The Cedars Of Lebanon

Εἶδον τὸν ἀσεβῆ ὑπερυψούμενον, καὶ ἐπαιρόμενον ὡς τὰς κέδρουσ τοῦ Λιβάνου. καὶ παρῆλθον καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν καὶ ἐζήτησα αὐτόν καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ, φύλασσε ἀκακίαν καὶ ἰδὲ εὐθύτητα ὅτι ἔστιν ἐγκατάλειμμα ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρηνικῷ. Οὕτως ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος διὰ πείρας ἐληλυθέναι τοῦ τέλουσ τῶν ἀσεβῶν φησιν· Οὐ γὰρ ἑξ ἀκοῆς πάλαι ποτὲ γενόμενα ἑτέρων λεγόντων ἀκήκοα· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς εἶδον, φησὶ, βλασφήμους ἄνδρας καὶ ἀθέους θαυμὰομένους μὲν ὑπὸ πάντων, ἐπαιρομένους δὲ καὶ γαυριῶνταη, οἰομένους τε διαιωνίζειν ἐν τῷ βίῳ. Ἀλλ' ὡς ἔτι παρ' ἑμαυτῷ διελογιζειν πῶς οἴδε, καίπερ ἀσεβεῖς ὄντες, τοσούτων τετυχήκασι, δεύτερον αὐτοὺς θεάσασθαι βουληθεὶς, ἐπῇρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς· οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἧσαν οὐδαμοῦ, ἀφανεῖς δ' ἀθρόως ὑπῆρχον. Εἶτα δὲ ἴχνος αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπόλειμμ βουληθεὶς καταλαβεῖν, οὐδὲ τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ ἐστἀναι ἐδόκουν εὑρεῖν δεδύνημαι. Διόπερ ἐπειδὴ τοιοῦτο τὸ τούτων τέλος, φεῦγε σὺ ὁ μαθητευόμενος τοῦτον τῶν ἀσεβῶν τὸν τρόπον, καὶ ἀπόνιψον μὲν ἑαυτοῦ πᾶσαν κακίαν, ἀγάπησον δὲ τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὁδόν. Μένει γὰρ ἐγκατάλειμμα καὶ ἐλπὶς ἀγαθὴ, τῷ τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ τὴν φιλίαν τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν μεταδιώξαντι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἰρηνικῷ ἀνθρώπῳ γενομένῳ. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον, Φύλασσε, φησὶν, ἀπλότητα, καὶ ὄρα εὐθὺ, ὅτι ἔστι μέλλοντα ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρηνικῷ. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 23.337a-b

I saw the impious man exalted and elevated like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by and, behold, he was not, and I sought him and no trace of him was found. Guard innocence and look to righteousness, for a remnant is for the man of peace. 1 Thus in the present he speaks of the end of the impious of which he has experience. For this was not some deed of old told by others and received in the ear, but he says that he himself saw blasphemous men and the godless held as a wonder by all, and lifted up and exalted, who thought they would remain alive forever. But while he thought to himself how they, although impious, obtained such things, and then how they wished to be seen and adored in the eyes, they were not, suddenly they vanished. And then, wishing to consider what they had left behind, there was no place he could find to stand and look upon them. Whence because this is their end, flee, O you who have learnt this, the ways of the impious. Wash off every iniquity of yours and love the right way. For there remains a remnant and good hope for him who pursues the peace and friendship of God, by which the peaceful man is made. For according to the translation of Symmachus, 'I guarded innocence,' he says, 'and I considered right, because the future is for the man of peace.' Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36.35-37