Ruling The Waters

Σὺ δεσπόζεις τοῦ κράτους τῆς θαλάσσης τὸν δὲ σάλον τῶν κυμάτων αὐτῆς σὺ καταπραΰνεις... Τοῦ δεσπόζειν σὺν τῇ λοιπῇ κτίσει καὶ τῆς θαλάττης, πίστις τὸ λέγεσθαι ἐν Ἰωνᾷ· Ἐξήγεισε Κύριος κλύδωνα ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ· καὶ πάλιν· Θελήσει αὐτοῦ ἔστη ἡ θάλασσα ἐκ τοῦ σάλου αὐτῆς. Ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ Ἰησοῦς ἐπετίμησεν, δεικνὺς ὡς ἔστιν Υἱος τοῦ, Δεσπότου τοῦ κράτους αὐτῆς. Εἰ δὲ τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον ἡ θάλασσα δηλοῖ, κράτος αὐτῆς ὁ Πονηρὸς, ἐν ᾧ ὁ κόσμος ὅλος κεῖται, τουτέστιν ἡ θνητὴ καὶ ἐπίκαιρος πολιτεία. Ὤν ἐκνευρίσας ὁ Κύριος, δέδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίω, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ, καταπραῦων τὰς ἀστάτους ὁρμὰς, κύματα καλουμένας αὐτῆς. Ὡς ἂν καὶ βάσιμος τοῖς ἐπιβαίνουσι γένηται· ὦν ὁ Πέτρος εἰκών. Οὑδεὶς γὰρ χωρὶς Ἰησοῦ πατεῖν δύναται τοῦ βίου τὴν θάλατταν, τὰς τούτου νικῶν ἡδυπαθείας τε καὶ μερίμνας, ἀλλ' οὖν συμβαδίζοντος. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Περιπατῶν ὡς ἐπ' ἐδάφους ἐπὶ θαλάσσης, πρὸς ὄν εἴρηται· Ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἡ ὁδός σου, καὶ αἱ τρίβοι σου ἐν ὕδασι πολλοῖς. Τρίψαντος ἐν τῷ βίῷ τά τε πάθη καὶ τὰς μερίμνας, ὦν ἐπιβαίνειν ἔνεστι τοῖς ἴχνεσιν ἐπακολουθοῦντας αὐτοῦ. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΠΕ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1488d-1489b

You have power over the might of the waters, and you calm the tumult of its waves... 1 That He rules over the sea just as He does the rest of creation, the faith of Jonah tells, saying, 'The Lord raised a storm in the sea,' and again, 'He willed that the sea become still from its raging.' 2 And Jesus commanded it, showing Himself to be the Son, He who has power over the sea. 3 Which if the sea stands for the life of men, yet His power is not something like the devil's, 4 to whom all the world is captive, that is, to the domination of mortality and transience, but opposing him the Lord gave power to His disciples to tread down serpents and scorpions, and over all his power, 5 restraining the assailing surging ones of his flood, who are called the waves of the sea. For which reason one can find a way through their assaults, of which an image is Peter, for it was not by his own strength apart from Jesus that he was able to tread on the sea of life, triumphing over the pleasurable passions and the troubles of the world, but it was possible because he was an associate of Jesus. 6 For He Himself walked on the sea as if on the earth, of whom it was said: 'In the sea is your way, and your path in the many waters.' 7 He trod down all the passions and cares in life, and so may you by following in His footsteps. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 88 1 Ps 88.10 2 Jonah 1.4, 1.15 3 Mt 8.24-27 4 1 Jn 5.19 5 Lk 10.19 6 Mt 14.24-31 7 Ps 76.20