二月一日
他们要歌颂耶和华的作为。（诗138:5）
基督徒开头歌颂神的作为是在他们把重担丢在十字架下之后，就是天使的歌声也没有因罪得赦免的神的孩子内心所涌出来的欢乐那样幽雅动听。你知道本仁ž约翰怎样形容那种快乐。他说：那位可怜的走天路的人在十字架下丢去他的重担时，他快乐地踊跃三次，歌唱着走上他的路：
“可称颂的十字架！可称颂的坟！
更可称颂的是为我受辱的那人！”
信徒啊！你记得你脱去你的锁链时的情形吗？你记得耶稣遇见你的地方吗？他对你说过“我以永远的爱爱你；‘我涂抹了你的过犯，像厚云消散；我涂抹了你的罪恶，如薄云灭没’，它们都一笔勾销，永不再提了”吗？当耶稣拿去折磨我的罪时，那是多么令人欢畅的时候呀！当主赦免我罪的时候，我不禁跳跃欢呼起来。在我回家的时候，一路上直想到我获得自由的快乐，甚至我要对路边的石头讲说我被主释放的事。我心满了快乐，我简直要对从天降下的雪片讲说耶稣奇妙的大爱，说他曾赦免了我这个悖逆之人的罪。但这只是信徒开始了基督徒生活的快乐，他们以后仍能发现许多事情叫他们歌颂神的作为，他体验到他永恒的爱时不能不说：“我要时时称颂耶和华，赞美他的话必常在我口中。”弟兄啊！你看到了吗？你今天便是在赞扬神。
“我们踱著漫长的荒漠，
新的恩典需要我们新的唱歌。”
February
1
“They
shall sing in the ways of the Lord.” –Psalm 138:5
The time when Christians begin to sing in
the ways of the Lord is when they first lose their burden at the foot of the
Cross. Not even the songs of the angels seem so sweet as the first song of
rapture which gushes from the inmost soul of the forgiven child of God. You
know how John Bunyan describes it. He says when poor Pilgrim lost his burden at
the Cross, he gave three great leaps, and went on his way singing–
“Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest
rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for
me!”
Believer, do you recollect the day when
your fetters fell off? Do you remember the place when Jesus met you, and said,
“I have loved thee with an everlasting love; I have blotted out as a cloud
thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud thy sins; they shall not be mentioned
against thee any more for ever.” Oh! what a sweet season is that when
Jesus takes away the pain of sin. When the Lord first pardoned my sin, I was so
joyous that I could scarce refrain from dancing. I thought on my road home from
the house where I had been set at liberty, that I must tell the stones in the
street the story of my deliverance. So full was my soul of joy, that I wanted
to tell every snow-flake that was falling from heaven of the wondrous love of
Jesus, who had blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But it is
not only at the commencement of the Christian life that believers have reason
for song; as long as they live they discover cause to sing in the ways of the
Lord, and their experience of His constant lovingkindness leads them to say,
“I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my
mouth.” See to it, brother, that thou magnifiest the Lord this day.
“Long as we tread this desert land,
New mercies shall new songs demand.”
