八月十三日
黎巴嫩的香柏树，是耶和华所栽种的。（诗104：16）
黎巴嫩的香柏树可以比作基督徒，他们是神所栽种的。每一个神的儿女都是这样，他不是人栽种的，也不是自己栽种的，而是神所栽种的。神灵的奥秘的手亲自把活种子栽植在接受他的心田中。人接受他也是他自己的工作。神的每一个后裔都是这位伟大的“栽培的人”所栽种的。黎巴嫩的香柏树也不是靠人来灌浇的，它们矗立在峻峭的岩石之上，是人所不能灌浇的；但天父却能供给它们的需要。学会度信心生活的基督徒也是这样。他不依靠人和必朽坏的东西；他时时仰望父神，幷专专仰望他来维持他的生活。天上的甘露是他的份，天上的神是他的泉源。再者，黎巴嫩的香柏树幷不受人的保护。当狂风暴雨时，人幷不能保全它们。它们是神的树，所以惟有受他的保全。
基督徒也正是这样。他幷不是种在温暖的花房里，免受风吹雨打的摧残；他乃是完全暴露在外，他毫无屏障，毫无遮蔽；但永生神的双翼却常覆庇着他所栽种的。信徒也像香柏树一样满了汁水，就是在冬雪之中也有常青的充足活力。最后，香柏树所以那样蓊郁茂盛，那样巍峨魁梧，都是爲了颂赞神。神，独有神是香柏树的一切，因此大卫在诗篇中说：“结果的树木和一切香柏树……都当赞美耶和华。”信徒所有的没有一样能使人得称颂的；他是神自己的手所栽种，所养活，所灌溉，所保护的，所以当将一切荣耀归给他。
August
13
“The
cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted.” — Psalm 104:16
Lebanon’s cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their
planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is
not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the
divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which He had Himself
prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman
as his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for
their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human irrigation;
and yet our heavenly Father supplieth them. Thus it is with the Christian who
has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal
things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to Him
alone. The dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven is his fountain.
Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal power. They owe
nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and tempest. They are
God’s trees, kept and preserved by Him, and by Him alone. It is precisely the
same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant, sheltered from
temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no shelter, no
protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover
the cedars which He Himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of sap
having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter’s snows. Lastly, the
flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the praise of God only.
The Lord, even the Lord alone hath been everything unto the cedars, and,
therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, “Praise ye the
Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” In the believer there is nothing
that can magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord’s own
hand, and to Him let all the glory be ascribed.
