Thursday, 10th March 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-13 Take Heart to Listen
V1-4 ‘Hear this, all peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.’ People of God must speak the Word of God. We must understand and listen to the parables of God. Number 12:8 says, ‘I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’
V5-9 ‘Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him— For the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever— That he should continue to live eternally, and not see the Pit.’ In trouble times, wicked things happening around us, but do we have a thankful attitude?
V10-13 ‘For he sees wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man, though in honour, does not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who approve their sayings.’ One day we will all die; we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. But people are selfish, we only think about ourselves, and we don’t seek God. It’s just like our relationship with our parents, we only go to them when we need something, and when we grow up, we tend to seek our own ways instead of our parents.
In the same way, we must disciple and train our children, do not give up on our relationship with them, because at the end, the best inheritance we can pass on to them are the blessings of God, for them to know God and to build up personal relationship with God. The number of confirmed COVID cases is growing very fast, and everyone is afraid, people are staying home because they are afraid of catching the virus. We thought we can hold onto our tomorrow, we thought if we earn enough money we can bless our next generations, but the truth is, our society is wicked, and we live in the troubled times. We can only rely on God.
Section Two V14-15 God Will Save
V14 ‘Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.’ The people, who are powerful and wealthy, will at the end be ruled over by the upright. Darkness will go away and God’s light will shine, the upright will have dominion over all people. Because God created us to manage the earth, but we have lost our ability and authority to manage because we are so caught up by the troubles of this world.
V15 ‘But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. Selah’ Everyone will face the end of our lives, no matter if we are young or old, but God redeems our souls. Where will our souls go after we die? What can we save up for our souls? We know we need to save up for our retirements, and we also know to pass on our inheritance to our children and our grandchildren, but what are we saving up for our souls? There is nothing we can take with us after we die, the only thing we can do right now is to ‘invest’ in our souls, to love God and to love others, to follow God’s teaching and to live like Jesus. Our souls will not die, and we can decide where our souls go after we die. God will lead us, are we willing to follow? The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. In the troubled times, what are our worries and what is our focus? Stop worrying now and focus on God!
Section Three V16-20 Do Not Fear
V16-17 ‘Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him.’ Do not be afraid of those who may be in a higher social status than us, and do not hold back from following God. Can we believe that when we follow God by faith, He will provide for us?
V20 ‘A man who is in honour, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.’ If we don’t treasure our identity as the priests of the New Testament, then we may fall in the darkness. So let us be strong and courageous, do not conform to this world, but to live a life for God!
诗篇 49 – 在患难的日子
2022年3月10日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
今天的经文帮助我们知道如何度过患难的日子。
一、v.1-13 要留心听
V1-2 这篇诗歌不是写给全世界的人，而是对神所拣选的子民说话。无论我们处在高位或低位、富足或贫穷，都要留心听。
V3-4 我们的口要说敬畏神的话，我们的心要明白神的话，我们的耳朵要听讲述神国的话（”比喻”）。“琴”代表敬拜，“谜语”是神对百姓说的话（民数记12:8）。当我们敬拜神时，天地的门会打开，带下神的同在，使我们原本不懂的“谜语”都解开了。
V5 当时的日子是患难、是不容易的，正如我们现在的环境一样。我们处在末世中，不再只是你好我好大家好，不要只想着得人的安慰，最重要的是我们要用生命传递福音。有神的话语，有圣灵的带领，我们的生命才能扎实。当两三个人奉主的名同在，我们就能解开神话语的奥秘，看到属于我们生命的东西。在患难的日子，我们周遭有很多不公义的事，然而神让我们不要惧怕。一个不惧怕的人就是第3-4节讲的人，是能够与神连接的人。我们就算读经祷告，也可能惧怕，因为我们遇到困难时嘴里没有说出敬畏神、感恩神的话，反而心里生出浮躁、抱怨。我们要有属灵的洞察力，心和口都有智慧，就不惧怕了。
V6-9 那些世上有钱财、住大屋的人都不能救赎自己的弟兄、让他“长远活着”，正如现在很多世上有权有势的人都因新冠病毒确诊，国家领袖也无法解决疫情。唯有神的独生儿子耶稣基督才能救赎我们的生命。
V10 “智慧人”在这里指有知识的人，他们和愚蠢的人都会面临死亡，他们的财富在死后也不能带到阴间，只能“留给别人”。
V11-13 这些有权有势、不倚靠神的人，他们心里想的是“他们的家室必永存”- 家室就是他们子孙后代，“住宅必留到万代”- 就是自己住的房屋。然而，人和动物一样，都会死的。那些人如此行，是非常愚蠢的，但他们的孩子还认同父母的教导，可惜，明天如何，没有人知道，就好像现在在乌克兰的人不知道战争会突然到来。人心有很多谋算，只想着给自己和孩子积累财宝，没有倚靠神。真正的蒙福是将福音传给我们后代，要先神后人再大地，而不是只给儿女留钱财却没有好的亲子关系。我们对神的认识是不是很片面？他不是我们的提款机，我们的父母也不是，不要只在需要财物的时候才去找他们。在如今疫情严重的患难中，我们都有很多惧怕，因为没有人能够掌管明天。唯有心和口向着神，才能真正不惧怕。
二、v.14-15 神必救赎
V14 世上有权有势、有能力有金钱的人，最后的结果就是被“正直人”管辖。到了早晨，黑暗必离去，光就会进来。神给我们的是治理大地，然而我们好像失去这份能力，变成像在埃及为奴为仆的以色列人一样整天只为着还房贷而活。
V15 无论我们是信主还是不信主的，人必有一死。唯有神能救赎我们的灵魂“脱离阴间的权柄”。我们是否想过我们死后会去哪里？连科学家都证实灵魂是真实存在的。我们的肉身在世时想吃好穿好，更何况我们的灵魂！死后灵魂何去何从，取决于我们还在肉身时的表现。我们想为我们的儿女留福，但是否有为自己的灵魂留福？人穷尽一生为钱财拼搏，最后却生不带来死不带去。我们能够留给这个世界最好的祝福不是自己赚的钱。真正的投资不是在这个地上，而是投资在我们的灵魂，能爱神爱人，效法基督。我们信主的人是不会下地狱的，这不是靠我们自己去说的，而是我们真的心口相信，有神“收纳”我们。在如今这样患难的日子，我们要醒悟过来，知道耶和华是我们的牧者，他必带领我们。
三、v.16-20 不要惧怕
V16 我们不要看别人的生活条件好就惧怕，觉得自己跟从神是错误的。我们是否相信，当我们凭信心遵行神的话语时，神会供应我们？
V17-19 “他”指的是在世上有权有势有名望的人。这些人都会死去。
V20 我们若不珍惜神给我们君尊祭司的身份，我们的遭遇就与死亡的畜类一样落入阴间。让我们刚强壮胆，不要效法这个世界。