Weekly Devotion ( Psalm 10-14)
Psalm 10 is such a vivid and realistic description of this sinful world. We live in it, and we hear and see sin displayed in front of our eyes, and the feeling of powerlessness and impotence that we as believers feel is so real. How can we face the tension between our belief in a holy and righteous God on the one hand, and the unbridled nature of sin and evil in the real world on the other? The Bible never hides these seemingly insurmountable tensions, even in the biblical chapters that show the helplessness, dissatisfaction, and anger of the psalmist. (verse 1)
The poet depict the wicked in all their wickedness, their rantings, their thoughts and their actions, is described in great detail. (verse 3-11)
As he continues, it seems that the poet's emotions are finally aroused. (verse 12) Such cries of wickedness and the suffering of the righteous are found everywhere in the Psalms.
But what is most remarkable about the psalmist is that in spite of this emotion, he was able to return to his unwavering faith in God, His attributes and His relationship with His people, and in this tension we see a glimmer of light and a way out. (v14 - 15) (Hab 3: 17)
"The LORD is King forever and ever, ........" If we believe with all our hearts that this is true, we will have a spiritual peace and comfort in the face of a sin-ridden world.
Psalm 11 is a continuation of the theme of Psalm 10. It is about what the righteous who trust in God should do in the face of the power of sin in this sin-ridden generation!
This reminds me of a life example from Frank Hong, a Bible teacher at English Congregation once shared. His young son, Mark, one day, for some reason, suddenly became fearful of the closet in the house and cried out. As a father, he didn't know what to do, so he comforted his son and carried him out of the closet. But his son was in his arms, and he told him to go back to the room and ask his father to open the closet for him to see. He shared that in his son's mind, the closet had not changed at all, it was still the same closet that he was inexplicably afraid of, but why did he now have the courage to ask his father to open the closet door and show him the truth? The most important thing is that he is now in his father's arms. Instead, he can take the initiative to challenge the monster that scares him!
If we truly believe that our God is just and merciful, and truly believe that God is our Lord, as this Psalm says, "The righteous will see His face" (verse 7), then our fear of the forces of sin and evil, our sense of powerlessness and impotence, will be drastically reduced, ask the Lord for help!
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Psalm 12, as always, continues the theme of Psalms 9, 10, and 11, that is, in the face of the world's rampant sin, where the wicked reign and run amok, and where the righteous suffer and are in dire straits, where should believers focus their hearts in order to have the strength and perseverance to walk with the Lord one step at a time under these realities?
Only by trusting God in the light of His Word (verse 9) and surrendering the sovereignty of life to Him can we find a way out and hope in this world and in eternity, thank you and praise the Lord!
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Psalm 13，The most shocking thing about the six short verses of Psalm 13 is that this king, who was after God's own heart, lost his faith and asked God four times in a row, "How long will it take? But if you read it carefully and chew on it until the end, you will understand how David, faced with a difficult situation, set the order of his relationship with God, with himself, and with the enemy (circumstances). The natural reaction of ordinary people is to focus first on the situation, and then to think about it more and more bitterly, and if one can still think of God, can there be any joy or singing other than complaining to Him (vv. 5-6)? This is the difference between being God-centered and people-centered!
Now if we analyze these three "lests" (V3-4) from a God-centered perspective, it is easy to understand that David actually valued the glory of God! He asked God to “light up [his] eyes, lest [he] sleep the sleep of death (sin)" to prevent the enemies of God from dishonouring God's name by his sin, for he was God's chosen one, a man of God! Think about us who are blessed; we must be vigilant, and we must earnestly pray to God to keep our hearts (not to sin) and let us prevail over all external things in the world. This urgency shows that God has given us, like the psalmist, the joy of salvation, and that we no longer, or less often, dwell on the pleasures of the past.
