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Believe and think that God is with you invisibly everywhere, and that no matter what you do and think, He sees everything, and no matter what you say, He hears everything. And always try to see Him before you by faith. And from here will follow the fear of God, reverence and respect for Him, fear in words, deeds and thoughts - since you do not dare to say or do anything empty before your Father. Woe to those who act outrageously before the face of God and do not pay respect to His Majesty! Are you in your house? God is here. On the way? God does not leave you. Did you come to the apartment? God is here. Are you staying in a city or a village? Will you run to the desert or to the ends of the earth? God is there before you. Do you want to hide in the earth or in the depths of the sea? And there He is with you. You think: “Won’t I hide from Him in darkness and night?” No, this shelter is not safe! With us there is day and night, light and darkness, but with God there is no darkness, no night, but all is light and day. The eyes of God are incomparably brighter than the sun, and look at all human paths, and penetrate into hidden places (Sir. 23, 27-28). It happens that when the master is somewhere close, and the slaves do not see him or do not know that he is close, the slave who knows about him, warning other slaves so that they do not anger him with their noise or other outrages and are not punished, says to them quietly: “Hush” or: “Be quiet - I’m here myself.” So the servants of God, the prophets and apostles, enlightened by the Spirit of God, warn us, Christians, and tell us: “Hear: He himself is here, who is everywhere and fulfills everything.” Let your meekness be known to all people. The Lord is near (Phil. 4:5). Christians! Beware - the Lord is near. Beware of sin in word, and in deed, and in thought - the Lord is near, He who hates sin, is offended and angry by it, and punishes those who sin. You who have gathered in the church of the Lord to pray and praise God, hear: the Lord is near. Here is the Lord Himself, before Whom you stand, praying, and He watches how you stand before Him, with what spirit and heart you pray to Him, how you sing and praise Him... You who sit in the place of judgment, judge and reason between the right and the wrong, between the offended and the offended, hear: The Lord is near. Himself here, Judge of judges and Judge of all the earth in righteousness, King of kings and Lord of lords. He Himself is invisibly present here, and sees your deeds, undertakings and thoughts, and hears your words, and looks at you, how you judge His people, how and whom you justify, whom and for what you accuse... Therefore, beloved, do in your judgment as God has commanded you. Your oath, which you swore before Him, obliges you to this, and the work of justice requires, to which you are called, so that the Lord, irritated by your unrighteousness, will not pour out His righteous wrath on you. You, who in this world are called masters and have slaves and peasants under you, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here and sees your deeds, and watches how you act with His people, your subordinates. He is not like a man - he has no partiality, but with Him everyone is equal: both masters and their slaves. Beware, beloved, lest you anger your Lord, Who is Himself present here. You who are called parents and have children, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here, Who sees your deeds and hears your words. How do you deal with your children? How do you teach and mentor them? Do you not teach vanity instead of truth and carelessness instead of fear? And instead of instruction and useful teaching, are you not giving poisonous temptations to young hearts? See, beloved, tread carefully before God, who looks upon you, and before your young children, who notice what you do and what you say, and themselves learn to do and say the same. You who preach the Word of God, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here and sees with what hands and with what tongue you touch His sacred treasure. Do you use that great gift of God for His glory and the benefit of your neighbor or for your own praise. The Lord Himself is here, testing hearts and wombs... You who trade and sell, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here, Who sees your deeds, looks at how you trade and how you sell. Do you not sell a rotten thing for a strong one, a bad one for a good one, and a cheap one for an expensive one? Aren't you lying? Are you deceiving your neighbors about your goods? And, what’s worse, don’t you swear falsely in the name of God for the sake of bad profit? Be ashamed and afraid to lie before the eyes of God, and to call upon His terrible name in lies, and to deceive His people. You who sit at the table and partake of the gifts of God, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here and looking at you. How do you taste God's goodness? Is it with prayer and thanksgiving? You taste God's blessings, but do you remember the Benefactor? All is God's good, not ours. The earth is the Lord's and what fills it (Ps. 23:1). You who are gathered together and talk, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here, and looks at you, and hears what you say and about whom. Be careful that your conversation does not cause you sin. We speak carefully before the king who is present, especially before God, who is present here, and there, and in every place. Watch how, and what, and who you talk about. You who want to defile your soul and body with uncleanness, hear: the Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here, Who sees your lawless undertaking. Be ashamed and afraid to commit lawlessness in the eyes of God. You who are angry with your neighbor and are thinking of taking revenge and harming him, hear: The Lord is near. The Lord Himself is here and sees your evil intent. Be ashamed and fear the present Lord, and abandon your evil undertaking. You who are thinking of stealing and kidnapping someone else’s property, hear: the Lord is close and sees your planned deed. Be ashamed and horrified in the eyes of God to commit a lawless deed. You who, either out of malice or out of an evil habit, slander and condemn your neighbor, hear: the Lord is near and hears your slander, with which you sow temptations for people, and your judgment, with which you judge sinners like yourselves. Be ashamed and fear the Lord, before Whom you slander and condemn His people, and keep your tongue from this lawless deed. