日期： 08/23/09

經文：詩篇 117

講題：神的心高瞻遠矚

主旨： 我們的心要向神的心看齊

引言：

很多的父母大致都做過這樣的事，在孩子小的時候，我們為他們買的衣服往往比他們的實際尺寸大上 1-2 號，好容許一些成長的空間。可以想見，孩子們就穿著寬鬆的上衣和稍嫌過長的褲子滿街跑。到現在我還對我母親曾給我買的那些過大的鞋子記憶猶新。但當我們長大之後，大都喜歡買剛好合身的衣服。

我們在兩週前提到神的特性時，說到許多人都希望神可以恰好符合我們需要祂的樣子：我們要神跟我們保持剛剛好的距離，不要太近；我們要神可以供應我們的需要和想望，但是不要祂控制我們的生活；我們要一個為我們量身訂做的神，大小要符合我的需要。這不合理，是吧？

我們需要學習以另一個輪廓來描繪神的特性：不是神要符合我們的需要，而是我們要盡力配合神的心意。神像是我剛剛舉的例子裡那件過大的衣服，我們要努力成長，好補足那多餘的空間；我們對神越瞭解，我們可以成長的空間就越多。

   今天早晨我們要學習的內容出自詩篇 117 ，這首詩同時也是聖經中最短的一章。剛開始看到這一章的時候，我心想：我的天！我該要怎麼把聖經裡最短的這一小章延長成可 以講一個小時的內容呢？但當我愈發仔細揣摩其中的意涵時，我反而愈發擔心我沒有辦法在短短的主日時間裡講完所有的內容。我開始瞭解，誠如舊約學者柯德納所寫道，即便這是最短的一篇詩，卻是最強有力、具啟發性的一篇。司布真在這兩節經文裡找到了 5 個教義： 呼召外邦人、福音概要、祝福的目的、神的子民的責任及他們的義務 。 馬丁‧路德曾以 36 頁的篇幅為這篇短詩做了註釋，並且把內容歸納為：寓言、啟示、教導、勸誡。

現在我們以這首詩來學習神的特性，瞭解我們要如何繼續成長，以符合神的格式。

I •  神有一顆宣教的心

第 1 節提到敬拜的呼召，「萬國啊！你們要讚美耶和華；萬民哪！你們要頌讚他。」是對誰發出的呼召呢？萬國及萬民，沒有例外。這個概念當然不是到詩篇裡面才初次登場，相信各位對舊約裡的一些經文都耳熟能詳，在創世紀 12:1 ，神清楚地立下這樣的約定：「 2 我必使你成為大國，賜福給你，使你的名為大，你也必使別人得福， 3 給你祝福的，我必賜福給他；咒詛你的，我必咒詛他；地上的萬族，都必因你得福 」地上的萬族將透過亞伯拉罕而得到神的祝福，沒有例外。稍後，在離開埃及的前夕，神給了以色列人以下的準則，教導他們如何對待寄居在他們當中的外族人、非猶太人。出埃及記 12:48-49 ，「 48 如果有外族人寄居在你們中間，也願向耶和華守逾越節，他所有的男子都要受割禮，然後他才可以前來守逾越節；他就必像本地人一樣，但所有未受割禮的人都不可以吃這羊羔。 49 本地人和寄居在你們中間的外族人，都同屬一例。」 所羅門王在他的禱告中也提到過外族人；列王記上 8:41-43 ，「 41 至於不屬於你的子民以色列的外族人，為了你的名的緣故從遠地而來， 42 ( 因為他們聽到你的大名、大能的手和伸出來的膀臂 ) ，他們來向這殿禱告的時候， 43 求你在天上你的居所垂聽，照著外族人向你呼求的一切而行，好使地上的萬族萬民都認識你的名，敬畏你，像你的子民以色列一樣；又使他們知道我建造的這殿是稱為你的名下的。 」

到了新約，這個概念愈發清晰。耶穌接觸的不僅是猶太人，也與非猶太人相交。羅馬書 15:11 ，保羅引用詩篇 117 ，提到我們在基督裡合一，因此我們要彼此相交、互相接納。稍後我們在啟示錄 7:9 看到最終的成果，「 9 這些事以後，我觀看，見有一大群人，沒有人能數得過來，是從各邦國、各支派、各民族、各方言來的。他們都站在寶座和羊羔面前，身穿白袍，手裡拿著棕樹枝 …… 。」從最初到最後，神始終有一顆宣教的心。神要在萬民中為王，要人從萬邦萬國來敬拜祂。

