十月三十日
我要一心称谢耶和华。（诗9：1）
祷告蒙了应允必须继之以赞美；地上感激之云雾的升腾，乃是因爲天上仁爱的太阳温暖了大地。神曾恩待过你吗？曾侧耳倾听你的祈求吗？那末你当在活着的时候赞美他。甚愿成熟的果子落在供给它养分的肥土上。要歌颂他，因他答应你的祷告，满足你的心愿。神以恩怜待你，你却默不作声，就是犯了忘恩负义的罪；这种卑鄙的行径，正像九个得了痊愈的麻风人一样，他们幷不回来感谢医治他们的主。忘记赞美神就等于自己不愿蒙福；因爲赞美和祷告一样，是促进我们灵命的一个很重要的方法。
它能挪去我们的重担，鼓舞我们的盼望，加增我们的信心。它是增进健康和力气的运动，能使信徒的脉搏加速起来，使他爲主的工作奋发起来。爲我们所蒙的恩称颂神，同时也能使我们的同道获益；“谦卑人听见就要喜乐。”别人若是在相同的情形之中必因我们说：“你们和我当称耶和华爲大，一同高举他的名；我曾寻求耶和华，他就应允我”而得安慰。软弱的心灵必被振奋，頽丧的圣徒必因听到我们的“拯救之歌”大得奋兴。
当我们以诗章、颂词和灵歌彼此对唱的时候，他们的疑惑和惧怕必受斥责。当他们听到我们称扬他的圣名时，他们也必说：“要歌颂耶和华的作爲。”赞美是基督徒的天职。天使幷不祷告，但他们却昼夜不停地赞美；被赎的人，穿着白衣，手里拿着棕枝，必永不疲倦地唱新歌说：“曾被杀的羔羊是配得权柄丰富、智慧、能力、尊贵、荣耀、颂赞的。”
October
30
“I
will praise thee, O Lord.”–Psalm 9:1
Praise should always follow answered
prayer; as the mist of earth’s gratitude rises when the sun of heaven’s love
warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined his ear to
the voice of thy supplication? Then praise him as long as thou livest. Let the
ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its life. Deny not a
song to him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy
heart. To be silent over God’s mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude; it
is to act as basely as the nine lepers, who after they had been cured of their
leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the healing Lord. To forget to praise
God is to refuse to benefit ourselves; for praise, like prayer, is one great
means of promoting the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove our
burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith. It is a healthful and
invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of the believer, and nerves him
for fresh enterprises in his Master’s service. To bless God for mercies
received is also the way to benefit our fellow-men; “the humble shall hear
thereof and be glad.” Others who have been in like circumstances shall
take comfort if we can say, “Oh! magnify the Lord with me, and let us
exalt his name together; this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.”
Weak hearts will be strengthened, and drooping saints will be revived as they
listen to our “songs of deliverance.” Their doubts and fears will be
rebuked, as we teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs. They too shall “sing in the ways of the Lord,” when they hear
us magnify his holy name. Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The
angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed,
clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of
singing the new song, “Worthy is the Lamb.”
