新視域的力量
第一件要做的事

經文
詩篇四十二1-11
1(可拉後裔的訓誨詩,交與伶長。)神啊,我的心切慕你,如鹿切慕溪水。
2我的心渴想神,就是永生神;我幾時得朝見神呢?
3我晝夜以眼淚當飲食;人不住地對我說:你的神在哪裡呢?
4我從前與眾人同往,用歡呼稱讚的聲音領他們到神的殿裡,大家守節。我追想這些事,我的心極其悲傷。
5我的心哪,你為何憂悶?為何在我裡面煩躁?應當仰望神,因他笑臉幫助我;我還要稱讚他。
6我的神啊,我的心在我裡面憂悶,所以我從約但地,從黑門嶺,從米薩山記念你。
7你的瀑布發聲,深淵就與深淵響應;你的波浪洪濤漫過我身。
8白晝,耶和華必向我施慈愛;黑夜,我要歌頌禱告賜我生命的神。
9我要對神─我的磐石說:你為何忘記我呢?我為何因仇敵的欺壓時常哀痛呢?
10我的敵人辱罵我,好像打碎我的骨頭,不住地對我說:你的神在哪裡呢?
11我的心哪,你為何憂悶?為何在我裡面煩躁?應當仰望神,因我還要稱讚他。他是我臉上的光榮(原文是幫助),是我的神。
信息分享
過去這幾天,我們看到詩人是怎樣處於一個阻止自己滑倒,和開始往上攀爬的夾縫中。我們說這是一個相當關鍵的時刻,因為它會令我們喜歡接受容易的答案。詩人的困惑沒有在他阻止自己跌倒時結束,他的思想仍然混亂,導致他繼續處於痛苦中。
最後他那因為「不敬虔人得到興盛」的怒氣是如何獲得平復的呢?他不是緊抓問題表面的答案,而是藉著進入了神的聖所,在那裡開始從神的角度去審視整個局面。請聽他怎麼說:「我思索怎能明白這事,眼看實係為難;等我進了神的聖所,思想他們的結局」(詩七十三16-17)。「聖所」這個詞在這裡指神在物質上的房子,有些翻譯是「等我進了神的奧秘」,這個譯法不正確,因為在詩篇七十四篇和七十六篇,讓我們看到那是指敬拜神的一個實在的地方。
我在猜想詩人有沒有好像我們一樣,在充滿疑惑和無所適從的時候遠離神的聖所?有一個奇怪的現象是當我們心裡充滿疑惑和誤解的時候,我們最不想做的事情,就是在神的殿裡與其他信徒見面,可是實際上那卻是我們最應該做的事情。
「開始從神的角度來看整個局面」
進深研究
來十19-25;太十二9;可一21;路四16
1. 我們不要做甚麼?
2. 耶穌的習慣是甚麼?
祈禱
仁慈的天父,感謝您命令您的百姓聚集在一起。求您幫助我更清楚明白,與您的百姓聚在一起的價值和意義。奉耶穌的名祈求,阿們。
The Power of a New Perspective
The first thing to do

Bible reading:
Psalm 42:1-11
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One[d] with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?"
10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Message
Over the past few days we have seen how the psalmist was caught in the hiatus between the moment when he stopped himself from sliding and the moment when he started to climb again. This, we said, is a very critical time - critical because it makes us inclined to accept easy answers. The perplexity did not end when the psalmist stopped himself from slipping. His thoughts still went around in circles and he continued to have great anguish of heart and mind.
How, then, were his thoughts concerning the prosperity of the ungodly resolved? Not by grabbing at superficial answers, but by going into the sanctuary of God, where he could begin to see the whole situation from God's point of view. Listen to how he puts it: "When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till 1 entered the sanctuary of God, then I understood their final destiny" (Psa. 73:16-17). The word "sanctuary" here literally means the physical house of God. Some translations use the phrase, "till I entered the secret of God", but that is incorrect. Read Psalm 74 and read Psalm 76 and you will find that they both refer to the material building where God was worshipped.
Had the psalmist, I wonder, like so many of us when we are filled with doubt and uncertainty, stayed away from the sanctuary of God? How strange that the last thing we want to do when our hearts are filled with doubts and misunderstandings is meet with our fellow believers in the house of God. Yet that is the very first thing we ought to do.
"Begin to see the situation from God's point of view"
Prayer
Gracious Father, I am so grateful that You have ordained that Your people meet together. Help me understand more clearly than ever the value and benefits that flow from being with Your people. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
Further study
Hebrews 10:19-25
Matthew 12:9
Mark 1:21
Luke 4:16
1. What are we not to do?
2. What was Jesus' custom?
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