這對今天的我們來說有什麼樣的意義呢？如果神是萬族萬民的王，將推翻我們以為神只是我的神、只是這個教會的神的狹見。如果神是萬族萬民的王，那麼不同人該有不同信仰的權利也就不成立了。詩篇 117 清楚的說 這個世界上只有一位神。

然而，這不是一種普世救贖的教義。而是從萬族萬民中都有人要來認識他，敬拜祂。當我們的心願意與神的心合一，我們就要以祂的角度看待這個世界；同時我們會瞭解，宣教不是一年一度的活動、我們也不需要透過宣教研習來提醒我們當盡的責任。相反地，宣教、向世人傳講基督，應成為我們信仰系統裡的一個部分，就像我們不需要舉辦研討會來提醒自己一天三餐的飲食。宣教，不論是在本地或者全球，應該變成我們存在所不可獲缺的一部份，好比呼吸那樣自然，是所有教會的糧食及飲水。

II •  神有一顆排山倒海的愛心。

詩人宣稱萬族萬民都要來敬拜神。除此之外，他也提到以下的理由 ， vs.2,” 他向我們所施的慈愛極大；耶和華的信實永遠長存。你們要讚美耶和華。 ” 首先，

1 •  一個大能的愛

我們首先看到偉大的這個特質。神有的是偉大的愛，表示這個愛是大有能力的。如同洪水蔓延淹蓋世界，神的祝福也照樣蔓延淹蓋我們；如同以色列人勢如破竹地戰勝敵人那樣，也如同詩篇 65 所說，我們的罪遍布我們的生活一般。就像是我們在海邊游泳，或者只是站在海灘上，一個浪打來，我們很難站立得穩，是吧？那個浪排山倒海地蔓延淹蓋我們。我們為何讚美敬拜神？因為祂的愛是大能的愛，臨到我們身上如同浪一樣，在祂的愛前我們很難站立的住，使我們願意把一切交託，並且來到祂面前敬拜他。

2 •  一個 「 約 」 的愛 。

這個盟約的愛首次在出唉及記 34:6 出現。神盟約的愛臨到祂的子民身上，這也被稱做忠誠的愛；是關於神承諾祂的子民以恩惠和無條件的愛。這是永誌不渝的愛；這段經文也常被以色列人引用，在他們被放逐巴比倫 70 年、回到應許之地之後，他們回顧過去，觸目所及僅是神的盟約，以及祂對他們忠誠的愛。回顧過去和現在，他們看到神不變的愛，也因此敬拜神。

反觀我們的生活，我們看到過去耶穌基督為了我們受死，也看到祂的死和復活如何使像我們的罪得到救贖。此外，我們也知道神應許我們，在未來祂會再來。我們可以看到的歷史教訓和經驗比當年的以色列人還多，我們比他們更能有系統的看到神不渝、忠誠的愛，然而我們有否因此比他們更熱烈、真誠地敬拜神呢？

跟大家分享一個關於 19 世紀美國佈道家慕迪的故事。在慕迪佈道的早期，有一次他到英國去，遇到一位年輕的英國牧師，亨利‧ 茂爾豪斯 ，這位牧師稍後成為基督徒社會服務網絡的先鋒，為倫敦貧窮地區的人服務。有一天 茂爾豪斯告訴慕迪，他想要到美國去。

慕迪說：「若你有機會到芝加哥來，跟我聯絡，到我的教會來，我替你安插一個講道的機會。」

慕迪只是出於禮貌隨口說說，因為他從沒有聽過 茂爾豪斯的講道，也不知道他傳講的是怎麼樣的信息。慕迪心想茂爾豪斯應該也不會大老遠的來到芝加哥，所以他便沒把這件事記在心上。在慕迪回到美國之後的某一天，他收到一封來自茂爾豪斯的電報說：「已在紐約，將於週日抵達芝加哥。」慕迪不知道該怎麼辦，因為他已經安排好了那個週末要出差到外州去。離開前他告訴教會的執事：「我覺得我們應該至少給他一次講道的機會，安排他在聚會中講道，如果會眾喜歡他，就再多安排幾場。」

