撒母耳記上12:1-25

 

12:1 撒母耳對以色列眾人說：「你們向我所求的，我已應允了，為你們立了一個王；
12:2 現在有這王在你們前面行。我已年老髮白，我的兒子都在你們這裡。我從幼年直到今日都在你們前面行。
12:3 我在這裡，你們要在耶和華和他的受膏者面前給我作見證。我奪過誰的牛，搶過誰的驢，欺負過誰，虐待過誰，從誰手裡受過賄賂因而眼瞎呢？若有，我必償還。」
12:4 眾人說：「你未曾欺負我們，虐待我們，也未曾從誰手裡受過甚麼。」
12:5 撒母耳對他們說：「你們在我手裡沒有找著甚麼，有耶和華和他的受膏者今日為證。」他們說：「願他為證。」
12:6 撒母耳對百姓說：「從前立摩西、亞倫，又領你們列祖出埃及地的是耶和華。
12:7 現在你們要站住，等我在耶和華面前對你們講論耶和華向你們和你們列祖所行一切公義的事。
12:8 從前雅各到了埃及，後來你們列祖呼求耶和華，耶和華就差遣摩西、亞倫領你們列祖出埃及，使他們在這地方居住。
12:9 他們卻忘記耶和華─他們的上帝，他就把他們付與夏瑣將軍西西拉的手裡，和非利士人並摩押王的手裡。於是這些人常來攻擊他們。
12:10 他們就呼求耶和華說：『我們離棄耶和華，事奉巴力和亞斯她錄，是有罪了。現在求你救我們脫離仇敵的手，我們必事奉你。』
12:11 耶和華就差遣耶路．巴力、比但、耶弗他、撒母耳救你們脫離四圍仇敵的手，你們才安然居住。
12:12 你們見亞捫人的王拿轄來攻擊你們，就對我說：『我們定要一個王治理我們。』其實耶和華─你們的上帝是你們的王。
12:13 現在，你們所求所選的王在這裡。看哪，耶和華已經為你們立王了。
12:14 你們若敬畏耶和華，事奉他，聽從他的話，不違背他的命令，你們和治理你們的王也都順從耶和華─你們的上帝就好了。
12:15 倘若不聽從耶和華的話，違背他的命令，耶和華的手必攻擊你們，像從前攻擊你們列祖一樣。
12:16 現在你們要站住，看耶和華在你們眼前要行一件大事。
12:17 這不是割麥子的時候嗎？我求告耶和華，他必打雷降雨，使你們又知道又看出，你們求立王的事是在耶和華面前犯大罪了。」
12:18 於是撒母耳求告耶和華，耶和華就在這日打雷降雨，眾民便甚懼怕耶和華和撒母耳。
12:19 眾民對撒母耳說：「求你為僕人們禱告耶和華─你的上帝，免得我們死亡；因為我們求立王的事正是罪上加罪了。」
12:20 撒母耳對百姓說：「不要懼怕！你們雖然行了這惡，卻不要偏離耶和華，只要盡心事奉他。
12:21 若偏離耶和華去順從那不能救人的虛神是無益的。
12:22 耶和華既喜悅選你們作他的子民，就必因他的大名不撇棄你們。
12:23 至於我，斷不停止為你們禱告，以致得罪耶和華。我必以善道正路指教你們。
12:24 只要你們敬畏耶和華，誠誠實實地盡心事奉他，想念他向你們所行的事何等大。
12:25 你們若仍然作惡，你們和你們的王必一同滅亡。」

 

 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ² Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³ Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

⁴ “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”

“He is witness,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷ Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors.

⁸ “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰ They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal,^[a] Barak,^[b] Jephthah and Samuel,^[c] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! ¹⁵ But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

¹⁶ “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! ¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.

¹⁹ The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²² For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”

 

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    當掃羅王的角色顯明的時候，撒母耳透過這樣的一次講話，讓政權轉到掃羅的身上，自己轉到另一個角色就是先知和祭司。他一方面向百姓宣告上帝的話，教導王和百姓敬畏上帝；另一方面，他獻祭和禱告。這樣，王做審判和治理的事，讓國家進入次序和抵擋外侮，正如附近各個國家！

 

    然而撒母耳還是提醒以色列人，雖然掃羅為王，但是真正的王是耶和華上帝！就是亞伯拉罕、以撒和雅各的上帝，也是呼召摩西帶領以色列出埃及，經過曠野後來進入迦南地的上帝。更是在士師時代，興起眾多士師來拯救以色列人的上帝！

 

