神的異象
神解決語法的問題
經文
詩篇四十六1-11
1(可拉後裔的詩歌,交與伶長。調用女音。)
神是我們的避難所,是我們的力量,是我們在患難中隨時的幫助。
2所以,地雖改變,山雖搖動到海心,
3其中的水雖匉訇翻騰,山雖因海漲而戰抖,我們也不害怕。(細拉)
4有一道河,這河的分汊使神的城歡喜;這城就是至高者居住的聖所。
5神在其中,城必不動搖;到天一亮,神必幫助這城。
6外邦喧嚷,列國動搖;神發聲,地便鎔化。
7萬軍之耶和華與我們同在;雅各的神是我們的避難所!(細拉)
8你們來看耶和華的作為,看他使地怎樣荒涼。
9他止息刀兵,直到地極;他折弓、斷槍,把戰車焚燒在火中。
10你們要休息,要知道我是神!我必在外邦中被尊崇,在遍地上也被尊崇。
11萬軍之耶和華與我們同在;雅各的神是我們的避難所!
信息分享
有一位著名的講員曾經講到我們今天所讀的經文,他的講題是:「你有沒有一位能讓你在祂面前安靜下來的神?」(“Have you a God you can be still with?”)當時在座的大部分會眾都受過良好的教育,他們都沒有太注意講道的內容,只因為講員在一個句子結束時使用了前置詞。(以前對英語抱嚴謹態度的人,認為把前置詞放在句子的末後是錯誤的。)
在談到永恆的問題時他們所注意的竟然只是語法的問題,這是多麼可悲的事情!偉大的講員慕迪(D.L. Moody)在講道時往往將不定式結構分開。有一次,一位退休教師因為慕迪這個語法錯誤而責備他。慕迪回答說:「太太,當我看到靈魂正走向地獄,而語法卻擋在中間時,我把語法的問題交給神!」
我不介意重複上述講員那個所謂的錯誤,而向你提出同樣的問句:「你有沒有一位能讓你在祂面前安靜下來的神?」換句話說,你的生活是否太忙碌,影響了你將思想集中在神的身上,導致你的禱告總是那麼倉促?要是這樣的話,你不可能認識神,真正的認識神。
你知道嗎,這段經文所說的是:除非你願意在神面前安靜,否則你不能認識祂。認識神的意思是默想祂、崇拜祂和研究祂。今天,這段經文對那些自信、忙亂、在教會進進出出的敬拜者來說,幾乎毫無意義!這在屬靈上是一個我們必須重視的問題。
「除非你願意安靜在神面前,否則不能認識祂。」
進深研究
伯三十七1-24;詩一三一2;賽三十15
1. 以利戶怎樣勸約伯?
2. 詩人能夠說甚麼?
祈禱
慈愛的天父,您竟然願意介入我們的困難,這是一個多大的祝福。求您幫助我面對「在神面前安靜」這問題,不要讓它擦肩而過。親愛的父神,求您放慢我的腳步,讓我正視這個問題。奉耶穌的名求,阿們。
The Vision of God
God help grammar!
Bible reading:
Psalm 46:1-11
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.[b] A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Message
A famous preacher once preached from the text that is before us today and entitled his message: "Have you a God you can be still with?" It was reported that most of the congregation, being well educated, tuned out a lot of what he was saying because they could only think of the fact that he ended a sentence with a preposition. How sad that when eternal issues were at stake their only thought was of grammar. The great preacher D.L. Moody often split an infinitive when preaching. Once, when a retired schoolteacher took him to task for this lapse of grammatical correctness, he replied: "Madam, when I see souls going to hell and grammar gets in the way - then God help grammar!"
At the risk of repeating the unfortunate mistake of the first minister to whom I referred, I would like to ask you that same question: Have you a God you can be still with? In other words, is your life such a ceaseless round of activity that when you come to focus your mind on God you cannot give yourself to the task for very long, so you blurt out a few prayers and then you are gone? You won't get to know God - really know God - that way.
You see, what our text is saying is this: you cannot get to know God until you are willing to stay still before Him. Knowing God means contemplating Him, worshipping Him, and studying Him. It should be a cause for deep spiritual concern that the words of our text mean next to nothing to the self-confident bustling worshippers who move in and out of our churches nowadays.
"You cannot get to know God until you are willing to stay still"
Prayer
Loving heavenly Father, how blessedly You put Your finger on our problems. Help me face up to the question "Have I a God with whom I can be still?" and not rush past it. Slow me down, dear Father, so that I face this issue. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Job 37:1-24
Psalm 131:2
Isaiah 30:15
1. What did Elihu counsel Job?
2. What was the psalmist able to say?
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