Wednesday, 15th June 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-2 Blessings & Salvation
V1 ‘God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah’ The Psalm begins with the blessing of Aaron, which is written in Numbers 6:24-26, ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.’ The blessing of Aaron is talking about the importance of the face of God. God lifts His face upon us, but how are we responding to Him? Do we also face towards God, or do we lower our heard and pretend not to see Him? God is shining His face upon us, not because of how much good we have done, or how much sacrifices we have offered, but to allow our lives to bear fruits.
We must not be afraid of facing God, because He brings blessings to us and also salvation. When Jesus died for us on the cross, the veil in the Templet was torn in half, because God wants to see us face to face, and He gave us this permission to see Him face to face. V2 ‘That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.’ When our lives bear fruits by the grace of God, people can see the blessings from God in our lives, and also the salvation we receive from Him. What people see would be how we get up from our weaknesses and failures through the salvation of God.
Every morning when we read the Word of God, God is teaching us His flow, His principles, and how He works in our lives. Through us, God is revealing to all people His Victory and His Way.
Section Two V3-5 Judgement & Guidance
V3 ‘Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.’ It’s the time of celebration because God’s judgement is with us. Why would we celebrate when the judgement come? The world does not like judgement, people don’t like to be disciplined and corrected. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, ‘Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.’ God can choose to shine His face upon us, but He can also choose not to reveal His face and lift up His face to us. Therefore, when God’s judgement comes, we should celebrate, because it means God still cares about us and wants to help us.
V4 ‘Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on earth. Selah’ The nations should be glad when the judgement comes, the world is corrupted and the environment is full of fear, but God never gives up on us, He is still willing to speak to us even today! This we should celebrate and be glad!
Section Three V5-7 Praises & Blessings
V5 ‘Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.’ In this verse, to praise also means to repent. When we are praise and worship God, we must also have a heart of repentance, to come before Him with spirit and truth. Why do we sing praises? Because we are sinners and we are not worthy, but God’s face shines upon us so we should praise Him.
V6 ‘Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.’ God wants to bless us and God wants us to turn back from our sins and walk into light. All the shames will go away when we repent and return. We no longer need to be afraid of the world because God rules and reigns in our lives. V7 ‘God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.’ Let us turn away from darkness and go into light. God is willing to lift up His face upon us, we no longer stay in the darkness, but are coming into the light.
诗篇 67- 向我们仰脸的神
2022年6月15日 星期三
潘锡安牧师
我们读完了以赛亚书的前半部分，看到了很多在“黑暗”和“困难”中神的法则如何，而今天诗篇67篇延续之前的水流，让我们更进一步认识神。本章第一节用“亚伦的祝福”来开始：‘愿耶和华赐福给你，保护你！愿耶和华使他的脸光照你，赐恩给你！愿耶和华向你仰脸，赐你平安！’（民数记 6:24-26）。亚伦的祝福一直在讲“神的脸”的重要。我们都很注重自己的“脸”，但我们没有真的注重神的脸，在世人面前没有呈现神的同在。当初摩西从西奈山上走下来，百姓却不敢看他的脸，让他用帕子蒙起来，因为他脸上有神的荣光。神是向我们仰脸的神，而我们是否像那些在西奈山下的以色列人那样低头不愿意面对神吗？
一、v.1-2 是祝福 是救恩
向我们仰脸的神给我们的不是惧怕，而是祝福和救恩。当耶稣为我们死在十字架上之后，圣殿中的幔子裂开，我们就能与神面对面。
神的“怜悯”和“赐福”来自于他“用脸光照我们”（V1）。神光照我们不是因为我们做得多好，他赐福给我们，“好叫世界得知你的道路，万国得知你的救恩”(V2)。世界本看不到神的道路，他们只看到我们的道路 – 就是我们的生命所结出的果子。“救恩”就是我们如何被拯救、如何在我们的低点得胜。拜其他神的人也会经历“好运”，但我们信基督的人不关注这些表面的好处，而是真实呈现我们是如何从自己的“粪堆”中被神拯救出来。
二、v.3-4 是审判 是引导
被神“审判”听上去会让人害怕，被提升的时候是不舒服的，为何人还要称赞、欢呼？以赛亚书 59:1-2说：“耶和华的膀臂并非缩短不能拯救，耳朵并非发沉不能听见；但你们的罪孽使你们与神隔绝，你们的罪恶使他掩面不听你们。”原来神可以仰脸看我们，也可以掩面不顾我们。当神愿意仰脸看我们的时候，说明我们的罪、羞耻、和黑暗都被医治了，所以要称赞、欢呼。我们要传福音给万国万邦，让他们也可以看到神的仰脸，经历神的医治。当我们没有罪来面对神的时候，就可以帮助人出黑暗、入光明。
三、v.5-7 是称赞 是赐福
V5“称赞”的原文还有“认罪”的意思。我们常说要“敬拜赞美”，但首先我们要认罪，不然无法赞美神。愿万邦万民称赞神就是愿他们都来认罪、赞美神。当我们没有认罪的时候，我们就没有办法真正的赞美神。要看到我们本来就是不配的罪人，当神向我们仰脸，我们就要认罪、赞美他。
V6-7 “赐福于我们”原文就是“祝福”的意思。一切的罪和羞愧因着我们愿意谦卑认罪，都会过去。神向我们所怀的是赐平安的意念，我们是否愿意弃暗投明？我们愿意一生一世都称赞神吗？