从迷惘到信靠
要真诚
经文
诗篇二十二1-24
1(大卫的诗,交与伶长。调用朝鹿。)我的神,我的神!为甚么离弃我?为甚么远离不救我?不听我唉哼的言语?
2我的神啊,我白日呼求,你不应允,夜间呼求,并不住声。
3但你是圣洁的,是用以色列的赞美为宝座(或译:居所)的。
4我们的祖宗倚靠你;他们倚靠你,你便解救他们。
5他们哀求你,便蒙解救;他们倚靠你,就不羞愧。
6但我是虫,不是人,被众人羞辱,被百姓藐视。
7凡看见我的都嗤笑我;他们撇嘴摇头,说:
8他把自己交托耶和华,耶和华可以救他吧!耶和华既喜悦他,可以搭救他吧!
9但你是叫我出母腹的;我在母怀里,你就使我有倚靠的心。
10我自出母胎就被交在你手里;从我母亲生我,你就是我的神。
11求你不要远离我!因为急难临近了,没有人帮助我。
12有许多公牛围绕我,巴珊大力的公牛四面困住我。
13他们向我张口,好像抓撕吼叫的狮子。
14我如水被倒出来;我的骨头都脱了节;我心在我里面如蜡镕化。
15我的精力枯干,如同瓦片;我的舌头贴在我牙床上。你将我安置在死地的尘土中。
16犬类围着我,恶党环绕我;他们扎了我的手,我的脚。
17我的骨头,我都能数过;他们瞪着眼看我。
18他们分我的外衣,为我的里衣拈阄。
19耶和华啊,求你不要远离我!我的救主啊,求你快来帮助我!
20求你救我的灵魂脱离刀剑,救我的生命(生命:原文是独一者)脱离犬类,
21救我脱离狮子的口;你已经应允我,使我脱离野牛的角。
22我要将你的名传与我的弟兄,在会中我要赞美你。
23你们敬畏耶和华的人要赞美他!雅各的后裔都要荣耀他!以色列的后裔都要惧怕他!
24因为他没有藐视憎恶受苦的人,也没有向他掩面;那受苦之人呼吁的时候,他就垂听。
信息分享
昨天结束时,我们说神比祂的百姓更有耐性和忍耐力。我们只需要注意哈巴谷向神提出的抗议便可以看到这一点。关于神,我们所必须学习的一件事情是:祂宁愿我们真诚,不要我们伪装。要知道迷惘的后面往往存在愤怒的元素。我们也许没有意识到,但是愤怒确实是存在的。
我记得有一次,一位弟兄告诉我他刚经历过「一场属灵生命的革命」,我于是请他与我分享。他说他一直都相信自己必须以礼貌的语气跟神说话,永远都不能表达任何沮丧或恼怒的情绪,直至有一天,在经历属灵的迷惘时,他忘记了自己一向的态度,而以完全没有任何敬虔的语言、具体的向神表达了他对神以及神处理世界的想法。
他与神争论了两个小时。完结的时候,主对他说:「你永远不会容许其他人以这样的态度跟你说话,对不对?为甚么呢?因为你不能看进另一个人的内心深处。但我看到了一切──痛苦、伤害和愤怒。我爱你,我也明白你的感受。」主亲切的回应令他整个破碎了,接下来他与神三天的相交给他带来了属灵生命的转变。神总是回应人的真性情,哪怕那种真实是以愤怒和伤害的感情表达出来的。
「神总是回应人的真性情」
进深研究
路二十四13-36;罗十二17
1. 为甚么耶稣能够回应这些门徒?
2. 结果怎样?
祈祷
神啊,我清楚明白您是喜悦真实的神。求您帮助我成为真诚的人,没有任何托辞,没有任何虚伪,没有任何假装。奉耶稣宝贵的名祈求。阿们。
From Confusion to Confidence
Be real
Bible reading:
Psalm 22:1-24
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.[b]
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.[c]
4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 "He trusts in the Lord," they say, "let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.
15 My mouth[d] is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce[e] my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
Message
We ended yesterday by saying that God is more patient and tolerant than His people. We have only to look at Habakkuk remonstrating with God to see this. One thing we must learn about God it is this: He would prefer us to be real rather than pretend to be what we are not. Be assured of this: beneath confusion there is usually an element of anger. It may not be recognised, but it is there nevertheless.
I remember on one occasion a man telling me that he had just come through "a spiritual revolution". When I pressed him to share it with me he told me that all his life he had been brought up to believe he must address God in polite tones, and on no account should he ever show any sense of frustration or annoyance. But one day, while going through a time of spiritual confusion, he forgot himself, and in language that was stripped of all pious phrases told God exactly what he thought about Him and the way He was handling His world.
For two hours he argued with God, and when he had finished the Lord said to him: "You would never let anyone talk to you like that, would you? Why? Because you cannot see into the depths of another's heart. But I see everything - the pain, the hurt and the anger. I love you and I understand." The tender response of the Lord broke him and there followed three days of communion with Him that produced in him a deep spiritual transformation. God always responds to reality - even when that reality is couched in feelings of anger and hurt.
"God always responds to reality"
Prayer
O God, something is being burned into my consciousness - You are a God who delights in reality. Help me to be a real person - with no subterfuge, no phoneyness, no pretence. I ask this in and through the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
Further study
Luke 24:13-36
Romans 12:17
1. Why was Jesus able to respond to these disciples?
2. What was the result?
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