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the plank in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother: “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” but behold, there is a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye... (Matthew 7:3–5) Every Christian, hear: the Lord is near. Wherever you are, whatever you do, whatever you say and think, He is present with you, and He sees everything you do and hears your word. Be ashamed, beloved, and be afraid to sin before your Lord, just as you are ashamed and afraid to break the law before the king of the earth and other authorities. Do not be like the wicked, dear one, who do not have God before them (Ps. 53:5), but be like that holy man who wrote about himself: I always saw the Lord before me (Ps. 15:8). See your Lord before you everywhere and always. And whatever you do: or speak, or think, or eat and drink, or sit at home, or walk on the road, or sell, or buy, or remain silent, or talk with someone, or pray, or sing praises to your Lord, may He always remain before your intelligent eyes, although you do not see Him. Honor Him with your heart, lips and deeds, just as you honor the king present. If you commit a crime and sin in some way before Him as a human being, do not hesitate, but immediately fall before Him with humility and ask for forgiveness: “I have sinned, Lord, have mercy on me!” And your sin will be forgiven, for He is merciful and humane and knows our weakness. Hear also, my soul, and be ashamed, and fear your Lord everywhere and always! Hear also, O God-fearing and pious soul, who unfeignedly reveres your Lord, hear: the Lord is near, the One who says to you: you are Mine. And if you pass through waters, I am with you, and the rivers will not cover you; and if you walk through fire, you will not get burned, and the flame will not scorch you (Is. 43:1-2). O man! God looks at you and, no matter what you do, or think, or begin, or conceive, everything you love, what you hate, what you console yourself with and what you are offended by, what you seek, what you run away from, how you treat Him, your Creator, how you treat your neighbor - He sees how and what you say, how and what you ask and answer, He hears and will reward you according to your path and according to the fruit of your endeavors. See, beloved, that you act carefully, not as a fool, but as a wise one! Believe Him heartily as God; please Him with faith and truth; Place all your hope in Him and call on Him from your heart. And He is close to you, He is with you, preserving you. And wherever you are, no matter what sorrow and temptation you are in, He is with you, and looks at your deed, and with an invisible hand strengthens you and helps you; and even if all the evil people rise up against you and the demonic regiments surround you, everything will be unsuccessful. The Lord will protect you, the Lord is your covering from your right hand. The sun will not burn you during the day and the moon will not harm you at night. The Lord will preserve you from all evil, the Lord will preserve your soul. The Lord will guard your entrance and your exit from now on and forever (Ps. 120:5-8). The closer the sun gets, the more the shadow decreases. So it is with a pious heart: the closer God comes to him with His light and gifts, the more he recognizes his insignificance and humbles himself before God and people, considering himself the least. On the contrary, the further the sun recedes, the greater the shadow; As the sun sets, the shadow becomes great; When the sun sets, the great shadow also disappears. So it is with man: to the extent that God moves away from him, to the extent that he is exalted and magnified in his heart; as much as a person ascends, so far does God move away from him; and just as a shadow disappears when the sun is hidden, so those who consider themselves great disappear when God hides from them. The sun, although it illuminates the whole of heaven and shows its face to everyone equally, yet it seems to everyone that it looks at him alone, and no matter what we do, it looks at each of us as if it were only one, and wherever we go, it goes with us, although it always makes its course from sunrise to west. So the eternal and spiritual Sun is God. Although he looks at everyone equally and sees every deed and thought, intention, undertaking, plan and hears the word - and is with everyone in every place; and whether someone works or rests, stands or walks, does good or evil, he eats with him, and looks at the good and bad deeds, and writes them down in his book, in order to reward everyone according to his deeds. However, he watches over each of us and notices everything, as if, leaving all created things, he looked at only me or you; and what I or you want to do, say, think, begin and intend, good or bad, he completely knows and sees as if it had actually already been and was being done. And he knows and sees everything much better and more perfectly than we ourselves know and see; and he sees all this and looks in such a way that, as if, forgetting everything else, he looked only at us, our work, undertaking and intention. So the Holy Scripture testifies about Him: all my ways are before Him in battle, O Lord (Ps. 119, 168), says Saint David. And again: Lord, You have tested me and recognized me: You have recognized when I sit down and when I get up. You understood my thoughts from afar. You have searched my path and my path, and You have foreseen all my ways (Ps. 139:1-3). From this we learn, Christians: 1. Fear God and beware of all sin in word, deed, thought, undertaking and intention. Because He, just as He hears our word, clearly sees our deed, thought and intention, and rewards everyone according to their deeds, and can actually strike the sinner with righteous judgment; and there is no such hidden place in which we could hide from this all-seeing eye, for it not only sees external affairs, but also secret thoughts, and penetrates the innermost in the depths of the heart. Whether you do something against your conscience in a secret place, or think in your heart, or intend what to do, this is already obvious to God. Beware of sin as a mortal poison - so that you do not experience the righteous judgment of God on yourself. 