以色列国并不是这样看事情，他们对神抱不同、甚至是反叛的态度。他们说：「不，受到威胁的是我们的荣耀。」我们不是也有类似的行为吗？当我们的困难显得严重、我们的利益受到威胁，而神却说：「我的荣耀受到威胁」的时候，我们会与祂争辩，并反驳说：「不，神啊，不是你的荣耀受到威胁，是我的荣耀受到威胁。」这是多么的狂妄！多么的荒唐！我告诉你，如果要在自己的生命里培养某个程度的属灵成熟，就必需要重视神的荣耀多于自己的利益。否则，我们永远都不会明白约伯说：「虽然他杀我，我仍会因他而有指望」（伯十三15）时所表现出的深刻信靠。

「神的荣耀比我们的利益重要」

进深研究
赛四十二1-9；代上十六28-29 ；诗二十九1

1. 神不给予别人的是甚么？
2. 大卫劝人将甚么归给耶和华？

祈祷
天父，求您帮助我明白，我应把您的荣耀放在我的利益之前，让我知道，我这样做并没有贬低自己，反是培养自己。因为在荣耀您的时候，我也得到荣耀。求您帮助我理解这个道理。奉主耶稣的名求。阿们。

The Vision of God

Day 26

"See His glory down come"

"I will not yield my glory to another." (v.11)

Bible reading:
Isaiah 48:1-11

1 "Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—

2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel— the Lord Almighty is his name:

3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

4 For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze.

5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'

6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? "From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.

7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, 'Yes, I knew of them.'

8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.

9 For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely.

10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.

Message

Why do we find it difficult to draw the "bottom line" concerning God at the level of His justice? Perhaps we are able to do it when things are going well, but immediately disaster strikes we draw the line at a different level - at the level of His compassion, His ability to heal or His power to deliver. We then tend to demand from God not real justice but justice on our own terms - our terms being deliverance, healing or divine protection.

Now I am not saying that God is disinterested in us, but we must never put our well-being before His. There is a much higher value in this universe than our glory - it is God's glory. This is why we read over and over again in the book of Ezekiel words to the effect that "My glory is at stake."

The nation of Israel didn't see things that way and took a different, even a rebellious attitude toward God, saying "No, it is our glory that is at stake." Don't we do something similar? When our problems loom large, and our welfare is under threat, we tend to argue with God when He says, "My glory is at stake," and retort, "No, Lord, it is not Your glory that is at stake, it is mine." What arrogance! What insanity! I tell you, if we are to develop any degree of spiritual maturity in our lives we have to put a higher value on God's glory than our own well-being. If we don't, then we will never come to know the depth of trust that Job exhibited when he said: "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15).

"God's glory is more important than our well-being"

Prayer
Father, help me understand that in putting Your glory before my well- being I do not demean myself but develop myself. For in glorifying You! too am glorified. Help me grasp this. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Further study
Isaiah 42:1-9
1 Chronicles 16:28-29
Psalm 29:1

1. What will God not give to another?
2. What did David exhort to be ascribed to the Lord?

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