    撒母耳要以色列人感念上帝是君王，我們也是要以上帝為我們的君王！正如聖經說到：「世上的國成了我主和主基督的國；他要作王，直到永永遠遠。」(啟示錄11:15)不僅如此，聖經也說：「不再有黑夜；他們也不用燈光、日光，因為主上帝要光照他們。他們要作王，直到永永遠遠。」(啟示錄22:5)

 

    也因此信靠主耶穌的人，將來也是要做王！讓我們靠著主耶穌的恩典，培養王者的風範，就是做萬族萬民敬畏上帝的風範，如同大衛王一般！

 

 

 

詩篇144篇

     詩篇144:1-15  ,

     詩篇144:2  , 

     詩篇144:5  ,

詩篇144:1-15

 

144:1 （大衛的詩。）耶和華─我的磐石是應當稱頌的！他教導我的手爭戰，教導我的指頭打仗。
144:2 他是我慈愛的主，我的山寨，我的高臺，我的救主，我的盾牌，是我所投靠的；他使我的百姓服在我以下。
144:3 耶和華啊，人算甚麼，你竟認識他！世人算甚麼，你竟顧念他！
144:4 人好像一口氣；他的年日如同影兒快快過去。
144:5 耶和華啊，求你使天下垂，親自降臨，摸山，山就冒煙。
144:6 求你發出閃電，使他們四散，射出你的箭，使他們擾亂。
144:7 求你從上伸手救拔我，救我出離大水，救我脫離外邦人的手。
144:8 他們的口說謊話；他們的右手起假誓。
144:9 上帝啊，我要向你唱新歌，用十弦瑟向你歌頌。
144:10 你是那拯救君王的；你是那救僕人大衛脫離害命之刀的。
144:11 求你救拔我，救我脫離外邦人的手。他們的口說謊話；他們的右手起假誓。
144:12 我們的兒子從幼年好像樹栽子長大；我們的女兒如同殿角石，是按建宮的樣式鑿成的。
144:13 我們的倉盈滿，能出各樣的糧食；我們的羊在田間孳生千萬。
144:14 我們的牛馱著滿馱，沒有人闖進來搶奪，也沒有人出去爭戰；我們的街市上也沒有哭號的聲音。
144:15 遇見這光景的百姓便為有福！有耶和華為他們的上帝，這百姓便為有福！

。

Of David.

¹ Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    my fingers for battle.
² He is my loving God and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples^[a] under me.

³ Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.

⁵ Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
    touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
⁶ Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
    shoot your arrows and rout them.
⁷ Reach down your hand from on high;
    deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
    from the hands of foreigners
⁸ whose mouths are full of lies,
    whose right hands are deceitful.

⁹ I will sing a new song to you, my God;
    on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
¹⁰ to the One who gives victory to kings,
    who delivers his servant David.

From the deadly sword ¹¹ deliver me;
    rescue me from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
    whose right hands are deceitful.

¹² Then our sons in their youth
    will be like well-nurtured plants,
and our daughters will be like pillars
    carved to adorn a palace.
¹³ Our barns will be filled
    with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields;
¹⁴     our oxen will draw heavy loads.^[b]
There will be no breaching of walls,
    no going into captivity,
    no cry of distress in our streets.
¹⁵ Blessed is the people of whom this is true;
    blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

 

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    大衛是敬畏上帝的君王，使以色列從散漫的部落政治，走向有紀律、有效率的君王政治，對以色列來說這也是一種進步。而在信仰上經過大衛王朝的整治，去除了邱壇的獻祭、建立了聖殿敬拜。使以色列人不再任意而為，不再過得像沒有君王一樣。

 

    其實說到大衛王朝尚未建立時的狀態，《士師記》描寫最貼切，曾經多次說：「那時以色列中沒有王，各人任意而行。」(17:6；18:1；19:1；21:25)

 

    其實這個形容這對於許多「自立」的教會，也非常貼切！因為他們沒有宗派背景，只有少數創立教會者的理念，也是常常會有偏差，因為沒有神學的基礎，沒有教義的引導，只是隨個人的心中理想而行！

 

    對於教會而言，有信條、有教義是非常重要，然而信條與教義要來自聖經，不是自己認為怎樣就怎樣！就拿長老教會來說，《韋斯敏斯德信條》的誕生是在英國，伊利莎白女王一世以來，英國聖公會成為主教制，就是由女王直接委任主教治理地方教會，並在公共崇拜中遺傳許多天主教的禮儀，此舉引起許多改革的新教徒的不滿，這群忠於改革的人就是當時的清教徒。

 

    在1643年，查理士（Charles）當政之時（1625～1649），當時議院的議員以清教徒居多，他們期盼以清教徒改革原則重整英國教會，於是在韋斯敏斯德大教堂召開了一個大型的議會，與會人士有121位牧師，30位議院的議員，及8位列席的蘇格蘭代表。對於教會應採取的體制，人人看法不同，而以贊成長老制者居多：在神學的立場上，大家則一致認同加爾文的觀點，否定阿民念派及羅馬天主教。

