The condition of humanity is fleeting, and any fleeting success is ultimately lost. When affliction strikes, the memories of better times offer no solace to the afflicted. Thus, the view of Epicurus is misguided, suggesting that reminiscing about past blessings eases current trials. Hezekiah expressed this when, in the midst of his distress, he reflected on the years of his reign, considering past blessings. Feeling safe now and removed from those difficulties, he contemplated the human experience and said, Lord, if this is how we exist, and this is our state at birth, You have indeed chastised me but also restored me. After the Assyrian had fled, You granted me peace; yet that peace weighed heavier upon me than any sorrow, for when the people were brought back to calmness and the city was at ease, I faced the shadow of death alone. But You have saved my soul from perishing, in this life and the next. You have lifted my sins from me so that I need not dwell on them despondently but can turn to Your mercy. The realm of the dead and death itself will not acknowledge or glorify You according to the scripture: In death there is no remembrance of You (Psalm 6:6). In this context, confession is not about repentance but about proclaiming Your majesty, as stated in the Gospel: I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth (Matthew 11:25). He notes that those who sink into the grave have no trust in Your truth, but rather in Your mercy. For those in hell do not rely on the truth of Your judgment, yet place their hope in Your compassion, particularly since the Savior descended into the depths to liberate captives. The LXX more clearly refers to hell than merely the grave. Only the living will glorify You, as I now do. Here, confession replaces praise; for he acknowledges not his own wrongs but offers gratitude to God, and true praise is not found in the mouths of sinners (Sir 15:9). While hell and death do not acknowledge or glorify God, life and the living, conversely, give You praise. The subsequent phrase, A father shall declare Your truth to his children, echoes Deuteronomy: Ask your father, and he will inform you; ask your elders, and they will relate it (Deuteronomy 32:7), so that the goodness of God may be proclaimed through each generation. In the LXX, this is expressed as, For from now on I will produce sons who will declare Your righteousness. The conjunction here implies that the living, while they have life, will bless God, and from this moment, he will father sons to proclaim His truth. This was not within his power, as the prophet did not promise him sons, leaving the present life to him, particularly since he fathered the wicked Manasseh, who filled Jerusalem with blood and did not blessed God, but instead blasphemed Him, oppressing His saints. Thus, according to the LXX, we interpret his statement as meaning he would not beget sons, but παιδία, referring to either children or descendants, so that recognizing the mercy he received, all his progeny might give thanks for Your boundless compassion. Therefore, save me, O Lord, and we who believe in You and have been rescued by Your aid shall glorify You in the temple all the days of our lives.
THEOSIS