2. Let us learn to trust in the goodness of God, for He is with us everywhere. And just as the sun, clearly shining, is everywhere with a person, illuminates and warms him, wherever he is, whether in prosperity or adversity, so the goodness and love of God is everywhere with us and never departs from us, but always warms and preserves us, whether we are in our home or on the road, in our own side or someone else’s, we are in prosperity or adversity, in health or illness, in sadness or joy. 3. When our enemies persecute us, revile and slander us, remain silent and not answer, and hand over everything to Him, for He hears and knows everything; whether it is worthy or unworthy from them of persecution and reproach by the sufferers - everything is clear to Him. And just as children do not speak against their detractors before their father, but look to their father and expect protection from him, so we must act before God, our Heavenly Father, with our enemies, for He is always with us and we are always before Him - not to answer them, but with silence to raise the eyes of our souls to Him and speak to the psalmist: you will hear, O Lord my God (Ps. 37:16)! 4. From here we learn to pray to Him not only openly, in words, but also in the secret of our hearts. For He not only hears our words, but also understands the sighs, desires and disposition of our hearts, as the prophet says: You have heard the desire of the poor, O Lord, Your ear has listened to the hearts devoted to You (Ps. 9:38). And it shall come to pass, before they call, that I will answer; They will still speak, and I will already hear (Isa. 65:24), says the Lord. 5. We learn, finally, that when we sin before God, we cannot run away from His wrath, for no matter where we turn or run, He precedes us and meets us everywhere. Where can I go from Your Spirit and where can I flee from Your Face? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I go to hell, you remain there. If I lift up my wings in the morning and settle on the edge of the sea, then even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me (Ps. 139:7-10), says the psalmist. There is only one refuge for us sinners - His mercy, to which, fleeing from His righteous anger, we must resort, and fall before Him, and with contrition of heart ask for forgiveness. God looks at us all and tests our deeds and thoughts; and nothing is hidden from Him, no matter what is done in the days or in the night, for before Him both day and night are equal. But He also knows what we will do, think and say, and writes every deed, word and thought in His book, and will reward everyone accordingly. If anyone commits any sin openly or secretly, if he steals, kills, commits fornication and does other lawlessness, His eyes see. If anyone slanderes, blasphemes, scolds, slanderes, uses foul language and utters other lawless words, His most holy ears hear. If anyone plans something bad and evil in his heart, He already knows it. If someone hates or despises his neighbor, if he is angry with him and wants to take revenge on him somehow, this is already obvious to Him, and for this he will be rewarded. Think about this, Christian, and beware of sinning and committing lawlessness before the all-seeing eye of God. It is lawless and shameless to show outrage before the king of the earth - man, before the ruler, before the carnal father and before every honest person, for such outrage brings annoyance and dishonor to the person present. How much more, before the greatness of God, to do such a thing is lawless, shameless and terrible. You do not see Him, but He sees you, for He is close to you. Beware of annoying and dishonoring His greatness - so as not to recognize His righteous judgment. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that His servants, faithful, true Christians, would be sorrowful in the world, as He predicted to them: in the world you will have sorrow (John 16:33), - for this purpose He promised, out of His love for mankind, to always be with them, although apparently he was absent; therefore, as a consolation to them, he said this word: behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:2). Having this hope, the faithful, together with the Church, joyfully exclaim to Him: “O Divine One! oh dear! O Thy sweetest voice! You have truly promised to be with us until the end of the age, O Christ. We rejoice in His faithful affirmation of hope, we rejoice.”8 God declared this dearest and sweetest presence next to the faithful in the Old Testament. God said to Jacob, the holy patriarch: I am the God of Abraham your father; Fear not, for I am with you; and I will say good things to you (Gen. 26:24). And further: I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring you back (Gen. 46:4)... This presence of God next to His faithful servants is not the same as with other people and creatures, since God, as Omnipresent everywhere and in every place, is, of course, but gracious and comforting and keeping them as His children, as Holy Moses says in his song: he protected him (Israel), looked after him, kept him as the apple of his eye; like an eagle calls its nest, flies over its chicks, and so on (Deut. 32:10-11). Encouraged by this gracious presence of God, the faithful dare and say to God and the prophet: if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You, O God, are with me (Ps. 23:4). They dare in bonds, prisons, exiles, captivities, battles, sufferings and deaths themselves, for the Lord is close to them, preserving and saving them, and they say to the prophet: God is with us (Is. 8:10); they say with the psalmist: The Lord shepherds us and will not deprive us of anything (Ps. 23:1); they exclaim with the apostle: if God is for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)? Consider, beloved Christian, what greater consolation can there be for a God-loving soul than to have God nearby and to look at Him with the eyes of faith? And where God is with His gracious presence, there is all consolation, joy and joy. The psalmist felt this on himself: but I am always with You, You held me by the right hand, and with Your advice you instructed me and received me with glory. What exists in heaven for me? and without You, what do I want on earth? My heart and my flesh fainted, O God of my heart and my portion, O God, forever (Ps. 73:23-26)! The holy martyrs also felt this, and in the most severe suffering they rejoiced, and they triumphed over the devil and his servants. All the saints felt and valiantly endured all kinds of sorrows. Those who now serve Him with fear, and cling to Him with faith and love, and therefore despise and abhor all the sweetness and joy of this world, like pus, being content and comforted with this inner treasure alone. Song 9 of the canon of Holy Pascha.