Psalms 73:12

In Zechariah: “Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: just, and having salvation; meek, sitting upon an ass that hath not been tamed.” Also in Isaiah: “Who will declare to you that eternal place? He that walketh in righteousness, and holdeth back his hands from gifts; stopping his ears that he may not hear the judgment of blood; and closing his eyes, that he may not see unrighteousness: this man shall dwell in the lofty cavern of the strong rock; bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure. …

But whence do they receive this, except from Him of whom it is here immediately said, “Giving the vow to him that voweth?” Otherwise they would be of those mighty ones whose bow is weakened. “Giving,” she saith, “the vow to him that voweth.” For no one could vow anything acceptable to God, unless he received from Him that which he might vow. There follows, “And He hath blessed the years of the just,” to wit, that he may live for ever with Him to whom it is said, “And Thy years shall have no end.” For there the years abide; but here they pass away, yea, they perish: for before they come they are not, and when they shall have come they shall not be, because they bring their own end with them. Now of these two, that is, “giving the vow to him that voweth,” and “He hath blessed the years of the just,” the one is what we do, the other what we receive. …

11. Asaph hath understood, because on the Title of the Psalm there is, “understanding of Asaph.” And what saith he? “But God, our King before the worlds, hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth” ( ver. 12 ). On the one hand we cry, “No longer is there prophet, and us He will not know as yet:” but on the other hand, “our God, our King, who is before the worlds” (for He is Himself in the beginning of the Word by whom were made the worlds), “hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth.” “God therefore, our King before the worlds,” hath done what? “hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth:” and I am yet crying as if forsaken!…Now the Gentiles are awake, and we are snoring, and as though God hath forsaken us, in dreams we are delirious. “He hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth.”

How well he remembers the task before him! how much to the point is the conclusion of his argument! Basil declares that the Apostle said that the man who was “seen” was made Christ and Lord, and this clear and quick-witted over-turner of his statements says, “If Peter does not say that the essence of Him Who was in the beginning was made, the man who was ‘seen’ ‘emptied himself’ to take the ‘form of a servant,’ and He Who ‘emptied Himself’ to take the ’form of a servant, emptied Himself to become man.” We are conquered, Eunomius, by this invincible wisdom! The fact that the Apostle’s discourse refers to Him Who was “crucified through weakness” is forsooth powerfully disproved when we learn that if we believe this to be so, the man who was “seen” again becomes another, “emptying Himself” for another coming into being of man. …

But if any one were to call this appellation indicative of dignity, I cannot tell by what reasoning he drags the word to this significance. Since however one may hear many saying things of this kind, in order that the zeal of its opponents may not find a ground for attacking the truth, we go out of our way with those who take this view, to consider such an opinion, and say that, even if the name does denote dignity, in this case too the appellation will properly befit the Holy Spirit. For the attribute of kingship denotes all dignity; and “our God,” it says, “is King from everlasting.” But the Son, having all things which are the Father’s, is Himself proclaimed a King by Holy Scripture. Now the Divine Scripture says that the Holy Spirit is the unction of the Only-Begotten, interpreting the dignity of the Spirit by a transference of the terms commonly used in this world. …