申命記9:7-29

9:7 你當記念不忘，你在曠野怎樣惹耶和華─你上帝發怒。自從你出了埃及地的那日，直到你們來到這地方，你們時常悖逆耶和華。
9:8 你們在何烈山又惹耶和華發怒；他惱怒你們，要滅絕你們。
9:9 我上了山，要領受兩塊石版，就是耶和華與你們立約的版。那時我在山上住了四十晝夜，沒有吃飯，也沒有喝水。
9:10 耶和華把那兩塊石版交給我，是上帝用指頭寫的。版上所寫的是照耶和華在大會的日子、在山上、從火中對你們所說的一切話。
9:11 過了四十晝夜，耶和華把那兩塊石版，就是約版，交給我。
9:12 對我說：『你起來，趕快下去！因為你從埃及領出來的百姓已經敗壞了自己；他們快快地偏離了我所吩咐的道，為自己鑄成了偶像。』
9:13 「耶和華又對我說：『我看這百姓是硬著頸項的百姓。
9:14 你且由著我，我要滅絕他們，將他們的名從天下塗抹，使你的後裔比他們成為更大更強的國。』
9:15 於是我轉身下山，山被火燒著，兩塊約版在我兩手之中。
9:16 我一看見你們得罪了耶和華─你們的上帝，鑄成了牛犢，快快地偏離了耶和華所吩咐你們的道，
9:17 我就把那兩塊版從我手中扔下去，在你們眼前摔碎了。
9:18 因你們所犯的一切罪，行了耶和華眼中看為惡的事，惹他發怒，我就像從前俯伏在耶和華面前四十晝夜，沒有吃飯，也沒有喝水。
9:19 我因耶和華向你們大發烈怒，要滅絕你們，就甚害怕；但那次耶和華又應允了我。
9:20 耶和華也向亞倫甚是發怒，要滅絕他；那時我又為亞倫祈禱。
9:21 我把那叫你們犯罪所鑄的牛犢用火焚燒，又搗碎磨得很細，以致細如灰塵，我就把這灰塵撒在從山上流下來的溪水中。
9:22 「你們在他備拉、瑪撒、基博羅‧哈他瓦又惹耶和華發怒。
9:23 耶和華打發你們離開加低斯‧巴尼亞，說：『你們上去得我所賜給你們的地。』那時你們違背了耶和華─你們上帝的命令，不信服他，不聽從他的話。
9:24 自從我認識你們以來，你們常常悖逆耶和華。
9:25 「我因耶和華說要滅絕你們，就在耶和華面前照舊俯伏四十晝夜。
9:26 我祈禱耶和華說：『主耶和華啊，求你不要滅絕你的百姓。他們是你的產業，是你用大力救贖的，用大能從埃及領出來的。
9:27 求你記念你的僕人亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各，不要想念這百姓的頑梗、邪惡、罪過，
9:28 免得你領我們出來的那地之人說，耶和華因為不能將這百姓領進他所應許之地，又因恨他們，所以領他們出去，要在曠野殺他們。
9:29 其實他們是你的百姓，你的產業，是你用大能和伸出來的膀臂領出來的。』」

 ⁷ Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord. ⁸ At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. ⁹ When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. ¹⁰ The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

¹¹ At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. ¹⁶ When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me. ²⁰ And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. ²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

²² You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³ And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, “Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. ²⁴ You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.

²⁵ I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights because the Lord had said he would destroy you. ²⁶ I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’ ²⁹ But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.”

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    摩西在此向以色列人重述過去的事蹟，讓以色列人在一次思考認識自己的景況，反省自己的生命狀態。摩西這樣做就像一位牧者用上帝的眼光來引導自己的羊群，使羊群回顧過去展望未來！

    在教會中，牧者的講道中需要這樣對自己的羊群提醒，因為羊群常常是盲目的，常常著重在自己認為有意義、有好處的事，卻沒有用上帝的眼光來省察自己，來檢討自己。然而上帝給牧者是祈禱與傳道為念，就要有這樣的眼光。這也為甚麼教會要設立專屬的牧者的緣故，好讓牧者在上帝面前尋求上帝對羊群的心意！

    也透過牧者這樣的傳講，讓羊群可以悔改歸向上帝，因為上帝讓我們知道自己的狀態，是要我們離棄過去的罪惡與失敗來跟隨主耶穌，在主耶穌的引導之下繼續行走天路，回到上帝的面前享受上帝同在的福分，在這世界為上帝的救恩做見證，榮耀上帝的名！

申命記9章

                 申命記9:1-6  ,

                申命記9:7-29  ,

申命記9:1-6

9:1 「以色列啊，你當聽！你今日要過約旦河，進去趕出比你強大的國民，得著廣大堅固、高得頂天的城邑。
9:2 那民是亞衲族的人，又大又高，是你所知道的；也曾聽見有人指著他們說：『誰能在亞衲族人面前站立得住呢？』
9:3 你今日當知道，耶和華─你的上帝在你前面過去，如同烈火，要滅絕他們，將他們制伏在你面前。這樣，你就要照耶和華所說的趕出他們，使他們速速滅亡。
9:4 「耶和華─你的上帝將這些國民從你面前攆出以後，你心裡不可說：『耶和華將我領進來得這地是因我的義。』其實，耶和華將他們從你面前趕出去是因他們的惡。
9:5 你進去得他們的地，並不是因你的義，也不是因你心裡正直，乃是因這些國民的惡，耶和華─你的上帝將他們從你面前趕出去，又因耶和華要堅定他向你列祖亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各起誓所應許的話。
9:6 「你當知道，耶和華─你上帝將這美地賜你為業，並不是因你的義；你本是硬著頸項的百姓。