 

　　經過三年的討論，議會於1646年12月完成了《韋斯敏斯德信條》，供日後議院及議會之用。信條的內容完整、精確、簡潔、平衡，每一個句子都經過小組的討論及公開的辯論，參與者陣容之堅強也屬罕見。信條於數個月後加入聖經的章節引證，是年六月得到議院的批准。

 

    也因為這樣使得長老教會有信仰的有根有基，不會被各樣的世上小學所影響，而能忠於基督，所以信條和教義對教會是很重的，不要再隨意造「邱壇」混亂教會！

 

 

撒母耳記上11章

      撒母耳記上11:1-15 ,

撒母耳記上11:1-15

 

11:1 亞捫人的王拿轄上來，對著基列．雅比安營。雅比眾人對拿轄說：「你與我們立約，我們就服事你。」
11:2 亞捫人拿轄說：「你們若由我剜出你們各人的右眼，以此凌辱以色列眾人，我就與你們立約。」
11:3 雅比的長老對他說：「求你寬容我們七日，等我們打發人往以色列的全境去；若沒有人救我們，我們就出來歸順你。」
11:4 使者到了掃羅住的基比亞，將這話說給百姓聽，百姓就都放聲而哭。
11:5 掃羅正從田間趕牛回來，問說：「百姓為甚麼哭呢？」眾人將雅比人的話告訴他。
11:6 掃羅聽見這話，就被上帝的靈大大感動，甚是發怒。
11:7 他將一對牛切成塊子，託付使者傳送以色列的全境，說：「凡不出來跟隨掃羅和撒母耳的，也必這樣切開他的牛。」於是耶和華使百姓懼怕，他們就都出來，如同一人。
11:8 掃羅在比色數點他們：以色列人有三十萬，猶大人有三萬。
11:9 眾人對那使者說：「你們要回覆基列．雅比人說，明日太陽近午的時候，你們必得解救。」使者回去告訴雅比人，他們就歡喜了。
11:10 於是雅比人對亞捫人說：「明日我們出來歸順你們，你們可以隨意待我們。」
11:11 第二日，掃羅將百姓分為三隊，在晨更的時候入了亞捫人的營，擊殺他們直到太陽近午，剩下的人都逃散，沒有二人同在一處的。
11:12 百姓對撒母耳說：「那說『掃羅豈能管理我們』的是誰呢？可以將他交出來，我們好殺死他。」
11:13 掃羅說：「今日耶和華在以色列中施行拯救，所以不可殺人。」
11:14 撒母耳對百姓說：「我們要往吉甲去，在那裡立國。」
11:15 眾百姓就到了吉甲那裡，在耶和華面前立掃羅為王，又在耶和華面前獻平安祭。掃羅和以色列眾人大大歡喜。

 

 Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”

² But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”

³ The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”

⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. ⁵ Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.

⁶ When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. ⁷ He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one. ⁸ When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.

⁹ They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. ¹⁰ They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”

¹¹ The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

¹² The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”

¹³ But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.”

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” ¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

 

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    俗話說：「時勢造英雄！」

 

    這話在掃羅的身上也是如此，要不是亞捫人來欺負以色列人，以色列人怎麼會團結呢？怎麼會順服在掃羅的領導之下？使掃羅可以名正言順地成為以色列的王，帶領以色列人來抵抗外侮，一舉成名、成為以色列真正的王！因為王設立的目的就是要成為三軍統帥，彰顯國家的力量！

 

    地上的王是一個國家的中心，屬於這國家的人，只有一個目的，就是貫徹王的意志，正如經文所說：「…於是耶和華使百姓懼怕，他們就都出來，如同一人。」表示上下一心，就是要在王的領導之下！

 

    而上帝國的王就是主耶穌，祂來地上的目的，就是要呼召祂的百姓，建立祂的國度！正如福音書所說，主耶穌出來傳道的時候呼喊：「天國近了，你們應當悔改！」（馬太福音4:17）祂乎召人說：「你跟從我來！」(馬太福音9:9)

 

    我們也是聽了這呼聲來加入上帝國的行列！而上帝國終究有一天必定實現，正如《啟示錄》11章15節，說到天使宣告：「世上的國成了我主和主基督的國；他要作王，直到永永遠遠。」

 

    我們期盼這應許快快實現，因為「不再有黑夜；他們也不用燈光、日光，因為主上帝要光照他們。他們要作王，直到永永遠遠。」（啟示錄22:5）