Thursday, 16th June 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-8 God is the God Who Leads Us Forward
At the beginning of the Psalm, it says, ‘The Glory of God in His Goodness to Israel. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.’ It was a psalm written by David for the Israelites to sing while they left their families to go up to Jerusalem and worship God. It was to encourage them not to be afraid of their enemies and not to be discouraged. We should also always praise God and think about His Goodness, even when we are in difficult time. V1-2 ‘Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.’
In the Book of Numbers 10:31-35, it talks about the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness, ‘So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.” So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp. So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: “Rise up, O Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.”’
Moses was reminding the Israelites to follow God closely, to hold onto God tightly, and the Ark of God will lead us forward. In the past, Moses had been listening to the advises of his father-in-law, but now he lifted up everything before God, and let God be his guidance. Are we willing to believe that God is the God we can rely on? When there is no one to help us, to support us, to give us advice, God is always there, can we simply rely on Him? V4 ‘Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him.’ When we follow God and follow the flow God gives to our church, we will be able to walk in the light an on the right path.
V5-6 ‘A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.’ David never asked anyone to remember how strong he was or how many battles he had won glamorously, but he reminded the glory and victory of God. He reminded the Israelites how they were in captivity, but God saved them, delivered them, set them free, and led them out of the land of slavery. We are all the fatherless and the widows, because we lack love, we seek love, and we want to be fulfilled by our parents, our spouse, or our children. In a way, we are living orphans, trying to find love in the world, but this is a fatherless generation, nobody knows how to be a real father, until we found the Father in Heaven. Only when we received the true love from the Father in Heaven, then we will be able to love.
Do we recognise the problems in our lives? Every morning when we come to God and open the Bible, but do we really read into the Word of God and really hear what God is speaking to us? We must be rooted firmly on Jesus Christ, to surrender to Him, not to follow the worldly values and trends.
V7-8 ‘O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah. The earth shook; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.’ When we really believe God is the God, who leads us to walk forward, then He will become our God and our King; but if we don’t, then world will become our god and king.
V9-23 God is the God Who Prepares for Us
V9-10 ‘You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary. Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.’ We must spend time to pray and to read the Word of God. Do not be led by the environment, do not think that the environment and the surrounding are leading us to go forward, because God has already prepared for us, but if we look at the environment and the surroundings, then we will not see God’s goodness in our lives.
V15 ‘A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.’ The mountain of Bashan was a rich mountain, whatever was planted there would grow. It was over 4,000 metres high, full of rich soil and abundant produces. It was a mountain chosen by God, but when we focus on the mountain of Bashan, then gradually we will forget the mountain, which God dwells in. V16 ‘Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.’ The mountain of Zion was only around 760 metres high; it was not even a mountain but only a hill. But it is the mountain God dwells in.
V19-20 ‘Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah. Our God is the God of salvation; and to God the Lord belong escapes from death.’ God is our salvation, He has already prepared for us. Let us turn away from the benefits this world can give us and turn to God. The world may be against us, but only God can show us the way forward!
Section Three V24-35 God’s Name is Worthy to be Praised
V24 ‘They have seen Your procession, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.’ How do we enter the sanctuary? Not by our own strength, but by God’s Grace. We must build up an intimate relationship with God first, not with people. There are a lot of ways to help us build up relationship with people, but if we built up a close relationship with God, then we won’t have problems building up relationship with people. Why can’t we love people? Because we do not love God.
God has His principles and His ways to do things, we must humble and obey, deny ourselves and benefit others; what He has prepared for us is more than what we can imagine!
