新视域的力量
死亡?谁在意?

经文
约伯记二十一1-9
1约伯回答说:
2你们要细听我的言语,就算是你们安慰我。
3请宽容我,我又要说话;说了以后,任凭你们嗤笑吧!
4我岂是向人诉冤?为何不焦急呢?
5你们要看着我而惊奇,用手摀口。
6我每逢思想,心就惊惶,浑身战兢。
7恶人为何存活,享大寿数,势力强盛呢?
8他们眼见儿孙,和他们一同坚立。
9他们的家宅平安无惧;神的杖也不加在他们身上。
信息分享
在继续往下研读以前让我们先停下来,再次以诗人在诗篇七十三篇所挣扎的问题来提醒自己。为甚么邪恶的人似乎富足,而义人的道路却有那么多困难?现在来看看诗人如何看那些不敬虔人的境况:「他们死的时候没有疼痛;他们的力气却也壮实。他们不像别人受苦,也不像别人遭灾。所以,骄傲如链子戴在他们的项上;强暴像衣裳遮住他们的身体」(诗七十三4-6)。
这是对那些没有把时间留给神、没有太多烦恼,日复一日生活着的人们的描述。它很可能是对世上所谓成功人士的描写中一幅最完美的图画。请留意,诗人在开始对不敬虔人的描述时提到他们的死:「他们死的时候没有疼痛。」社会上一个普遍存在的观念认为好生就会好死,但诗人以他自己的经验来观察认为情况刚好相反。
每当你听到基督徒死时很痛苦,或非基督徒平静地在睡梦中离世时,你不是也有同样的困惑吗?你是如何去处理那些感受的呢?忽略它们?否认它们?压抑它们?要记得,只有揭露了的问题才能够获得解决。我再说,你若不愿意面对问题,你又怎么能够去解决它呢?
「只有揭露了的问题才能够获得解决」
进深研究
路十二15-21,十六19-31;诗十四1,五十三1;箴十二15
1 世俗富足的危险是甚么?
2 耶稣在祂的比喻中如何描绘那对比?
祈祷
神啊,求您救我脱离我对困难和感受的否认。帮助我明白事情揭露出来,比把它们埋藏起来更容易处理。奉耶稣的名祈求,阿们。
The Power of a New Perspective
Death? Who cares?

Bible reading:
Job 21:1-9
1 Then Job replied:
2 "Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.
3 Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 "Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.
7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
8 They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.
Message
Before moving on, we pause to remind ourselves once more of the question with which the psalmist struggles in Psalm 73: Why is it that the wicked seem to prosper while the path of the righteous is beset by so many difficulties? Look now at how the psalmist views the condition of the ungodly: "They suffer no violent pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they smitten and plagued like other men. Therefore pride is about their neck as a chain, violence covers them as a garment - as a long, luxurious robe" (Psa. 73:4-6, Amplified Bible).
What a graphic description this is of the person who has no time for God, yet goes on from day to day with few troubles. It is probably the most perfect picture in all literature of the so-called successful man of the world. Note that the psalmist begins his description of the ungodly with a reference to the way they die: "They suffer no violent pangs in their death." Throughout time the notion has been universally present that a good life ends in a good death, but the psalmist makes the observation that in his experience the reverse is true.
Have you not struggled with these same feelings whenever you have heard of a Christian dying in great agony while a non-Christian passes away peacefully in his sleep? What do you do with those feelings? Ignore them? Deny them? Repress them? Remember, it is only exposed problems that can be resolved. I say again, if you are not willing to face a problem, how can you go about getting it resolved?
"Only exposed problems can be resolved"
Prayer
O God, save me from denying the difficult problems and feelings I encounter in life. Help me understand that it is easier to deal with things when they are up and out than when they lie buried within. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Luke 12:15-21; 16:19-31
Psalm 14:1; 53:1
Proverbs 12:15
1. What is the danger of worldly prosperity?
2. How did Jesus draw the contrast in his parables?
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