Living Witnesses

Ἀλλ' ἴδωμεν τί φησιν, Αἴνει, ἡ ψυχή μου, τὸν Κύριον. Ταῦτα καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ τοῦ Δαυῒδ ψάλλωμεν σημερον. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ τῷ σώματι πάρεστιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ πνεύματι πάρεστι. Καὶ ὅτι πάρεισιν ἡμῖν οἱ δίκαιοι, καὶ μεθ' ἡμῶν ψάλλουσιν, ἄκουσον τι φησιν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ πρὸς τὸν πλουσιον. Λέγοντος γὰρ ἐκείνου, Πέμψον Λάζαρον, ἵνα οἱ ἀδελφοι μου, μαθόντες τὰ ἐν ᾅδουν, διορθώνται τὰ καθ' ἑαυτούς· λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἔχουσι Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας. καὶ μὴν Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ προφῆται πάντες πάλαι τεθνήκεσαν τῷ σώματι, διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων δὲ εἶχον αὐτούς. Εἰ γὰρ εἰκόνα τις ἄψυχον ἀναθεὶς παιδὸς ἤ φίλου, νομίζει παρεῖναι ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἀπελθόντα, καὶ διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτὸν φαντάζεται τῆς ἀψύχου· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς διὰ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ἀπολαύομεν συνουσίας, οὐχὶ τῶν σωμάτων αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ψυχῶν τὰς εἰκόνακ ἔχοντες. Τὰ γὰρ παρ' αὐτῶν εἰρημένα τῶν ψυχῶν αὐτῶν εἰκόνες εἰσί. Βούλει μαθεῖν, ὅτι ζῶσιν οἱ δίκαιοι καὶ πάρεισιν; Οὐδεὶς τοὺς τεθνεῶτας μάρτυρας καλεῖ· ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς μάρτυρας αὐτοὺς ἐκάλεσε τῆς οἰκείας θεότητος, καὶ πρὸ τούτων αὐτὸν τὸν Δαυῒδ, ἵνα σε διδάξῃ ὅτι ζῇ. Τῶν γὰρ Ἰουδαίων ἀμφισβητούντων περὶ αὐτοῦ, λέγει πρὸς αὐτούς· Τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; τίνος ἐστὶν υἱός; Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Τοῦ Δαυῒδ. Λέγει αυτοῖς· Πῶς οὖν Δαυῒδ ἐν Πνεύματι Κύρίῳ μου, Κάθου ἐκ δεχιῶν μου; Εἶδες πῶς ζῇ ὁ Δαυῒδ; Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔζη, οὐκ ἂν ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν μάρτυρα τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Πώς οὖν ὁ Δαυῒδ ἐν Πνεύματι Κύριον αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσεν ἄλλὰ, Κύριον αὐτὸν καλεῖ; ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι πάρεστιν ἔτι, καὶ διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων φθέγγεται. Ἔψαλλέ ποτε ὁ Δαυῒδ ἐν ψαλμοῖς, καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ τοῦ Δαυῒδ σήμερον. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος Εἰς Τον ΡΜΕ' Ψαλμον Source: Migne PG 55.521

Let us see why he says, 'Praise, my soul, the Lord.' 1 Today we sing this with David. For even if he is not near in the body, yet he is near in the spirit. And that it is the case that the righteous are near and they sing with us, listen to what Abraham says to the rich man. For when the latter said, 'Send Lazarus, so that my brothers, learning I am in hell, might amend their ways,' he replies, 'They have Moses and the prophets.' 2 For though Moses and the prophets were all long dead in the body, yet through their writings they had them. If an inanimate image of a child or of a friend is set up, we judge them to be near us who are far away, and by the inanimate image they appear, and much more do we enjoy the company of the saints through Divine Scripture, which are not images of their bodies, but of their souls. Their words are the images of their souls. You wish to learn that the righteous live and are near? No one calls the dead as witnesses, but Christ calls them as witnesses of His Divinity, and among others, David, that He might teach that he lives. For to the Jews who doubted Him, He said, 'What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?' They said to him, 'David.' He said: 'How is it then that David calls out in the spirit, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand?' 3 You see how David lives? For if he did not live, He would not have called him as a witness to His Divinity. For He did not say, 'David called out in the spirit' but 'David calls out.' So He shows him to be yet near, and to speak with these words. Once David sung Psalms, and today with David we sing. Saint John Chrysostom, On The Psalms, from Psalm 145 1 Ps 145.2 2 Lk 16.24-29 3 Mt 22.42-44, Ps 109.1