一個禮拜之後慕迪回家，問他的妻子：「那個年輕的牧師表現如何？」

『他講的比你還好，』他的妻子回答，『他告訴大家，神愛罪人。』

「不是這樣的，」慕迪回答，「神憎恨罪，所以祂不愛罪人。」關於神的愛，在那個時候慕迪還沒有學到太多。

『要不這樣，你也去聽聽他的講道。』

「什麼？」慕迪說，「妳的意思是他現在還在這裡講道？」

『是啊！他的講道延長成一個禮拜，每天聚會。而且他只用一段經文，就是約翰福音 3:16 。』

慕迪去了茂爾豪斯的講道現場。茂爾豪斯在講道開始便說「我想另外找一段經文，找了一整天，我發現約翰福音 3:16 還是最合適的，所以我要再次以這段經文來講解。……」在茂爾豪斯的講道結束後，慕迪回憶起那個晚上，那是他第一次那般清楚地領受、瞭解到神的福音裡所包含的恩惠，和神信實、大能的愛。

另一個故事是關於著名的瑞士神學家卡爾‧巴特。有一些福音派教徒對他的救恩論和重生經驗頗為關注。有人問他「你得救了嗎？」或「 巴特 博士，在你的腦海中曾經閃過的、最偉大的念頭是什麼？」他稍事停頓，想了想後回答『耶穌愛我。我知道，因為聖經是這樣告訴我的。』

在我們的教會裡有這麼一位弟兄，他行動不是那麼方便，聽力也不是頂好，但他總是忠心地每個主日都到教會來。每個主日早晨，當我看到他的時候，我總要給他一個擁抱，在他耳邊跟他說「耶穌愛你」。在我們的中文崇拜最後，介紹完來賓的時候，我們都要唱這首歌給他們當作見面禮：「耶穌愛你，耶穌愛你，耶穌在我裡面，在我裡面愛你。」我覺得我們可以給我們的孩子、或任何人最佳的禮物，就是耶穌愛你這樣的訊息。神的愛就像那蜂擁而至的浪，漫過我們。當這個強烈、大有能力的愛觸及我們，我們實在是很難、甚至是不可能再堅持站立。我們幾乎是沒有選擇地要俯伏在神的面前敬拜他。

III •  神有一顆永遠信實的心。

知道神的心是宣教的、是排山倒海的之後，我們現在來看第 2 節的後半，「耶和華的信實永遠長存。你們要讚美耶和華。」信實這個字，也同時可以被翻譯做「真理」、「堅定不移」、「可靠」。在新約裡，耶穌的說法是「實實在在」。

我想到一對來自洛杉磯的年輕夫妻。幾年前，先生被診斷有腦瘤並且在經過幾次手術之後癌細胞還是繼續擴散，於是他們決定到休士頓的安德生癌症中心來繼續接受治療。在這過程中，幾年前他遇到了一位女士並且決定要結婚。結婚對正在接受癌症治療、尚有數個手術和療程在眼前的病患來說，實在是不常見的事；然而他們的愛勝過他們身處的景況，這幾年來，我們可以看到那位妻子對丈夫堅定的愛。她總是隨侍在病床前，照顧她的丈夫，一直到約莫三個月前他過世為止。自始至終，這都是一個忠誠、可靠的愛。

即便我們在他們身上看到這樣令人動容的愛，但這個愛終究還是有開始，有末了；但這樣的愛也同時指引我們看見另一個更大、更莫測高深的愛：神對我們的愛沒有盡頭，在我們認識祂以先，祂已然愛了我們，祂的愛是永恆且屹立不搖的。這個愛是福音信息的中心，是我們為何要來到祂面前敬拜讚美祂的原因。

結語：

對我們當中的許多人來說，詩篇 117 大概是我們背誦的第一首詩。但也往往因為我們對它太過熟悉，以致我們難以瞭解其中隱含的全部意義；我們每每把它當作一首普通的、由華麗詞藻推砌成的詩，充滿基督徒的 陳腔濫 調 「 萬國啊！你們要讚美耶和華！…」我們怎能脫離這樣的 陳腔濫 調 ?

