有時在生活的壓力下我們的心靈會感到疲乏，因而不願意接受任何人的直接指示。我記得自己年青時，有一個晚上，我到教會去的時候因為自己受到的試探而感到筋疲力盡。當客席講員宣佈他講道的題目──「勝過試探的十五個原則」──時，我的心立即往下沉。他講的道可能是我當時的需要，但由於我太疲倦了，不能專心聆聽那些原則。

那天晚上我回到家後，打開詩篇，讀到詩人的經歷，發現他們也經歷過我所面對的事情，讓我立即重得力量，我的靈得到了復甦。詩篇確實是聖經其中一本最重要和寶貴的書卷，所以要學習當你被生命的浪潮沖擊的時候，馬上閱讀詩篇，這樣你就會好像無數其他人一樣，發現詩篇在針對你的情況說話，因為寫詩篇的人也曾有過與你一樣的經歷。

「詩篇以經驗來教導我們」

進深研究
彼後一15-21；弗一17-19；林後四6

1神的話好像甚麼？
2保羅為以弗所人祈求甚麼？

祈禱
天父，我對您的感激不是言語所能形容，因為您的說話觸動我，勝過世間的一切。求您幫助我懂得好好運用這不會失落的寶庫。奉耶穌的名祈求，阿們。

The Power of a New Perspective

Day 195

A recital of experiences

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. (v.13)

Bible reading:
1 Corinthians 10:1-13

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

3 They all ate the same spiritual food

4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry."[a]

8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

9 We should not test Christ,[b] as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.

10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.

12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

13 No temptation[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Message

Having spent the past days identifying the nature of the problem which almost caused the psalmist to give up, we pause today to focus on another great value of the book of Psalms - the fact that it presents its teaching in the form of a recital of experiences. We have exactly the same kind of teaching in the New Testament, but there it is presented in a more directive fashion.

Sometimes our hearts grow weary under the stresses of life and we are not open to receiving direct instruction from anyone. I remember when I was a young Christian going to church one evening feeling tired and worn down by the strong temptations I was experiencing. As the visiting preacher announced the title of his sermon - "Fifteen Principles for Overcoming Temptation" - I felt my heart sink within me. His sermon might have been what I needed but at that moment I was too weary to concentrate on principles.

When I got home that evening I turned to the book of Psalms, and as I read the experiences of some of those men and found that they too had been through what I was going through, my strength returned and my spirit revived. This is why the book of Psalms is one of the most important and valuable books of the Bible. Learn to turn to it whenever you feel battered and beaten by the waves of life. You will find, as millions have found before you, that it speaks to your condition because the men who wrote it have been in your condition.

"The psalms teach by experience"

Prayer
O Father, I am grateful to You beyond words for giving me that part of Your Word that reaches me when perhaps nothing else might reach me. Help me to make good use of it and avail myself of its unfailing resources. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further study
2 Peter 1:15-21
Ephesians 1:17-19
2 Corinthians 4:6

1. What is God's Word like?
2. What did Paul pray for the Ephesians?

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