 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. ² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

⁶ Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; ⁸ a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. ²⁰ Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

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    摩西帶領以色列人出埃及和在曠野四十年，深深認識以色列人的真正情形，所以勇敢的對他們說：「你當知道，耶和華─你上帝將這美地賜你為業，並不是因你的義；你本是硬著頸項的百姓。」

    摩西也在此明說：「耶和華─你的上帝將這些國民從你面前攆出以後，你心裡不可說：『耶和華將我領進來得這地是因我的義。』其實，耶和華將他們從你面前趕出去是因他們的惡。你進去得他們的地，並不是因你的義，也不是因你心裡正直，乃是因這些國民的惡，耶和華─你的上帝將他們從你面前趕出去，又因耶和華要堅定他向你列祖亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各起誓所應許的話。」

    可見上帝對待以色列人這麼好，讓他們可以得迦南地為業，是出於祂的恩典的應許，不是以色列人人本身夠上帝所要求的標準！正如我們今日可以蒙恩得救，不是因我們優秀夠資格，反倒是因為耶穌基督的緣故，上帝接納我們為兒女！

    因此，我們要為此感謝上帝，因為照人的想法人生的盡頭是死亡，但是我們再基督裡有復活與永生的確據，生命的盡頭不是死亡，死亡之後還有復活、還有永生，這是上帝在基督耶穌裡的應許，正如上帝因著「他向你列祖亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各起誓所應許的話」，使以色列人以迦南地為業！

詩篇57篇

    詩篇57:1-11 ,  詩篇57:1 ,

詩篇57:1-11

57:1 （大衛逃避掃羅，藏在洞裡。那時，他作這金詩，交與伶長。調用休要毀壞。）上帝啊，求你憐憫我，憐憫我！因為我的心投靠你。我要投靠在你翅膀的蔭下，等到災害過去。
57:2 我要求告至高的上帝，就是為我成全諸事的上帝。
57:3 那要吞我的人辱罵我的時候，上帝從天上必施恩救我，也必向我發出慈愛和誠實。
57:4 我的性命在獅子中間；我躺臥在性如烈火的世人當中。他們的牙齒是槍、箭；他們的舌頭是快刀。
57:5 上帝啊，願你崇高過於諸天！願你的榮耀高過全地！
57:6 他們為我的腳設下網羅，壓制我的心；他們在我面前挖了坑，自己反掉在其中。（細拉）
57:7 上帝啊，我心堅定，我心堅定；我要唱詩，我要歌頌！
57:8 我的靈（原文是榮耀）啊，你當醒起！琴瑟啊，你們當醒起！我自己要極早醒起！
57:9 主啊，我要在萬民中稱謝你，在列邦中歌頌你！
57:10 因為，你的慈愛高及諸天；你的誠實達到穹蒼。
57:11 上帝啊，願你崇高過於諸天！願你的榮耀高過全地！

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam. When he had fled from Saul into the cave.

¹ Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
    for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
    until the disaster has passed.

² I cry out to God Most High,
    to God, who vindicates me.
³ He sends from heaven and saves me,
    rebuking those who hotly pursue me—
    God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

⁴ I am in the midst of lions;
    I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose tongues are sharp swords.

⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶ They spread a net for my feet—
    I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path—
    but they have fallen into it themselves.

⁷ My heart, O God, is steadfast,
    my heart is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music.
⁸ Awake, my soul!
    Awake, harp and lyre!
    I will awaken the dawn.

⁹ I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing of you among the peoples.
¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.

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    詩人和上帝的關係是親密的，因為上帝是他的依靠，是他在患難中的幫助！不僅如此，一生的成就也是來自上帝的成全。正如一開始的詩句所說：「上帝啊，求你憐憫我，憐憫我！因為我的心投靠你。我要投靠在你翅膀的蔭下，等到災害過去。我要求告至高的上帝，就是為我成全諸事的上帝。」

    這也說明人不可以自以為強盛，靠自己的逞強來做事。人要是如此，就會像蘆葦一般，外表英俊挺拔，卻是不禁風一吹就被折斷！正如人類的歷史，經過了啟蒙運動，認為自己已經夠好，已經夠成熟了，不需要上帝的幫助，可以為自己建立樂土！但是，經過了兩次世界大戰之後，人深深體會到，人還是有極限的，還是不夠堅強！

    詩人大衛一生經歷許多愁苦，但是他相信上帝的同在，也因為如此可以承擔上帝給他的重任，成為以色列的君王。因此，他從內心發出讚美：「主啊，我要在萬民中稱謝你，在列邦中歌頌你！因為，你的慈愛高及諸天；你的誠實達到穹蒼。上帝啊，願你崇高過於諸天！願你的榮耀高過全地！」

    願大衛這樣的讚美，也成為我們的讚美！因為我們透過信靠主耶穌，深深體會到，要不是上帝的慈愛，我們豈會有今天，以及將來的盼望呢！