some appear outside while others lie hidden inside. Thus therefore the malicious man is worse than a wild beast: but hear how. For the wild beast, since it has no intelligence, does not find evils against a man: for it neither reasons, nor has intelligence or malice guiding it; but an evil man, since he has intelligence, if he uses it for iniquity, when he wishes, will find opportunities for trapping through his intelligence. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man": not from the evil angel. For there are also evil angels; as when David says: "He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, indignation, and wrath, and tribulation, a sending by evil angels. He made a way for the path of his wrath" (Ps. 77:49, 50). But an evil man is worse than an evil angel. For the evil angel keeps those things which have been commanded, but the evil man violates commands. What is worse than the devil? Yet although he envied Job, he did not dare to approach him without divine command. But an evil man, when he hears, "Love your enemies" (Matt. 5:44), not only does not love his enemies, but even hates his benefactors, and kills them himself, as Saul attempted toward David. For he destroyed the adversary Goliath with a sling-shot, and took away the fear; but the former attempted to kill him through deceit. His own psalmody put the demon to flight again, but the former remained brandishing a sword against him. Such, indeed, is the malicious man: by how much greater a benefit he is affected, by so much the more he is incited to slaughter. For a subject of envy bestows strength upon the malicious man who is affected by benefits. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man"; not from a[GREEK COLUMN] A Me, O Lord, from an evil man; not from demons. For demons are driven away by the sign of the cross, but the evil man opposes the Lord himself. Paul indeed drove out demons with a word, but he was not able to conquer the wickedness of Alexander the coppersmith; for he says, "Alexander the coppersmith did me many evil things; may the Lord repay him." Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man; not from a good man. For a good man brings forth good things from the good treasure of the heart; but an evil man brings forth evil things from the evil treasure. And just as from some mixture, each one of them brings forth his own saplings from the heart—the good man goodness, and the evil man wickedness. And just as from a bitter root the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit are bitter; so too the walk, the look, the manner, and the hands of an evil man are evil. For concerning the feet, as when Wisdom says: "Turn away from them and pass by; for their feet run to evil." And concerning the hands, as when the prophet says in prayer: B "Deliver me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the lawless and unjust man." And concerning an evil eye, as when the Lord cries out: "If your eye is evil, is it because I am good?" Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man. Such a person weaves deceits, practices hypocrisy, and forges envy in his heart. From an evil man; not from a righteous man. For a righteous man pities the souls of beasts, as it is written; but the unjust even strip away those of men. A righteous man pities the souls of cattle, as Moses, having run up into the mountain, watered the thirsty sheep of Jethro; but the unjust Pharaoh drowned the firstborn of the Hebrews in the river; and the one watered sheep through water, but the other killed men through water.
2. It is necessary, therefore, to flee from wickedness and injustice, with all our might; and not only to flee, but also to rescue those who are being wronged from the hand of those who wrong them, as Abraham rescued Lot when he was taken captive C from the hand of the foreigners; as Lot himself rescued the angels from the lawlessness of the Sodomites. For even if the nature of the angels is unassailable, yet the boldness of men is ready. As Moses rescued the people of the Hebrews from the hand of the Egyptians; as David rescued Saul from the violence of the demon; as the angel who descended with them rescued the three children from the burning furnace; as faith rescued Daniel from the lions' den; as repentance rescued Jonah from the belly of the whale; as the eunuch Abimelech rescued Jeremiah from the mire of the pit; as Daniel in Babylon rescued Susanna from the judgment of the lawless; as the Lord rescued all of humanity from the hand of the devil; as the apostles rescued those possessed by spirits and diseases. But the word does not only legislate for men to do this, but also teaches women. For many women rescued many from death and dangers, as Sarah rescued Abraham from the hand of Abimelech, by sophistically claiming [that she was] his sister; as Rebekah [rescued] her son Jacob from the hand of his brother D Esau, by counseling flight to him; as Rachel rescued her father from idolatry, having stolen the lifeless idols; for she stole them for no other reason than to rescue her father from idolatry; as Rahab the harlot rescued the spies from the hand of the foreigners, having hidden them in the flax; as Michal [rescued] David from the hand of Saul, having announced the secret to him; as Abigail [rescued] Nabal from death, having fallen before David; as the mother of Moses [rescued] the infant from the hand of Pharaoh, having cast [him] into the Nile; as Martha and Mary [rescued] their brother Lazarus from Hades, having wept before the Lord; as the widows [rescued] Tabitha from death, having entreated Peter; as faith [rescued] the woman with the issue of blood, and fasting [rescued] the Ninevites. Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man, and rescue me from an unjust man. Let us see from whom the prophet prays specifically to be rescued. For indeed Doeg is an evil man, and Saul is an unjust man. Accordingly, David was fleeing from the presence of Saul to Nob, the city of the priests, and there Abimelech the priest gave him the spear of Goliath the foreigner and provisions. Then Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of the mules of Saul, being present and seeing what was happening, went away and slandered David and Abimelech the priest, saying: "Yesterday I was in Nob the city, and David was there; and Abimelech the priest gave him provisions and the spear of Goliath the foreigner." Then Saul, having become angry and full of wrath, says to the soldiers running by him: "Slay the priests in the city of Nob." But they did not dare to lay a hand upon the priests, having their hands bridled by the fear of God, and before their hands, their minds. Then Saul, turning to Doeg, says: "You, kill all the priests of the Lord, and do not spare: not of the elder, not of the younger, not of a woman, not of a virgin, not of an infant, not of one who is nursing; even to an ass and a sheep and a calf, kill all for destruction." Then Doeg, having turned and divided the people he commanded, runs, and prepared some to encircle the city, so that no one might flee and provide for their own safety, and ordered others to cast fire into the city, and he himself, like a lion eager for prey, rushed against them in the city, like sheep being butchered, and slaughtered on that day three hundred and fifty priests wearing the ephod, and he did not spare elder, or younger, or virgin, or woman, or nursing infant, and [he destroyed] from sheep and calf and ass, and burned the city with fire. Then David, having observed this, while fleeing said: "Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man; rescue me from an unjust man." For it was truly possible to see most cruel things: the blood of youths and infants mingled together, and the tips of infants' mouths attached to their mothers' breasts, and hair cut before its time, and ears of grain reaped before their time, and clusters of grapes not yet matured, killed by the wrath of hail, and the dignity of female tresses, which should have been hidden, paraded about. For with the linen tunic on the head being tossed away, the skull was shown bare of hair, and chests were bared, which even to look upon the sun is ashamed, and parts of the body, and nature itself taught to cover. And who would be able to equal in words the necessity that happened then? Since, therefore, the evil man and the unjust man perpetrate such things, let us not cease always to entreat God intensely and to say: "Deliver me, O Lord, from an evil man; rescue me from an unjust man." And let us not only pray for these things with our mouth, but also, through good works, let us make even ourselves worthy to have our petition heard. For thus, by beseeching God, we shall be heard, and He will not only deliver and rescue us from an evil man and an unjust man, but He will also redeem us from our invisible enemies, and along with earthly goods, He will deem us worthy of His eternal goods. In particular, let us keep our love for one another sincere and without guile, and let us consider the progress of our neighbor to be our own gain. For in this we become imitators of God as far as is possible for men. For our God is and is called Love. To Him be the glory and the power, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.