The Unstumbling Way
By making these things happen, they are set on right steps. And you have many such things in the Scripture: 'I ran the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart' (Psalm 119:32). Because God enlarges the heart and has given breadth to the understanding, someone runs the way of the commandments. Not that he ran and his heart was enlarged, but that God was enlarging it, casting out all narrowness from faulty thoughts and afflictions; because of this, we ran the way of God.
Again, if it is said in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:23), do not think it as an opposition: 'I know that the way of man is not his own, nor does a man direct his steps.' The prophet's meaning is twofold. Nebuchadnezzar threatens the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of the whole Hebrew race. The prophet said that, even if the threat existed and we ourselves provided the causes for this to be suffered, 'I know that the way of man is not his own' (Jeremiah 10:23). You are able to prevent his way against us; for even if a man is thought to be great, his course is not made straight if you prevent it.
It is also possible to take it according to the meaning already assigned to: 'not by the willer or the runner, but by the God who shows mercy' (Romans 9:16). Set your intention to run the saving way. It is not within our power to run the way, but to will to arrive at the end of the way, so as to say: 'I have finished the race' (1 Corinthians 9:24). From Him is the directing, from Him is the guiding. 'Lead me in your truth' (Psalm 25:5). The one being led by God does not make himself straight. But he intends to be made straight and has given himself to the One who is able to lead him into perfection.
Such things as are according to God, I say, and seeing toward Him, are richly fulfilled, and it is not possible for each to be divided from each other. If someone has set before him the good, he strives to be an imitator of God, to set and to take up virtue; having set it before him, he does not stand still until the setting, but acts, meditates, strives, and disciplines himself.
To aim at good things. 'Has it not been announced to you, O man, what the Lord requires from you: except to love mercy, to do judgment, and to be ready to go with the Lord your God?' (Micah 6:8). He who prepares himself to always go with the Lord your God is entirely unstumbling. Only let him prepare himself for this, saying: 'My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.' And no one among those who are stumbled by shameful thoughts or some impulse can say: 'My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready'; for he has bonds, 'he is constricted by the chains of his own sins.' God desires the path of the one being directed in his steps. And he who has spoken, 'I am the way' (John 14:6), walks willingly, running the way of life. He treads and runs upon it. 'And he shall desire his way' (Psalm 37:24). It is also possible to say this: he whose steps are directed by God desires the way of God, into which He leads him, upon which He guides and escorts him. And even if it should ever happen that he falls, he is not destroyed.
24 When he falls, he shall not be shattered (Psalm 37:24). Take for me such an example: let a runner be excellent, having by nature swift feet and having the art of running most prepared. This one, having sharpness regarding the running and having trained the feet of the inner man, if ever he should stumble while running, receives in some way a brief sensation of the stumbling; for he is neither turned over nor, as if struck by a blow, does he stop from the race. And even if it should ever happen to be some slipping, he is not destroyed. Judas slipped from the way of truth and fell; for it has been said: 'Becoming headstrong, he fell in the midst' (Proverbs 29:1). But he would not have become headstrong if he had not been shattered. And good is also this: 'When he falls, he shall not be shattered' (Psalm 37:24). And even if some stumbling should occur, it does not provide 'a place for the devil' (Luke 10:18), so as to turn him and shatter him entirely. Someone saw a woman toward desire until...
Greek
