Psalms 148:6

"He hath established them for the age, and for age upon age" (ver. 6). All things in heaven, all things above, all powers and angels, a certain city on high, good, holy, blessed; from whence because we are wanderers, we are wretched; whither because we are to return, we are blessed in hope; whither when we shall have returned, we shall be blessed indeed; "He hath given them a law which shall not pass away." What sort of command, think ye, have things in heaven and the holy angels received? What sort of command hath God given them? What, but that they praise Him? Blessed are they whose business is to praise God! They plough not, they sow not, they grind not, they cook not; for these are works of necessity, and there is no necessity there. They steal not, they plunder not, they commit no adultery; for these are works of iniquity, and there is no iniquity there. They break not bread for the hungry, they clothe not the naked, they take not in the stranger, they visit not the sick, they set not at one the contentious, they bury not the dead; for these are works of mercy, and there there is no misery, for mercy to be shown to. O blessed they! Think we that we too shall be like this? Ah! let us sigh, let us groan in sighing. And what are we, that we should be there? mortal, outcast, abject, earth and ashes! But He, who hath promised, is almighty. ...

He established them for ever, and for age upon age: he set a decree, and it shall not pass away. Great is the honor of man, and great his unhappiness. The sun runs its course for you, the elements serve you: and you do not know your Creator. He set a decree, and it shall not pass away. He set a decree for the sun: behold, through so many years the decree of God has never passed away. So far has it not passed away, that its course has even been grasped by human observation. He set a decree, and it shall not pass away. He set a decree for the moon, that through thirty days it should wax and wane: does it ever change its courses? In heaven the decree of God is kept, and on earth it is not kept. He set a decree for the sea, that it should not go beyond its shores: the ocean comes swelling with its waves, and returns into itself, and remembers the decree of God. The whole world serves God, and remembers his decree: and man alone does not remember. Therefore we say also in the Lord's Prayer: Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. As in heaven the angels serve you, and the creation serves, so let man too serve. O unhappy race of men! God has come down to you, because you are unwilling to ascend to heaven. It is not enough for you that you do not receive him, but you kill: you kill, you crucify, you blaspheme, you scourge. It is not enough for you that you kill: but you do not even do penance for having killed. He spoke of the invisible things, he spoke also of the visible things, but of the visible heavenly things: now of the earth as well. See the order of praising. First the invisible things praise, then the visible: and the visible things themselves are divided into two, into the heavenly and the earthly. He spoke of the heavenly things, now he speaks of the earthly.