有人說，在那裡有中國人，那裡就有中國餐廳。那裡有韓國人，那裡就有教會和宣教士。根據一估計，在北京居住的韓國人，有一半是宣教士或在與宣教有關的機構裡工作。我們常想為什麼那些韓國的信徒們這麼有宣教的心。

   最近，有人跟我分享，在美國的一些韓國教會裡，信徒們從小開始就被教育、培養宣教的心。向全世界宣告神的偉大和信實，是神的心意；而要去到那些福音尚未被傳講的地方去傳遞祂的偉大又可靠的愛，是他們的信仰在他們心上留下的烙印，難以抹滅；像他們呼吸所的空氣，像他們每餐都要吃的泡菜，像他們的血液一樣在身體裡流動。

若我們要看穿詩篇 117 那看似以基督教修辭堆砌而成的陳腔濫調的表象，便要讓我們的心與神的心連結，神有固定的尺寸，永不改變，而我們要延伸我們的大小去符合祂的，我們要把祂宣教的心化為我們的心。不只是我們也是其他的教會，我們要向萬國萬民宣告神的福音 ------ 也就是神廣大且永誌不渝的愛，這不是個可以考慮要不要做的問題，而應該是我們的優先秩序。我們要問是如何而不是為何，我們要問 : 這教會如何能更多的去傳揚那永恆又固定的大愛 ? 對個人來說，要問神祂要如何用我的生命將這福音傳遞給那些祂帶入我生命的人。祂要如何用我將這福音帶到世界各處。

Date:   08/23/09

Text:   Psalm 117

Title:   God's Heart

Theme: We are to align our hearts with God's heart.   

Introduction:

  When our children were younger, we bought them clothes that were 1 or 2 size s larger that they could grow into. So you can imagine the kids walking around with that loose shirt and folded up pants. I also remember my mom would buy shoes that I would grow into. But as children grew older, they all wanted clothes that fit them just right.

  In our recent study of God's attributes, we mentioned that many of us believe a God that fit s us just right. W e desire a God close to us, but not too close ; a great God that can do great things for us, yet still under our control. We want a custom fit God, a God that is as small or as great as I am. This doesn't make sense, does it?

  The more we learned of God, the more this requires a major paradigm shift for us. Instead of God fitting us, we are to fit him. He is like that larger size shirt that we can grow into.

  Our text for this morning is psalm 117. It is the shortest chapter in the Bible. When I first looked at this psalm, I thought, oh my, how am I going to preach a sermon from the shortest chapter in the entire Bible? But the more I studied, the more I wondered how I can fit all these into one sermon? I began to understand why Kidner, an OT scholar who wrote that even it is the shortest psalm, it is one of the most potent and most seminal psalms. Spurgeon identified 5 doctrines in these two verses: calling of gentiles, summary of the gospel, end and goal of such blessings, duties of God's people and their privileges. Martin Luther devoted 36 pages to this psalm and categorized it into: prophecy, revelation, instruction and admonition.

  Now, let's take a look and see what we can learn about God's attributes in this psalm. So that we can align our hearts with His.

I  •  God has a heart of Mission .

In vs.1 is a call to worship. “ Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” To whom is this call issued? All nations, all peoples , with no exception. In Genesis 12:2-3 God clearly promised that, “ 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” All families of the earth, with no exception will be blessed by God because of Abraham. Later, on the eve of leaving Egypt , God gave the Israelites regulations on how to receive foreigners, the non-Jews into their community. Exodus 12;48-49, “ 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” Solomon in his prayer included the foreigners, 1King 8:41-43 “ 41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.”

  And as we come to NT, the picture is even clearer. Jesus reached out to the Jews and non-Jews. In Romans 15:11, Paul quoted psalm 117 in the context that we are one in Christ therefore we are to accept one another. Then we find the final fruition in Revelation 7:9, “ 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,….” From the beginning to the end, God's heart is a mission heart. He desires people from all nations will acknowledge him as king and worship him.

  What does this mean to us today? If God is to be king over all, it will shatter our narrow thinking of either just being my king or the king of this church. It will also shatter popular thoughts that different people have rights to different religions. Psalm 117 simply says there is one God for the world.

  When we align our hearts with God's, it means we're to look at the world from His perspective. If so, we understand that mission is not something we do once a year. Instead, mission, or telling others about Christ is to be a part of our belief system. Just like we don't need to organize a conference to remind us to eat 3 meals a day. Mission , whether local or global, is to be like breathing, an integral part of our existence. It is the bread and water of this and other churches; the air that we breathe.

II •  God has a heart of Preva lent love

The psalmist proclaimed that people from all nations are to come and worship God. Now, he also gave the reasons. First,

1 •  A mighty over love. Let's first focus on the word ‘Great'. God's love is great. The meaning of this ‘great' is that of mighty over, over-powering. It is used of the flood water mighty over the earth; God's blessing mighty over us. Israelites mighty over their enemies. Or in psalms 65, it described our sins as mighty over us. It is like swimming or standing in the water . When a wave comes, we can't stand firm, right? The wave mighty over us. We praise and worship God, why? Because His love is great, it comes at us like those waves, we just can't stand against it, we have to give in and worship him.