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Psalm 14, It’s true that no one in the world really admits to being a fool, but when the Bible says "there is none who does good, not even one", a lot of people will say, "I am one who does good" and can even count their good deeds. We can gauge by our response whether we are saved by grace or not. Why? Anyone who considers himself a "good person" shows that he does not need to be saved, and the salvation of the Lord Jesus on the cross has nothing to do with him; only those who are activated by the Holy Spirit (having their souls regenerated) will sincerely admit that they are sinners and urgently need the salvation of the Lord Jesus. The greatest and most fundamental sin of man is not believing (acknowledging) God (as Lord), just as many people are very "ancestral" (recognizing that ancestors are the "source" of their life), but they reject (deny without verification) the source of life that created their ancestors: God! If one really honours their ancestors, one should go back to find the original source, but people will find a false god and respect their ancestors to excuse themselves.
The common problem of those who do sin (evil) is disbelief (in God). From ancient times to the present, God’s deeds are without interruption. No one has been able to produce evidence that God does not exist, but their heart has been darkened! At best, they can only make their own "absolute proof" with their limited naked eyes and they cannot see God. Knowledge about God is not lacking, the truth is that God is not being sought. This reminds us that the root cause of the increasing corruption of the world is the presence of those who obstruct the truth (I would be the same without God’s grace), revealing the wrath of God (Romans 1:18-20).
The sinful (evil) man does not fear because of the darkness of his heart of ignorance, but he must fear at the time of death and the final judgment in the future, because at that time, neither ignorance nor darkness no longer work as excuses or self-anesthesia, "God is with the generation of the righteous." (Luke 13:28, Matthew 13:38-42; 22:13; 24:48-51). Praise the Lord! From the psalmist's closing words (through the entire Bible: God's Word), let us see that God's plan will never fail! (Edited)
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每周灵修诗篇10-14
诗篇 第 10 篇是何等活靈活現，真實的描述這罪惡的世界。 我們活 在其中，耳聞目睹罪惡肆無忌憚的展露在我們眼前，我們信徒那種 無能、無力的感受，是何等的真實。 惟一方面我們信奉聖潔、公 義的神，但另一方面面對在現實世界中，罪惡那種肆無忌憚，這兩 者之間的張力，該如何面對? 聖經從來沒有隱瞞這等看似無解的 張力，就是在聖經章節中，也展示詩人心中的那份無助、不滿與憤 怒。(v1) 詩人巨細無遺地描述惡人的種種惡行，他們的狂言、心思和行動， 被絲絲入扣的描劃出來。(v3 - v11) 說著說著，詩人的情緒也好像 終於按捺不住，被引發出來了。(v12) 這種惡人當道，義人受苦天 問式的呼喊，在詩篇中隨處可見。但詩人最難能可貴的，是他在這 種情緒下，卻仍能真真正正的不忘初心，回歸到他對神的那份堅定 不移的信心，神的屬性和神與祂子民的關係，我們便在這等張力 中，看到一絲的曙光和出路。 (v14 - 15) (哈 3: 17) “耶和華永永遠 遠為王，.......”， 若我們全心全意相信這話是真實時，當面對這罪惡 猖獗的世界，我們便有一種屬靈的安詳與閒適。
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詩篇 第 11 篇仍是延續第 10 篇的主題。就是在這罪惡猖獗世代裏， 面對罪的強橫，信靠神的義人該如何自處?!這使我想起英文堂聖 經教師 Frank Hong 曾分享的一生活例子。 他的小兒子 Mark 有一 天，不知什麼原因，突然對家裏的衣櫃產生無名恐懼而啕號大哭。 作爸爸的他不明所以，安慰兒子後，便抱著他離開那衣櫃的房間。 怎知他兒子卻在他懷中，定意他們回那房間，要爸爸打開衣櫃給他 看。他分享到在他兒子心目中，衣櫃絲毫沒變，仍是那令他莫名恐 懼的衣櫃，但現在為何卻竟有勇氣，主動要求爸爸打開衣櫃門給他 看個究竟? 最重要的根本，相信就是他現在在爸爸的懷中，有爸 爸的同在，何懼之有? 反而能主動挑戰令他恐懼的怪物了! 若我們真正相信我們神是行公義、好憐憫，真正相信神是我們的 主，正如這詩篇所說 ”正直人必得見他的面” (v7)，那麼我們對罪惡 勢力的恐懼，無力和無能感，將會大幅度的降低，求主幫助!
