“David too, of whom the Lord, testifying, says, ‘I found a man after my own heart, David the son of Jesse. With my holy oil I anointed him.’[604] But he also says to God, ‘Pity me, O God, according to Thy mercy; and according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me.’”[605] Then, alluding to sin which is not subject to the law, in the exercise of the moderation of true knowledge, he adds, “Against Thee only have I sinned, and done evil in Thy sight.”[606] For the Scripture somewhere says, “The Spirit of the Lord is a lamp, searching the recesses of the belly.”[607] And the more of a Gnostic a man becomes by doing right, the nearer is the illuminating Spirit to him. “Thus the Lord draws near to the righteous, and none of the thoughts and reasonings of which we are the authors escape Him--I mean the Lord Jesus,” the scrutinizer by His omnipotent will of our heart, “whose blood was consecrated[608] for us. Let us therefore respect those who are over us, and reverence the elders; let us honour the young, and let us teach the discipline of God.” For blessed is he who shall do and teach the Lord’s commands worthily; and he is of a magnanimous mind, and of a mind contemplative of truth. “Let us direct our wives to what is good; let them exhibit,” says he, “the lovable disposition of chastity; let them show the guileless will of their meekness; let them manifest the gentleness of their tongue by silence; let them give their love not according to their inclinations, but equal love in sanctity to all that fear God. Let our children share in the discipline that is in Christ; let them learn what humility avails before God; what is the power of holy love before God, how lovely and great is the fear of the Lord, saving all that walk in it holily, with a pure heart: for He is the Searcher of the thoughts and sentiments, whose breath is in us, and when He wills He will take it away.”