诗篇 68 – 我的神 我的王
2022年6月16日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
这首诗篇是大卫写的。当时以色列人一年三次要到耶路撒冷的圣殿守节，蒙受神的祝福。这些朝圣者离开他们的居住地、放下妻儿和工作，走向耶路撒冷，没有现代交通工具，只能用双脚走路。大卫写的这首诗给众朝圣的百姓力量，让大家可以一路走一路唱着赞美神，让每一个愿意回到神的殿朝见神的人心欢喜、灵快乐，充满盼望。我们每一天能够来晨祷也是如此，愿意放下自己的事情，在一天开始的时候先分别为圣来朝见这位“我的神，我的王”。
一、v.1-8 神是带领我们向前的神
V1-2 大卫在这两节所讲的正是效法摩西的祷告：“耶和华啊，求你兴起！愿你的仇敌四散，愿恨你的人从你面前逃跑！”（民数记 10:35）。那时的以色列人跟着约柜已经走了三天的路程，而之前摩西还在求他的岳父留下来帮他。当我们没有抓住自己所倚靠的世上的人事物时，神就会带着我们走。摩西将他所担心的东西都记在神的账上，因为唯有神是可以倚靠的。在大卫王的年代，那些要从外地回到耶路撒冷的百姓可能会经过沙漠、猛兽，但大卫的诗歌让他们记起当初在旷野中的以色列百姓是如何跟着约柜走。你愿意跟随神的带领吗？
V4 “旷野的修平大路”就是以赛亚书40：3 讲的“在旷野预备耶和华的路，在沙漠地修平我们神的道”，而“耶和华”带领以色列人离开埃及、进入应许之地的神。大卫在这里没有炫耀自己的丰功伟绩，而是让人记起自己的祖先如何离开为奴为仆之地、被神拯救。当我们面对现今的困难、委屈的时候，我们能够记起神如何救我们出黑暗入他的奇妙光明那起初的爱吗，能够有起初的动力吗？
V5 我们都是孤儿，四围寻找爱。我们容易被冒犯，因为我们觉得没有被重视，想从别人身上拿到爱。我们做父母的想要孩子来满足自己的需要，我们对他们的期待其实是我们过去没有得到的东西。大卫从小没有受到家人的重视，他在这里呼吁大家回到神这里，因为“神在他的圣所做孤儿的父”。这是一个无父的世代，没有人知道怎么做一个父亲，我们所付出的都是缺乏爱的，对别人也只是索求而已。如果我们只想要从人那里寻求爱，最后会遍体鳞伤，唯有从神那里才能得到满足的爱。
V6 你的孤独是怎样被满足呢？我们不要为了结婚而结婚，不然最后会在婚姻中走向忧郁。圣经说，儿女是神赐给我们的产业，但没有走在真光真理的人看见孩子就会忧郁，没有看见祝福。我们很容易看到别人讲的东西很“灵”之后就将他们当成偶像来倚靠，没有凡事寻求神，没有先神后人再大地。我们被媒体所宣传的东西动摇，只想看到事情快速的被解决，不愿意花时间祷告等候。我们将自己最好的时间花在了网络上。神要我们“享福”，不是跟着世界的潮流。我们的生命高高低低，因为我们没有将生命扎在耶稣基督里。
V7 神在我们前头带着我们走，因为他是在旷野开道路、在沙漠开江河的神。我们的沙漠、旷野是谁来开的？是网络吗，还是神？神是我们的神我们的王，不要让世界成为我们的神和我们的王。
二、v.9-23 神是预备的
V9-10 你是否经历过神的恩惠？我们没有见证，因为我们的问题都在网络媒体或别人身上得到解决了，没有花时间祷告寻求神，只让环境带着我们走，看哪一条路顺利就跟那一条路走。这只是世界的道路，我们没有经历什么需要神帮助的困苦，所以没有见证。让我们知道，神是预备的。
V15-16 “巴珊”山的土非常肥沃，且有四千多米高，而人觉得这是神所拣选的山，正如人以为自己能力很好就能被神拣选一样。然而，神说：“你们多峰多岭的山哪，为何斜看神所愿居住的山？”神所愿居住的不是巴珊山，也不是西奈山，而是锡安山 – 这锡安山甚至都不算山，只是一个七百六十公尺高的小山丘。神拣选我们南奥克兰灵粮堂这座小山丘，你相信吗？
V19-20 神拯救我们，不是锡安山有多厉害，而是因为我们“能脱离死亡是在乎主耶和华”！
三、v.24-35 神的名是应当称颂的
V24 我们不是靠着自己，而是要靠着神带我们行走，进入圣殿。我们要常常祷告，与神建立关系，走在人和神的亲密之旅上。当我们愿意先学习如何与神建立亲密关系，我们与人的关系就没有问题。我们无法爱人，因为我们没有先爱神。
我们要知道这才是我们的神、我们的王。不要做自己的王、自己的神，神的运行有他的法则，只要我们愿意谦卑顺服、舍己利他，神就会赐给我们出乎意外的平安，他所预备的必定超乎我们所求所想。