ἐπιτιθέντος τοῖς οὕτω γινομένοις ὀρθοῖς δ̣ι̣αβήμασιν. ἔχεις δὲ π̣ολλὰ ἐν τῇ γραφῇ τοιαῦτα· "ὁδὸν ἐντολῶν σου ἔδραμον, ὅταν ἐπλάτυνας τὴν καρδίαν μου". θεοῦ πλατύνοντος τὴν καρδίαν, εὖρος τῇ νοήσει δεδωκότος, ἀνύει τις τὴν τῶν ἐντολῶν ὁδόν. οὐχ ὅτι ἔδραμεν, ἐπλατύνθη αὐτοῦ ἡ καρ̣δία, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐπλάτυνεν αὐτὴν ὁ θεὸς πᾶσαν στενοχωρίαν τὴν ἐκ φαύλων λογισμῶν καὶ θλίψεων ἐκβάλλων, διὰ τοῦτο ἔδ̣ραμεν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. πάλιν δὲ ἐὰν λέγηται ἐν τῷ Ἰηρεμίᾳ, μὴ ὡς ἐναντίωμα 164 νομίσῃς· "οἶδα ὅτι οὐ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἀνὴρ πορεύσεται κατευ····· ··ιαν αὐτοῦ". σὺ εἶ ὁ . διττῶς δὲ δύναται διάνοιαν ἔχειν τὸ τοῦ προφήτου ῥητόν· ἀπειλεῖ ὁ Ναβουχοδονοσσὸρ καθαίρεσιν τῆς̣ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ μετοικισμὸν ὅλου τοῦ Ἑβραικοῦ γένους. ἔλεγεν ὁ προφήτης ὅτι· εἰ καὶ ἠπείλει καὶ τὰ αἴτια τοῦ τοῦτο παθ̣ε̣ι῀̣ν̣ ἡμεῖς παρέσχομεν, "οἶδα ὅτι οὐ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτοῦ". δύνῃ κωλῦσαι αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ὁδόν· κἂν γὰρ ἀνὴρ νομίζῃ εἶναι καὶ μέγας, ἀλλ' οὐ κατορθοῦται ἡ πορεία αὐτοῦ σοῦ κωλύοντος. δυνατὸν καὶ οὕτω λαβεῖν κατὰ τὴν ἀποδοθεῖσαν ἤδη διάνοιαν εἰς τό· "οὐ τοῦ θέλοντος οὐδὲ τοῦ τρέχοντος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐλεῶντος θεοῦ". προτίθεσθε δραμεῖν τὴν σωτηριώδη ὁδόν. οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῶν ἀνύσαι τὴν ὁδόν, ἀλλὰ θελῆσαι εἰς τὸ τέλος τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐλθεῖν, ὥστ' ἀνειπεῖν· "τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα". ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ τὸ κατευθῦναι, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸ ξεναγῆσαι. "ὁδήγησόν με ἐπὶ τη`̣ν ἀλήθειάν σου". ὁ ὁδηγούμενος ὑπὸ θεοῦ οὐχ ἑαυτῷ κατορθοῖ. ποθεῖ δὲ κατορθῶσαι καὶ δέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ δυναμένῳ αὐτὸν εἰς τελειότητα ἀγαγεῖν. τὰ τοιαῦτα τὰ κατὰ θεόν, λέγω, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁρῶντα πλουσίως ἐπιτελεῖται καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν μερίσαι ἕκαστον ἀφ' ἑκάστου. ἐπόθησέν τις τὸ καλόν, μιμητὴς εἶναι θεοῦ σπουδάζει, προθέσθαι ἀναλαβεῖν τὴν ἀρετήν· προθέμενος οὐχ ἵσταται μέχρι τῆς προθέσεως, ἀλλ' ἐνεργεῖ, μελετᾷ, σπουδάζει, ἐθίζει ἑαυτὸν πράττειν τὰ καλά. "εἰ ἀνηγγέλη σοι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, τί κύριος αἰτεῖ παρὰ σοῦ ἢ τοῦ ἀγαπᾶν ἔλεον καὶ ποιεῖν κρίμα καὶ ἕτοιμον εἶναι τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ"; ὁ ἑτοιμάζων ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ ἀεὶ μετὰ τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ πορεύεσθαι πάντῃ ἀνεμπόδιστός ἐστιν. μόνον ἑτοιμαζέτω ἑαυτὸν εἰς τοῦτο λέγων· "ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου, ὁ θεός, ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου". οὐδεὶς δὲ τῶν ἐνποδιζομένων ὑπὸ λογισμῶν αἰσχρῶν ἢ ἐν̣θυμήσεώς τινος εἰπεῖν δύναται· "ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου, ὁ θ̣ε̣ο´̣ς̣, ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου"· ἔχει γὰρ δεσμά, "σειραῖς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτιῶν σφίνγεται". τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ κατευθυνομένου ἐν τοῖς δ̣ιαβήμασιν ὁ θεὸς θέλει. θελητῶς δὲ βαδίζει, τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ζωῆς τρέχει αὐτὸν τὸν εἰρηκότα· "ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός". πατεῖ καὶ τρέχει ἐπ' αὐτοῦ. "καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ θελήσει". δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν ὅτι· οὗ τὰ διαβήματα κατευθύνεται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ὁδὸν θέλει, εἰς ἣν ἄγει αὐτόν, ἐφ' ἣν ὁδηγεῖ καὶ ξεναγεῖ αὐτόν. κἄν ποτε οὖν συμβῇ πεσεῖν, οὐ καταρήγνυται. 24 ὅταν πέσῃ, οὐ καταραχθήσεται. λάβε μοι παράδειγμα τοιοῦτο· δρομεύς τις ἔστω ἄριστος καὶ ποδῶν ὠκύτητα κατὰ φ̣ύσιν ἔχων καὶ τὴν τέχνην τὴν δρομικὴν ἄκρως παρασκευασθείς. οὗτος ὀξέως περὶ τὸ τρέχειν ἔχων καὶ γεγυμνασ̣μ̣ένους ἔχων τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου τοὺς πόδας ἄν ποτε προσπταίσῃ ἐν τῷ τρέχειν, τρόπον τινὰ βραχεῖαν αἴσθησιν λαμβάνει τοῦ προσπταίσματος· οὐδὲ γὰρ καταστρέφεται οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ὥσπερ πληγεὶς ὀκλᾷ, παύεται τοῦ δρόμου. κἄν ποτε οὖν συμβῇ γενέσθαι τινὰ ὄλισθον, οὐ καταρήγνυται. ὠλίσθησεν Ἰούδας ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ κατέπεσεν· εἴρηται γάρ· "πρηνὴς γενάμενος ἐλάκησεν μέσος". πρηνὴς δὲ οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο, εἰ μὴ καταραχθεὶς ἦν. εὖ δὲ καὶ τό· "ὅταν πέσῃ, οὐ καταραχθήσεται". κἂν πταῖσμά τι γένηται, οὐ παρέχει "τῷ διαβόλῳ τόπον", ὥστε πάντῃ αυ᾿̣τὸν καταστρέψαι καὶ καταράξαι. εἶδέν τις γυναῖκα πρὸς ἐπιθυμίαν με´̣χρι
About this text
Didymus the Blind on the Psalms.
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Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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