Letter 418

To Euphemius the Monk. The fifty-fourth psalm [Psalm 54 in the Septuagint numbering, Psalm 55 in the Hebrew] makes mention of fear, of trembling, and of the darkness of sins: "And who," he says, "will give me wings like a dove's, and I will fly away," and I will rise above the evils that trouble me, and I will reach to God, and I will come to rest with him, and I will find repose in my own loving Master. For he himself is the rest of those who have been worn down in the wretched sweats of sin; whence he cries out: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." David, therefore, knowing what he has spoken throughout the whole psalm, and having opened the eyes of those who struggle, and having prepared them never to despair, brings the psalm to rest in good hope.

Ὁ πεντηκοστὸς τέταρτος ψαλμὸς μέμνηται φό- βου, τρόμου, καὶ σκότους ἁμαρτημάτων· « Καὶ τίς δώσει μοι, φησὶ, πτέρυγας καθὼς περιστερᾶς, καὶ πετασθήσομαι, » καὶ ὑπερθήσομαι τὰ ἐνοχλοῦντα κακά, καὶ φθάσω πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ καταπαύσω πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ προσαναπαύσομαι τῷ ἰδίῳ φιλαν- θρώπῳ Δεσπότῃ· Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀνάπαυσις τῶν ἐν τοῖς μοχθηροῖς ἱδρῶσι τῆς ἁμαρτίας κεκοπτημέ- νων· ὅθεν βοᾷ· « Δεῦτε πρός με, πάντες οἱ κοπιῶν- τες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς. » Εἰδὼς τοίνυν ὁ Δαυΐδ, τί δι’ ὅλου τοῦ ψαλμοῦ λελά- ληκε, καὶ ὀμματώσας τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους, καὶ πα- ρασκευάσας μὴ ἀπογινώσκειν ποτέ, εἰς ἐλπίδα ἀγα- θὴν τὸν ψαλμὸν καταπαύει.