撒母耳記下18:1-33

 

18:1 大衛數點跟隨他的人，立千夫長、百夫長率領他們。
18:2 大衛打發軍兵出戰，分為三隊：一隊在約押手下，一隊在洗魯雅的兒子、約押兄弟亞比篩手下，一隊在迦特人以太手下。大衛對軍兵說：「我必與你們一同出戰。」
18:3 軍兵卻說：「你不可出戰。若是我們逃跑，敵人必不介意；我們陣亡一半，敵人也不介意。因為你一人強似我們萬人，你不如在城裡預備幫助我們。」
18:4 王向他們說：「你們以為怎樣好，我就怎樣行。」於是王站在城門旁，軍兵或百或千地挨次出去了。
18:5 王囑咐約押、亞比篩、以太說：「你們要為我的緣故寬待那少年人押沙龍。」王為押沙龍囑咐眾將的話，兵都聽見了。
18:6 兵就出到田野迎著以色列人，在以法蓮樹林裡交戰。
18:7 以色列人敗在大衛的僕人面前；那日陣亡的甚多，共有二萬人。
18:8 因為在那裡四面打仗，死於樹林的比死於刀劍的更多。
18:9 押沙龍偶然遇見大衛的僕人。押沙龍騎著騾子，從大橡樹密枝底下經過，他的頭髮被樹枝繞住，就懸掛起來，所騎的騾子便離他去了。
18:10 有個人看見，就告訴約押說：「我看見押沙龍掛在橡樹上了。」
18:11 約押對報信的人說：「你既看見他，為甚麼不將他打死落在地上呢？你若打死他，我就賞你十舍客勒銀子，一條帶子。」
18:12 那人對約押說：「我就是得你一千舍客勒銀子，我也不敢伸手害王的兒子；因為我們聽見王囑咐你和亞比篩並以太說：『你們要謹慎，不可害那少年人押沙龍。』
18:13 我若妄為害了他的性命，就是你自己也必與我為敵（原來，無論何事都瞞不過王。）」
18:14 約押說：「我不能與你留連。」約押手拿三杆短槍，趁押沙龍在橡樹上還活著，就刺透他的心。
18:15 給約押拿兵器的十個少年人圍繞押沙龍，將他殺死。
18:16 約押吹角，攔阻眾人，他們就回來，不再追趕以色列人。
18:17 他們將押沙龍丟在林中一個大坑裡，上頭堆起一大堆石頭。以色列眾人都逃跑，各回各家去了。
18:18 押沙龍活著的時候，在王谷立了一根石柱，因他說：「我沒有兒子為我留名。」他就以自己的名稱那石柱叫押沙龍柱，直到今日。
18:19 撒督的兒子亞希瑪斯說：「容我跑去，將耶和華向仇敵給王報仇的信息報與王知。」
18:20 約押對他說：「你今日不可去報信，改日可以報信；因為今日王的兒子死了，所以你不可去報信。」
18:21 約押對古示人說：「你去將你所看見的告訴王。」古示人在約押面前下拜，就跑去了。
18:22 撒督的兒子亞希瑪斯又對約押說：「無論怎樣，求你容我隨著古示人跑去。」約押說：「我兒，你報這信息，既不得賞賜，何必要跑去呢？」
18:23 他又說：「無論怎樣，我要跑去。」約押說：「你跑去吧！」亞希瑪斯就從平原往前跑，跑過古示人去了。
18:24 大衛正坐在城甕裡。守望的人上城門樓的頂上，舉目觀看，見有一個人獨自跑來。
18:25 守望的人就大聲告訴王。王說：「他若獨自來，必是報口信的。」那人跑得漸漸近了。
18:26 守望的人又見一人跑來，就對守城門的人說：「又有一人獨自跑來。」王說：「這也必是報信的。」
18:27 守望的人說：「我看前頭人的跑法，好像撒督的兒子亞希瑪斯的跑法一樣。」王說：「他是個好人，必是報好信息。」
18:28 亞希瑪斯向王呼叫說：「平安了！」就在王面前臉伏於地叩拜，說：「耶和華─你的上帝是應當稱頌的，因他已將那舉手攻擊我主我王的人交給王了。」
18:29 王問說：「少年人押沙龍平安不平安？」亞希瑪斯回答說：「約押打發王的僕人，那時僕人聽見眾民大聲喧嘩，卻不知道是甚麼事。」
18:30 王說：「你退去，站在旁邊。」他就退去，站在旁邊。
18:31 古示人也來到，說：「有信息報給我主我王！耶和華今日向一切興起攻擊你的人給你報仇了。」
18:32 王問古示人說：「少年人押沙龍平安不平安？」古示人回答說：「願我主我王的仇敵，和一切興起要殺害你的人，都與那少年人一樣。」
18:33 王就心裡傷慟，上城門樓去哀哭，一面走一面說：「我兒押沙龍啊！我兒，我兒押沙龍啊！我恨不得替你死，押沙龍啊，我兒！我兒！」

 

  David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”

³ But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us.^[a] It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”

⁴ The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. ⁵ The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

⁶ David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷ There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

⁹ Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

¹⁰ When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

¹¹ Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels^[b] of silver and a warrior’s belt.”