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詩篇 第 12 篇，仍是一如既往，延續著 9, 10, 11 詩篇緊扣的主題， 就是面對世界中種種罪行肆虐，惡人當道，橫行無忌，義人受屈， 身處水深火熱中，在這種現實的環境下，信徒心中該聚焦何處，才 能有力量、堅毅，一步一腳印的與主同行? 日光之下無新事，其實人之罪性，千古如一，其背棄神的理論，早 就不是什麼新鮮事物。 只是現代經過學術包裝，名象繁多，故作 高深罷了。 看看這詩篇 12 篇第 4 節，不是很有現代人文主義的味 道嗎? 高舉人的自我、自主，“誰能作我們的主呢?” (v4) 我們要 作自己的主人，不是現代人唱得震天價響的口號，挺合現代人的脾 胃嗎?
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詩篇 第13篇，短短六節經文，最讓人震驚的是，這位合神心意的君王竟然 也如此失卻信心，向神連問四個“要到幾時呢” ?但你若仔細閱讀反覆咀嚼至 終了就會明白，大衛面對困境是如何擺正“與神、與己、與仇敵(環境)”關係次 序的。常人的自然反應:首先專注的是處境，而後越想越苦澀，若還能想起 神，除了向祂發怨言還能有(V5-6)的快樂、歌唱嗎?這就是以神為本/以人為 本的一字之差! 現在再從以神為本的角度來分析這三個“免得”(V3-4)就不難理解，大衛 實際上看重的是神的榮耀!他求告神使他“眼目光明，不至於沉睡(墮落罪 中)”，目的是不要讓神的仇敵因他犯罪而羞辱了神的名，因為他是蒙神揀選 之人，一個屬神的人!想想我們這蒙恩之人，要儆醒，更要切切祈求神保守 我們的心(不犯罪)勝過世上一切外在的東西來得重要。有此迫切，表明神 已賜我們如詩人一樣，必得救恩之樂，不再或少在糾結於那些過眼煙雲的“快 樂”了。
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诗篇 第14 篇：世上確實沒人自甘承認是愚頑人，但讀到聖經說“沒有行善的，連一個 也沒有”時，卻大把人會說:“我可是個行善之人”甚至還能歷數自己如何如 何。從我們的反應可以測度是否已蒙恩得救，為什麼?凡自認是“善人”的， 表明不需被救，主耶穌的十架救恩於你無關;唯被聖靈激活(靈魂甦醒)之 人才會衷心承認自己是個罪人，迫切需要主耶穌的救赦。人最大最根本的罪 是不信(承認)上帝(為主)，有如許多人非常“敬祖宗”(承認他們是自己生命的“來 源”者)，但卻死不承認(未加考證就矢又否認)那創造他祖宗的祖宗之生命源頭 _上帝!若真敬祖，本當追本溯源直到尋見最始之根源才對，但人卻以尋個假 神，敬祖宗來搪塞自己。 作孽(惡)之人的通病就是不信(神)。從古至今上帝的作為絕無間斷，無人 能拿出證據來證明上帝不存在，卻心底一抹黑，沒有!充其量只會以有限的 肉眼作自己的“絕對證明”_看不到有神。有關上帝的知識並非缺乏，真相是沒 有尋求神的。這就提醒我們這世界愈來愈敗壞的根源，是因有阻擋真理的人 (若非神恩我也如是)，顯明了上帝的忿怒 (羅1:18-20)。 作孽(惡)之人胡作非為不懼怕是“無知的心昏暗”所至，但死亡和將來終 極審判之時必然懼怕，因為那時無知與昏暗都不再起推諉、自我麻醉的作 用，“因為神在義人的群體中”(路13:28，太13:38-42;22:13;24:48-51)。 讚美主!從詩人的結束語(通過全本聖經_神的話語)，讓我們看到神的計畫永 不落空!
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