DISCOURSE on Psalm 146. The very glorification of the Lord serves as a source of innumerable blessings. – "Psalmody is good, let praise be pleasing to our God." – To what event in the history of the Israelites does this psalm refer? – "And he gives names to all of them." – A special manifestation of divine providence is in the exaltation of the humble and the deposition of the proud. "Begin to glorify the Lord." God's favor is achieved not by the strength of horses and the courage of soldiers, but by the fear of God.

DISCOURSE on Psalm 147. The inducement of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to give thanks to the Lord for the security granted to them is the increase of population and peace with their neighbors... – "And with better wheat he satisfies thee." The Lord's providential activity extends to the entire universe, in which His commands are quickly fulfilled, as shown by various aerial manifestations. – The purpose with which the Psalmist points to the manifestation of divine omnipotence in these phenomena of nature. – "He declares His word to Jacob... "But if the Lord did not reveal His will to the other nations, then why does He call them? – And if they knew what they should do, then why is it said: "He did not do this to any (yet) people"? – An explanation of the psalm in a figurative sense – about the higher Jerusalem and the Christian Church, its spread and the change brought about by Christianity in the life of mankind.

DISCOURSE on Psalm 148. The call of all creatures, spiritual and sensual, to the glorification of the Creator and the special purpose of this call. – Why does the prophet speak a little about heavenly powers and more extensively about visible objects? – Various ways to glorify God; praise be to Him of inanimate creatures. – The world has a Creator and Provider. – Turning to earthly creatures, why does the Psalmist enumerate those of them that seem useless or harmful? – We must thank God for establishing the power of the Kings. – "For the name of His only one is exalted." – The Lord will extend His glory to Israel, if he will fulfill His commandments.

DISCOURSE on Psalm 149. The "new song" in the figurative sense is a song of the New Testament, in the historical sense it is a solemn song. – "Praise be to Him in the assembly of the saints." Gratitude to God, combined with joy and unanimity. – Why were the ancients allowed to use musical instruments when praising God? "To take vengeance on the nations... To carry out a prescribed judgment over them... "

DISCOURSE on Psalm 150. "Praise ye God in His saints." - "Praise Him in His power." - How can a Christian fulfill the psalmist's admonition regarding the glorification of God with various musical instruments? - What does it mean: "on cymbals of loud voices"?

Two Discourses on the Words of the Prophet David: "Do not be afraid when a man is rich"

DISCOURSE 1 on the words of the Prophet David: "Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, or when the glory of his house increases" (Psalm 48:17), and about hospitality. Greetings to the audience. - Which of the people is a person only in name, and how to become a man in reality? - How to achieve that you are not afraid of a rich person? - What is true wealth? - The pastoral duty of a preacher is difficult, but irreplaceable. - How can a rich man be saved? - An example of hospitality and admonition to women. - External wealth serves to decorate the house, and not the person himself.

DISCOURSE 2 spoken in Constantinople in the great Church, after another had spoken a word, in a small assembly, on the words: "Fear not when a man is rich" (Psalm 48:17), and on almsgiving. Great is the beneficence of exercise in the Divine Scriptures. - Human deeds are like a shadow. - What is the glory of a man and the glory of a house? - Wealth does not bring glory to a person, but ignominy and condemnation. Denunciation of luxury and vanity. - Wealth is a runaway slave. - Exhortation to avoid vanity and give generous alms.

THE DISCOURSE spoken during Great Week, about why this week (passion) is called great, and to the words: "Praise the Lord, O my soul" (Psalm 145:1), and about the prison guard mentioned in the Acts. An exhortation to increased spiritual vigilance during Holy Week. - Why is it called great and how do Christians and Christian kings commemorate it? - "Praise the Lord, O my soul." - How can our inward parts bless the Lord? - Why is it that in Psalm 145 only the soul is called to this? - The great power of hymns to God. - The Apostles did nothing for show, and believers were attracted to them not only by their miracles, but even before the miracles of their lives. - The great power of prayer combined with fasting and gratitude to God. - When is prayer combined with gratitude? - Exhortation - to pray with reverent attention. - How to maintain attention during prayer?