¹² But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels^[c] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.^[d]’ ¹³ And if I had put my life in jeopardy^[e]—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.”

¹⁴ Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵ And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.

¹⁶ Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. ¹⁷ They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

¹⁸ During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

David Mourns

¹⁹ Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.”

²⁰ “You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹ Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.

²² Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.”

But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.”

²³ He said, “Come what may, I want to run.”

So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain^[f] and outran the Cushite.

²⁴ While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman called out to the king and reported it.

The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer.

²⁶ Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!”

The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.”

²⁷ The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”

“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”

²⁹ The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.”

³⁰ The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there.

³¹ Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”

³² The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”

³³ The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”

 

*************

 

    或許大衛一開始就清楚，押沙龍成不了大氣候，也清楚他必定是敗亡，可是心裡又不願這事發生的太快，所以一直是用逃避的方式。但是，最後還是需要一場決戰來收尾，這是不可避免的事情！

 

    照這裡來看幾名大位的名將：約押、洗魯雅、亞比篩和以太，都在這裡出現，而且適用四面包圍的叢林法，發揮以少擊多的攻勢，也就這樣讓以色列臨時組起的烏合之眾無法抵擋，所以他們大吃敗仗！

 

    然而他們吃敗仗的另一個原因，就是押沙龍並不知戰爭為何事的年輕人，只有莽撞和不知策略，沒有好好磨練過，最後竟然敗在自己的外表，因為他有一頭漂亮的頭髮，高大的身材，這些讓他在叢林中的戰爭是非常吃虧的因素，正如他後來被掛在樹枝上因為頭髮被樹枝勾住，完全沒有戰鬥力，最會還是免不了被殺死的命運！

 

    這也警誡我們，不要為自己有甚麼好的條件就任意妄為，以為不可一視！在世上的事情都有兩面，在這一個方向是好的，可是轉到另一個方向卻是不好的！更何況押沙龍是做出背叛父親的事情，一切再好的是都是糟糕和可惡的事情！

 

    這就像人一般，若不是敬畏上帝，靠著主耶穌與上帝和好，即使做了許多人認為良善的事情也是不好的！正如耶穌基督的門徒猶大，曾經為一個女人打破玉瓶把真哪噠香膏抹耶穌的腳，批評說：「這香膏為甚麼不賣三十兩銀子賙濟窮人呢？」(約翰福音12:5)

 

    可是主耶穌卻說：「由她吧！她是為我安葬之日存留的。      因為常有窮人和你們同在，只是你們不常有我。」(約翰福音12:7-8)

 

    可見，若不是尊主為大的，做再多和再好也是無法存留到永遠！所以，詩人說：「耶和華啊，榮耀不要歸與我們，不要歸與我們；要因你的慈愛和誠實歸在你的名下！」（詩篇115:1）

 

 

約伯記30章

         約伯記30:1-31 ,

約伯記30:1-31

 

30:1 但如今，比我年少的人戲笑我；其人之父我曾藐視，不肯安在看守我羊群的狗中。
30:2 他們壯年的氣力既已衰敗，其手之力與我何益呢？
30:3 他們因窮乏飢餓，身體枯瘦，在荒廢淒涼的幽暗中，齦乾燥之地，
30:4 在草叢之中採鹹草，羅騰（小樹名，松類）的根為他們的食物。
30:5 他們從人中被趕出；人追喊他們如賊一般，
30:6 以致他們住在荒谷之間，在地洞和巖穴中；
30:7 在草叢中叫喚，在荊棘下聚集。
30:8 這都是愚頑下賤人的兒女；他們被鞭打，趕出境外。
30:9 現在這些人以我為歌曲，以我為笑談。
30:10 他們厭惡我，躲在旁邊站著，不住地吐唾沫在我臉上。
30:11 鬆開他們的繩索苦待我，在我面前脫去轡頭。
30:12 這等下流人在我右邊起來，推開我的腳，築成戰路來攻擊我。
30:13 這些無人幫助的，毀壞我的道，加增我的災。
30:14 他們來如同闖進大破口，在毀壞之間滾在我身上。
30:15 驚恐臨到我，驅逐我的尊榮如風；我的福祿如雲過去。
30:16 現在我心極其悲傷；困苦的日子將我抓住。
30:17 夜間，我裡面的骨頭刺我，疼痛不止，好像齦我。
30:18 因上帝的大力，我的外衣污穢不堪，又如裡衣的領子將我纏住。
30:19 上帝把我扔在淤泥中，我就像塵土和爐灰一般。
30:20 主啊，我呼求你，你不應允我；我站起來，你就定睛看我。
30:21 你向我變心，待我殘忍，又用大能追逼我，
30:22 把我提在風中，使我駕風而行，又使我消滅在烈風中。
30:23 我知道要使我臨到死地，到那為眾生所定的陰宅。
30:24 然而，人仆倒豈不伸手？遇災難豈不求救呢？
30:25 人遭難，我豈不為他哭泣呢？人窮乏，我豈不為他憂愁呢？
30:26 我仰望得好處，災禍就到了；我等待光明，黑暗便來了。
30:27 我心裡煩擾不安，困苦的日子臨到我身。
30:28 我沒有日光就哀哭行去（或譯：我面發黑並非因日曬）；我在會中站著求救。
30:29 我與野狗為弟兄，與鴕鳥為同伴。
30:30 我的皮膚黑而脫落；我的骨頭因熱燒焦。
30:31 所以，我的琴音變為悲音；我的簫聲變為哭聲。

