詩篇七十三篇最後兩節帶來一個結論和一個決定。讓我們再次來聆聽這兩節經文：「遠離你的，必要死亡；凡離棄你行邪淫的，你都滅絕了。但我親近神是與我有益；我以主耶和華為我的避難所，好叫我述說你一切的作為」（27-28節）。詩人完成了他對過去的回顧，現在悟出一套面對將來的哲學。他決定無論別人做甚麼，他都會與神緊密相隨。他藉著一個對比來幫助我們看到這決定的重要性：「遠離你的，必要死亡……但我親近神是與我有益。」

真的，生命只有兩種立場：親近神或遠離神。我想，在詩人寫下這些話時，他心裡想到：「最近帶給我那麼多麻煩，令我有那麼多困難的原因，是因為我沒有親近神。我錯誤地以為我的困難是因為不敬虔的人興盛，但進入神的聖所後，我看到這完全不是困難的緣由。我的問題是我選擇不親近祂。現在對我來說只有一件事情最為重要──保持親近神。」

你此刻的情況是怎樣的？你感到與神親近嗎？如果沒有，那麼讓我告訴你，多年前在一次街頭佈道時我曾經聽過一句深深吸引我的話：「要是你感到神遠離你，那麼請想一想究竟是誰走開了？」

「只有一件事情是重要的──保持親近神」

進深研究
詩四十六1-11；撒下二十二3；詩九9，六十二1-12

1. 詩人肯定甚麼？
2. 詩人勸人們甚麼？

祈禱
天父，感謝您的話語今天帶給我的應許，我親近您時，你便會親近我。求您幫助我比任何時候都更親近您以能體驗這應許。奉耶穌的名求，阿們。

The Power of a New Perspective

Day 241

"Nearer my God to Thee"

"Come near to God and he will come near to you. "(v.8)

Bible reading:
James 4:1-10

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people,[a] don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]?

6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."[c]

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Message

The final two verses of Psalm 73 form a conclusion and a resolution. Listen to them once again: "Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge, I will tell of all your deeds" (vv.27-28). The psalmist has finished his review of the past and is now hammering out a philosophy with which to face the future. He is resolved that no matter what anyone else may do, he is going to live in close companionship with God. He helps us to see the importance of this resolution by putting it in the form of a contrast: "Those who are far from you will perish...but as for me, it is good to be near God."

Really, when it comes down to it, there are only two positions in life - close to God or far away from Him. I wonder, as the psalmist penned these words was something like this going through his mind: "What caused me so much trouble in recent days and accounted for all my difficulties was the fact that I did not keep close to God. I erroneously believed that the cause of my problems was the prosperity of the ungodly, but having entered into the sanctuary of God I see that this was not the cause of my problems at all. My problems came because I had chosen not to remain close to Him. For me there is now only one thing that matters - staying close to God."

How are things with you at this moment? Do you feel close to God? If you don't, then let me put what I want to say in the words of a wayside pulpit that arrested my attention some years ago: "If you feel that God is far away guess who moved?"

"Only one thing matters - stay close to God"

Prayer
Father, I am grateful for the promise of Your Word to me today that when I draw near to You, You will draw near to me. Help me put those words to the test by moving closer to You than I have ever done before. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further study
Psalm 46:1-11
2 Samuel 22:3
Psalm 9:9
Psalm 62:1-12

1. What does the psalmist affirm?
2. What does the psalmist exhort the people?

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保持親近神 | 知信行網上團契