DISCOURSE ON PSALM 131

1 The Song of Degrees. Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness: 1 Song of Degrees. Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness: 2 As they swear to the Lord, they swear to the God of Jacob: 2 As he swore to the Lord, he promised to the God of Jacob, " 3 If I enter into the dwelling of my house, or ascend to the bed of my bed, 3 I will not enter into my dwelling, my house, I will not enter my bed, 4 If I give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my house, and rest to my Scraniam: 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, nor rest to my temples, 5 Till I find the place of the Lord, the dwelling place of the God of Jacob. 5 Until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob." 6 Behold, I have heard in the Euphrates, I have found myself in the fields of the oak forest: 6 Behold, we have heard that it is in the Euphrates, and we have found it in the fields of the oak forest. 7 Let us enter into his dwellings, let us worship in the place, where his nose stands. 7 Let us enter into his dwellings, let us worship the place where his feet stood. 8 Arise, O Lord, into thy rest, thou and the kivot of thy holiness. 8 Arise, O Lord, in the place of Thy rest, Thou and the Shrine of Thy Holiness. 9 Thy priestesses shall be clothed with righteousness, and thy priestesses shall rejoice. 9 Thy priests shall be clothed with righteousness, and Thy saints shall rejoice. 10 For David's sake, for thy servant's sake, turn not away the face of thy anointed. 10 For the sake of David thy servant, cast not away the face of thy anointed. 11 The Lord sweareth unto David the truth, and he shall not deny it: of the fruit of thy womb I will sit on thy throne. 11 The Lord swore to David by the truth, and will not deny it: "Of the fruit of thy womb I will sit on thy throne. 12 If thy sons keep my covenant and my testimonies, whom I will teach, and their sons shall sit on thy throne for ever. 12 If thy sons keep my covenant and these my testimonies which I teach them, their sons also shall sit on thy throne for ever." 13 As the Lord hath chosen Zion, it will also be in thy dwelling. 13 For the Lord hath chosen Zion, and desired it for his habitation, saying, " 14 This is my rest for ever, here I dwell as I will. 14 This is my rest for ever and ever: here I will dwell, for I have loved it. 15 Thou shalt catch him with good giving, and I will satisfy his poor with bread. 15 I will bless his food, I will feed his poor with bread, 16 His priests will clothe him with salvation, and his priests will rejoice in his joy. 16 I will clothe his priests with salvation, and his saints will rejoice with joy. 17 There I will raise up the horn of David, and I will prepare a candle for my anointed one. 17 There I will raise up the horn of David. I have prepared a lamp for My anointed. 18 I will clothe his enemies with frost, and on him my holiness shall flourish. 18 I will cover his enemies with shame, but my holiness shall flourish upon him."

In other places salvation is asked only for the sake of the memory of ancestors, but here it is also spoken of virtues, of that which is the source of all good things, of modesty, humility, meekness, for which Moses was especially distinguished. He was, says the Scriptures, "the meekest man of all men on earth" (Num. 12:3).

I affirm, and will not cease to assert, that he was meek, and even the meekest of all men, and, if you like, not by anything else, but by the very thing that is said against him, I will try to prove his meekness. At the same time, one could say what he said before God about his sister, about the prayer he offered up for the people, about all these apostolic sayings worthy of heaven, about the condescension with which he conversed with the people. One could say about this and enumerate many other things; but, if you will, leaving this aside, we will prove from the very words spoken above by our enemies that he was the meekest man, the very thing on the basis of which some call him heavy, cruel, and wrathful. How do we prove this? If we distinguish beforehand and define what meekness is and what cruelty is. To smite does not mean to be severe, and to spare does not mean to be meek; He is meek who is able to endure the insults inflicted on himself, and defends those who are unjustly offended, and rebels strongly against those who offend him; on the contrary, whoever is such is careless, sleepy, no better than a dead man, and not meek, not modest. Not to pay attention to those who are offended, not to sympathize with those who suffer unjustly, not to be angry with those who offend – this is not a virtue, but a vice, not meekness, but carelessness. Thus proves his meekness, that he was so ardent that he immediately rushed when he saw others offended, unable to restrain his indignation in defense of justice; and when he himself endured evil, he did not take revenge, did not attack, but always remained wise. If he had been cruel and angry, then, inflamed and inflamed so much for others, he would not have remained calm for himself, but then he would have given himself up to anger much more. You know that we are much more burdened by things that concern ourselves than others. And he, when others suffered evil, repelled the offense no less than the sufferers themselves; and the insults inflicted on himself, he endured with great patience, being high in both cases, expressing in the first his hatred of evil, and in the second, his longsuffering. And tell me, what should he do? To neglect the offense and evil inflicted on the people? But this would not be characteristic of the leader of the people, not magnanimous and not malicious, but inactive and careless. You do not condemn the physician who, by means of cutting off, stops the putrefaction that penetrates the whole body: why then do you call him a cruel man who has decided to put an end to a disease with a strong blow, much more dangerous than the putrefaction that spread throughout the whole people? This is characteristic of an unreasonable judge. The leader of so many people, the leader of a people so cruel, rude, and unrestrained, should have stopped at the very beginning and restrained evil at the door, so that it would not spread further. But, you say, did he cause the earth to swallow up Dathan and Abiram? What do you say? Was it necessary to ignore the trampling of the priesthood, the violation of the laws of God, the destruction of that which holds everything together, i.e. the priestly rank, to make the inaccessible to all, and through weakness for these people to allow all who wish to trample on the sacred fence and overthrow everything? But it would not be a matter of meekness, but of inhumanity and cruelty, to ignore the spread of such evil, and, having spared two hundred men, to destroy so many thousands. Likewise, tell me, when he commanded that his kinsmen should be killed, what ought he to do if God was angry, and wickedness increased, and there was no one who could deliver them from their wrath? Shall we allow the blow of heaven to descend upon all the tribes and consign the whole race to complete destruction, leaving unheeded along with the punishment even the sin that was made incurable, or by the punishment and killing of a few people to destroy sin, restrain anger and incline God to mercy with criminals? If you examine the deeds of the righteous man in this way, then from this you will especially see that he was very meek.