 

“But now they mock me,
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.
² Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
³ Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed^[a] the parched land
    in desolate wastelands at night.
⁴ In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
    and their food^[b] was the root of the broom bush.
⁵ They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
⁷ They brayed among the bushes
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸ A base and nameless brood,
    they were driven out of the land.

⁹ “And now those young men mock me in song;
    I have become a byword among them.
¹⁰ They detest me and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
¹¹ Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
    they throw off restraint in my presence.
¹² On my right the tribe^[c] attacks;
    they lay snares for my feet,
    they build their siege ramps against me.
¹³ They break up my road;
    they succeed in destroying me.
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach;
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵ Terrors overwhelm me;
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.

¹⁶ “And now my life ebbs away;
    days of suffering grip me.
¹⁷ Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.
¹⁸ In his great power God becomes like clothing to me^[d];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹ He throws me into the mud,
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
²¹ You turn on me ruthlessly;
    with the might of your hand you attack me.
²² You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
    you toss me about in the storm.
²³ I know you will bring me down to death,
    to the place appointed for all the living.

²⁴ “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
    when he cries for help in his distress.
²⁵ Have I not wept for those in trouble?
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
²⁶ Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.
²⁷ The churning inside me never stops;
    days of suffering confront me.
²⁸ I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
²⁹ I have become a brother of jackals,
    a companion of owls.
³⁰ My skin grows black and peels;
    my body burns with fever.
³¹ My lyre is tuned to mourning,
    and my pipe to the sound of wailing.

 

*************

 

    約伯因著自己的遭遇心情變得低沉，不僅覺得人惡待他，也覺得上帝也變心對他不好！因為祂覺得自己雖然是行善和敬畏上帝的人，上帝應該好好對待他；他平常用愛心待人，人應該用愛心待他！但是，後來的遭遇缺超過他的想像，一切都不像他所期待的！

 

    其實約伯這樣的遭遇也讓我們學了一課，人生的確不是像我們所想像的，一切都是正面或美好的，有些的確是讓我們很難受，讓我們感到消沉的！尤其是年紀越大，人生的經歷越多，越感受到人生不是一帆風順，而是不如意事十常八九！

 

    然而我們不能為此來抱怨上帝和批評人，聖經在此描寫約伯在人生的低潮竟然抱怨上帝和批評人，不是要我們效法他的樣式，而是要讓我們看見人的軟弱。提醒我們：連約伯這樣敬畏上帝的人都會有軟弱的時候，我們更是要好好倚靠上帝，不要倚靠自己的努力！

 

    不過我們在人生低潮時，仍然不要忘記使徒彼得所說的：「親愛的弟兄啊，你們是客旅，是寄居的。我勸你們要禁戒肉體的私慾；這私慾是與靈魂爭戰的。」（彼得前書2:11）還有希伯來書11章13-16節所說：「這些人都是存著信心死的，並沒有得著所應許的；卻從遠處望見，且歡喜迎接，又承認自己在世上是客旅，是寄居的。說這樣話的人是表明自己要找一個家鄉。他們若想念所離開的家鄉，還有可以回去的機會。他們卻羨慕一個更美的家鄉，就是在天上的。所以上帝被稱為他們的上帝，並不以為恥，因為他已經給他們預備了一座城。」

 

    既然如此，我們要存盼望和喜樂的心，歡迎基督的再臨，上帝國完全的實現，世上的苦楚比起上帝的榮耀是至暫與至輕的！