While their focus is directed toward the divine, they abandon all external pursuits, renounce their material possessions, forego the accolades of society, and nurture an enduring longing for inner fulfillment, refusing solace from worldly comforts. These souls, partaking of profound spiritual joy, extinguish the allure of bodily appetites within themselves. As the Apostle Paul notes, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). The Psalmist articulates their state when he voices, "My soul is weary, desiring the courts of the Lord" (Ps. 84:3), expressing weariness not of those saturated with genuine heavenly desires, but of those striving for eternal delights while still ensnared by earthly joys. The weary one longs for eternal rest and clings to nothing in temporal affection; thus, the Psalmist further states, "My soul dies for Thy salvation" (Ps. 119:81). Our Lord teaches plainly, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself" (Luke 9:23), and again, "Any one of you who does not deny himself of all that he has, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). Therefore, when the holy individual relinquishes earthly wants, he truly expresses, "I have forsaken hope; I will live no more." For the righteous, to forsake hope means to surrender the fleeting joys of this life in favor of the eternal. He places no trust in temporary gains and declares he "will live no more," as he continually dies to worldly passions through a life-giving death.
Let us not assume that the holy man could ever despair of God's abundant mercy or stray from the inward journey, as though abandoned by divine love, losing direction and succumbing to despair. To rightly understand his words, we must pay attention to what follows. He clarifies his intention by adding, "Spare me, O Lord, for my days are nothing" (Job 7:16). These two statements may seem contradictory: "I have forsaken hope" and "spare me." For one who has abandoned hope would not solicit to be spared, and he who still seeks mercy is certainly not bereft of hope. Thus, when he says he forsakes earthly goods, he simultaneously seeks a greater hope above, a hope worth enduring for. Hence, when he forsakes present desires, he cultivates a deeper hope for forgiveness, demonstrating that true yearning for things to come compels greater renunciation of what he no longer desires here. Notably, he emphasizes the strength of his spirit by expressing this sentiment thrice for our edification. He earlier mentioned, "My soul desires to be hanged," and then echoed, "I have forsaken hope," as he turned his gaze toward the eternal blessings. Ultimately, he acknowledges, "I will live no more," adding that "my days are nothing." He readily agrees that his days are without value, for, as noted earlier, holy individuals, the more they behold heavenly truths, the more they discount earthly concerns from their elevated perspective. They perceive the days of this life as mere vanity, for their enlightened souls are fixed on eternity. Upon returning from this contemplation, what do they discover within themselves but dust? In recognizing their frailty, they discern the gravity of divine judgment; they tremble, deeply aware of their own state and the exalted power of the Almighty.
THEOSIS