2. However, leaving it to the inquisitive to draw conclusions from what has been said, so that we may not make more of an extraneous subject than the nearest one, let us return to what has been proposed. What was proposed? "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness: as he swore to the Lord, he promised to the God of Jacob" (v. 1, 2). Having proposed to speak of David's meekness, and leaving his deeds in relation to Saul, to his brothers, to Jonathan, his long-suffering in relation to the soldier, who heaped upon him with innumerable rebukes, and other most numerous ones, the Psalmist turns his speech to the main matter, which showed especially great zeal. Why does he do this? For two reasons; first, because it is primarily pleasing to God: "On whom will I look," He says, "on him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and on him who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2); secondly, because at that time it was especially necessary to restore the temple, build a city, restore the ancient social order; That is why he especially addresses his speech to this; that which is known and acknowledged by all, he leaves – David's meekness was known to all – and this, which is especially necessary for his purpose, he exposes it. Indeed, what did the Jews want to see then? Restoration of the temple and restoration of the ancient worship. And since David was especially famous for this work, then, as if as a reward for his diligence, the Psalmist asked God to build a temple, and said: "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness: as he swore to the Lord, he promised to the God of Jacob: 'I will not enter into my dwelling, my house, I will not enter my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, nor rest to my temples; until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob" (vv. 1-5). But how does this apply to you? Since I, he says, am his descendant, and since you, having accepted his diligence, promised to restore his family and kingdom, we now ask that these promises be fulfilled. David did not say, "Until I build it," because it was not lawful for him, but, "Until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob." Without mentioning the one who built it, the Psalmist points to the one who made the vow, so that you may know how great a good the right spirit is, and how God always assigns a reward for intention. For this reason he is especially mentioned, since he was a builder more than his son, because he made a vow, and this one received a commandment. And look at his diligence: not only, he says, I will not enter the house and go up on the bed, but I will not enjoy what is a natural need, I will not enjoy in peace, until I have found a place and dwelling place for the God of Jacob. In contrast to this, God reproached the Jews when He said: "You dwell in your houses adorned, while this house is desolate" (Haggai 1:4). "Until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob." Look again here at the diligence and solicitude of his soul. The king says, "Until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob," whereas he himself possessed all things. He wanted to build not simply, but on the most convenient and most decent place for a church, and he had to look for this place: he was so vigilantly careful! "Behold, we have heard that it is in the Euphrates, we have found it in the fields of the oak forest" (v. 6). Now he tells of what happened long ago, expressing that before the ark traveled for a long time, moving from place to place; wherefore he says: "Behold, we have heard that it is in the Euphrates," i.e. our fathers told us about it; we know by ear that even then, wandering everywhere in the fields and deserts, he was later placed in place; let it be the same now. The word "in the Euphrates" here means the tribe of Judah, in which the ark was placed after a long pilgrimage. "Let us enter into his dwellings, let us worship the place where his feet stood" (v. 7). You see what a sensual expression he uses because of the great insensibility of his listeners, when he mentions the dwellings of God, the feet, and the place where His feet stood. All this he said about the place of the ark, since terrible words proceeded from it, resolving perplexities about the affairs of the Jews and predicting the future. "Arise, O Lord, in the place of Thy rest, Thou and the Shrine of Thy Holiness" (v. 8). Another translator (unknown, see Orig. Exemek) says: Thy strength (ισχύος). Third (unknown, see Orig. Exem.): Thy realm (κράτους). Both are true, because holiness was given from there, and the writings kept there brought both holiness and power.