The Face of God and the Morning Perception

Those being disturbed by wickedness and false glory, being agitated by the allurements of pleasure, God shall shake in His wrath, and those being disturbed by the expectation of punishment.

But these are not consumed by a fire that is entirely physical, but by that which follows the disease of the soul; rather, when the soul repents for the evils it has done, a penalty of fire pierces it, or when dissatisfaction arises in it, a fire analogous to the diseases of the body is generated.

For just as bodily foods, when consumed beyond what is necessary, which can cause illness, bring on feversose who have eaten them, so too, from these foods, a fitting fire will follow the wickedness and the worthless doctrines; it consumes them not by destroying their soul's essence (for it is indestructible) but their quality, according to which wood becomes hay, stubble, or weeds, so that when the things that joined them are consumed, the pure essence that was bound remains visible.

And here it is shown not that their essence is perishing, but that they bore fruit badly: 'for your works are weary and worthless' (Ps 20:11). Just as plants bearing perfect fruit project seed from that fulfilled fruit to become plants similar to themselves, so those having borne the seed of teachings in wickedness and impiety are cast down to make others like them, worthless and impious. God destroys this seed from among the sons of men.

'They turned evil toward him' (Ps 20:12) referring to the false doctrines concerning Him, attributing the cause of wickedness to Him; and the traitors and enemies of Him, having been proven, turned evil toward the Savior. It should be noted that evil is accomplished by turning aside, and not by straightness, as the good are seeds.

For all the worthless, having turned aside, act against the incapable; for they deliberate treacherously against the one who will not suffer harm. Perhaps also every evil man, through whom one sins, deliberates a plan that is unable to stand, because wickedness is unstable and not abiding. 'For you will set them low; with the remnant you will prepare their face' (Ps 20:13). God does not turn away; He sets these low, making them capable of being a face. And just as those who do not see the...

The silence of God allows one with a pure heart to contemplate His works and those following Him, so that observing His creation they may grasp His mind, and having cast off weakness to have a pure face, they approach God and give Him the face of God. Therefore he says: 'And in your remnants you prepare their face' (Ps 20:14a), for the remnants of God are those things above His sensible creations.

Since descending with our weakness, you took up something weak, O He who is stronger than men, having been crucified out of weakness, 'Exalt yourself in your power' (Ps 20:14b). It is terrible to take up through contemplation, but to sing is to act according to virtue. Contemplating the intelligible of the powers and acting according to them, we see and sing of your powers, you who ruled as a triumphal king against the devil and the opposing powers. It is also possible to declare the graciousness: we cry out to you, having ruled against death.

Morning perception is made straight by the rising of the sun of righteousness and the making of the beginning of the day; for the rising of the true light has laid an end to the night of ignorance and error and has shone a spiritual illumination. And that which begins toward the end of perfect illumination will arrive, through which all other spiritual things were spiritually completed at the end, not because of all other things, but it itself is nothing, which they also call the last, because no one desires anything above this, this being the ultimate good.

The prophecy of the present psalm points toward the end of the morning perception of David, that is, of him who was born of his seed according to the flesh. And this must be kept: he who guards the face, saying from beginning to end, no single change is found regarding the saying 'face'. And since the New Testament has taken words from the psalm as if spoken by Christ, it is necessary to interpret all of it from the face of Christ. Let us declare the words which the New Testament used, having reached them. It is to be noted that instead of 'calling', 'falling' has been used correctly; instead of...