从迷惘到信靠
你做了些甚么？
经文
诗篇四十1-17
1（大卫的诗，交与伶长。）我曾耐性等候耶和华；他垂听我的呼求。
2他从祸坑里，从淤泥中，把我拉上来，使我的脚立在磐石上，使我脚步稳当。
3他使我口唱新歌，就是赞美我们神的话。许多人必看见而惧怕，并要倚靠耶和华。
4那倚靠耶和华、不理会狂傲和偏向虚假之辈的，这人便为有福！
5耶和华我的神啊，你所行的奇事，并你向我们所怀的意念甚多，不能向你陈明。若要陈明，其事不可胜数。
6祭物和礼物，你不喜悦；你已经开通我的耳朵。燔祭和赎罪祭非你所要。
7那时我说：看哪，我来了！我的事在经卷上已经记载了。
8我的神啊，我乐意照你的旨意行；你的律法在我心里。
9我在大会中宣传公义的佳音；我必不止住我的嘴唇。耶和华啊，这是你所知道的。
10我未曾把你的公义藏在心里；我已陈明你的信实和你的救恩；我在大会中未曾隐瞒你的慈爱和诚实。
11耶和华啊，求你不要向我止住你的慈悲！愿你的慈爱和诚实常常保佑我！
12因有无数的祸患围困我，我的罪孽追上了我，使我不能昂首；这罪孽比我的头发还多，我就心寒胆战。
14愿那些寻找我、要灭我命的，一同抱愧蒙羞！愿那些喜悦我受害的，退后受辱！
15愿那些对我说阿哈、阿哈的，因羞愧而败亡！
16愿一切寻求你的，因你高兴欢喜！愿那些喜爱你救恩的，常说：当尊耶和华为大！
17但我是困苦穷乏的，主仍顾念我；你是帮助我的，搭救我的。神啊，求你不要耽延！
信息分享
今天让我们继续思考昨天的话题，我们必须采取的第二个步骤──将我们所有困难和感受带到神那里，直接与神倾谈。著名的基督徒心理辅导员亚当斯（Jay Adams）博士说，每当有人找他辅导的时候，他都会先问对方三个初步的问题：（1）你的问题是甚么？（2）对这问题你做了些甚么？（3）你期望我对那问题做些甚么？
他说一般人对第二个问题的回答，有令他感到惊讶的地方。对于这个问题「你做了些甚么？」很多人回答说，他们会向朋友、家人、甚至书本寻求帮助，但是很少人会与神谈论自己的问题。我自己的也有相同的经验。在我事奉的早期，当有弟兄姊妹有个人问题来找我的时候，我问他们：「你与神谈过这件事吗？」他们的回答往往是：「没有，我想先与你谈一谈」。实在令我费解。
我经常在想，如果大家都习惯先向神倾诉自己的问题，然后才与别人谈论，是否会减低对基督徒心理辅导的需求呢？当然，我并非在否定辅导的事奉，因为根据圣经，辅导是神赐下的恩赐（罗十二8）。不过，我确信如果基督徒能够养成先与神讨论自己问题的这个习惯，他们就会惊讶地发现，在大部分的情况下，都不需要再征询其他人的意见了。
「养成先走向神的习惯」
进深研究
代上二十八9；诗二十七8；箴八17；耶二十九13
1. 「寻求耶和华」是甚么意思？
2. 神应许甚么？
祈祷
我的父、我的神啊，求您帮助我养成一种祈祷的习惯，当我面对困难时，懂得先与您倾诉。我奉您儿子那无比宝贵的圣名祈求。阿们。
From Confusion to Confidence
"What have you done about it?"
Bible reading:
Psalm 40:1-17
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.[b]
5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened[c]— burnt offerings and sin offerings[d] you did not require.
7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll.[e]
8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart."
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.
14 May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, "The Lord is great!"
17 But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.
Message
We continue thinking about the second step we must take - bringing all our questions and feelings to God and talking directly to Him about them. Dr Jay Adams, a well-known Christian counsellor, says that whenever anyone comes to him for counselling, he begins by asking three preliminary questions: (1) What is your problem? (2) What have you done about it? (3) What do you expect me to do about it?
He says that one of the things that has amazed him about the replies he gets to the second question - "What have you done about it?" - is the fact that although many say they have sought help from friends, family or even books, few say that they have talked to God about their problem. My own experience would bear this out. In the early days of my ministry I remember being somewhat non- plussed when I asked a brother or sister who had come to me with a personal problem, "Have you talked to God about this?" to hear so often this response: "No, I thought I would talk to you about it first."
I have often wondered whether there would be such a demand for Christian counselling if people made it a habit to talk to God about their problems before talking them over with anyone else. That does not mean, of course, that the ministry of counselling is invalid for, according to Scripture, it is a God-ordained gift (Rom. 12:8). I am convinced, however, that if Christians developed the habit of first going to God with their problems, they would make the surprising discovery that on most occasions, they would have no need to consult anyone else. Day 69 "You shall have no other gods before me." (v.3)
Bible reading:
Exodus 20:1-17
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
We are saying that if we would learn to bring our doubts, our fears and our confusion to God and talk to Him about them in believing prayer, there would be fewer problems in the Church and less need for personal counselling.
This does not mean, as we said, that the ministry of counselling is invalid for, as Scripture clearly shows, it ought to play a vital part in every Christian congregation: "I am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are rich in goodness, amply filled with all spiritual knowledge and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another also" (Rom. 15:14, Amplified Bible). There will be times when, even though we have spoken to God about our problems and our confusion, the guidance and enlightenment we need will come not directly from Him but through the lips of a minister, a friend or a counsellor.
The point I am making is that we must learn the spiritual principle of having a dialogue with God before we enter into a dialogue with anyone else. Why is this so important? Because our spiritual dependence must be rooted in God and not in anyone else. It is so easy to move away from a sense of dependence on God, and anything that contributes to that must be resisted. After all, what is the essence of sin? Is it not independence - man seeking to find his own solutions to his problems rather than discovering God's perspective on them? Of course, if God directs us to another member of His family for help and advice, then fine. The roots of our dependence, however, must be firmly fixed in Him.
"Develop the habit of first going to God"
Prayer
My Father and my God, help me to develop a prayer-habit so that whenever I am faced with a problem, the first One I think of talking to is You. I ask this in and through Your Son's peerless and precious Name. Amen.
Further study
1 Chronicles 28:9
Psalm 27:8
Proverbs 8:17
Jeremiah 29:13
1. What does it mean to "seek the Lord"?
2. What does God promise?
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