2015年11月29日
低落時刻 The Low Point
读经: 詩篇40篇
Reading: Psalm 40
祢是幫助我的，搭救我的。-詩篇40篇17節
You are my help and my deliverer.- Psalm 40:17
全年读经: 以西結書35-36章;彼得後書1章
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 35–36; 2 Peter 1
英國著名作家魯益師與兄長華倫，曾於溫雅德男校寄宿數個學期。當時的校長非常嚴厲，讓每一位學生都吃盡苦頭。數十年後，華倫寫道：「雖已過耳順之年，但每當我回憶起在校的時光，無不感到鬆一口氣，再也沒有比在溫雅德的那段時期更難熬的了。」我們大多數的人都有類似的經驗，回想起生命中的黑暗困頓時期，不禁慶幸那一切終於過去，總算雨過天晴。
詩篇40篇1-5節記載大衛在生命的低谷時刻向主呼求，得著主的拯救。上帝把他從禍坑裡、從淤泥中拉上來，使他的腳立在磐石上（2節） ；大衛說：「祂使我口唱新歌，就是讚美我們上帝的話。」（3節）
要擺脫抑鬱和絕望，通常不會是一蹴即就的。在詩篇40篇中，大衛一再地懇求上帝以祂的慈悲、慈愛和誠實，拯救他脫離自己的罪與敵人的威脅（11-14節） 。
每當我們被困於生命的低谷時，我們也能像大衛一樣宣告：「我是困苦窮乏的，主仍顧念我。祢是幫助我的，搭救我的。」（17節）
回想曾經歷過的生命低谷，
這樣的經歷如何激勵你更信靠上帝呢？
那位托住萬有的上帝，絕不會讓你失望。
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C. S. Lewis and his older brother, Warren (Warnie), endured several terms at Wynyard, an English boarding school for boys. The headmaster was a cruel man who made life unbearable for everyone there. Decades later, Warnie wrote in his understated dry wit, "I am now sixty-four and a bit, and have never yet been in a situation in which I have not had the consolation of reflecting that at any rate I was better off than I was at Wynyard." Most of us can recall a similar dark and difficult time in our lives and be grateful that we're better off now than we were then.
Psalm 40:1-5 records a low point of David's life when he cried out to the Lord who rescued him. God brought him up from "the slimy pit" and "the mud and mire" and set his feet on a rock (v. 2). "He put a new song in my mouth," David says, "a hymn of praise to our God" (v. 3).
But deliverance from depression and despair are seldom one-time events. Psalm 40 continues with David's renewed plea for God's mercy, lovingkindness, and truth to deliver him from his own sin and the threats of his enemies (vv. 11-14).
Along with David, we can say at every low point, "I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer" (v. 17).
How does recalling a low point in your life encourage you to trust God for His help today?
The One who holds the universe will never let you down.