2 •  A covenant love. This steadfast love first appeared in Exo 34:6. It is God's covenant love towards His people. It is also called the loyal love. It is about God's promise of grace and unconditional love to His people. It is a love that never changes. It is often quoted by the Israelites after their 70 years of exile in Babylon . Having been brought back to the promised land, they looked back and all they saw was God's covenant, loyal love towards them. They looked at the past and present, they saw God's steadfast love and they worshipped him.

As we look at our own lives, we see the past of Christ's dying for us. And then we see how his death and resurrection saved a sinner like me. Moreover, we also know of God's promise for the future, of his return. We have seen experiences greater than the Israelites, how much more are we to worship this God because of his steadfast, loyal love.

There is this story about D.L. Moody, an American evangelist in the 19 th century. Moody traveled to England early in his ministry and met a young English preacher named Henry Moorhouse, who later pioneered Christian social service work in London 's poorer areas. One day Moorhouse told Moody, “I'm thinking of going to America .”

Moody said, “Well, if you should ever get to Chicago , come to my church and I'll give you a chance to preach.”

Moody was only being polite when he said this, because he had not heard Moorhouse and didn't know what he might say. He put the matter out of his mind, thinking that Moorhouse would probably never get as far west as Chicago . Sometime after Moody had gone back to America , he received a telegram that said, “Have arrived in New York . Will be in Chicago Sunday.” Moody didn't know what to do, especially since he was scheduled to be away that weekend. Finally he told the leaders of the church, “I think we should let him preach once. Put him on; then, if the people enjoy him, let him preach again.”

Moody was gone for a week following that Sunday, and when he got back he asked his wife, “How did the young preacher do?”

“He's a better preacher than you are,” she said. “He's telling sinners that God loves them.”

“That's not right,” Moody replied. “God doesn't love sinners.” He had not yet learned very much about the love of God.

“Well, if you don't think so, go and hear him.”

“What?” said Moody. “Do you mean to tell me he is still here, that he is still preaching?”

“Yes, he has been preaching all week, and he has only had one verse for a text. It is John 3:16.”

Moody went to the meeting. Moorhouse began by saying, “I have been hunting for a text all day, and I have not been able to find a better one than John 3:16. So I think I will just talk about it once more.” He began to preach, and afterward Moody testified that on that night he received his first clear understanding of the gospel of grace and the greatness of God's love.

There is also this story of the well known Swiss theologian Karl Barth. Many evangelicals are concerned about his salvation or born again experience. He has been asked, “Are you saved?” or “Dr. Barth, what is the greatest thought that has ever gone through your mind?” He paused and thought, then said, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

There is this one individual that faithfully comes to church every Sunday. He didn't walk nor hear well. Yet when I see him on Sunday mornings, I always hug him and said in his ears, “Jesus loves you.”. In our Chinese service, after introducing visitors, we sing this song as a gift to them: Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you. Jesus is in my heart, he loves you in my heart. T he best gift we can give to our children, or anyone is the message that Jesus loves you. God's love is like that wave, mighty over us. When this love touches us, it is hard or impossible to stand against it. We have no choice but to bow down and worship Him.

III •  God has a heart of eternal faithfulness

We have seen God's heart is missional, a prevalent love. Now let's look at the second part of vs.2, “ and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” The word, ‘faithfulness' can equally be translated as ‘truth,' ‘steadfastness,' or ‘reliability.' In the NT, in the words of Jesus, it is, “truly, truly.”

I think of a young couple from LA. The husband was diagnosed with brain tumor several years ago and the cancer continued to grow after several surgeries. They decided to come to MD Anderson for further treatment. During this process, he fell in love with a young lady and decided to get married. Certainly this was not a popular decision in the midst of the cancer advancement and numerous surgeries and treatments. Their love prevailed. During the last few years, we saw the wife's unwavering love towards her husband. She was always there by his bedside, taking care of him, until he passed away three months ago. It was a loyal and reliable love.

Even though great is this love, it has a beginning and end. This love however, points us to a love that is so much greater and immeasurable. There is no end to God's love towards us. Even before we knew him, he was there loving us. This love is eternal and never wavers. This is the heart of the gospel message. This is the reason we are to worship and praise him.

Conclusion:

  To many of us, Psalm 117 is probably the first psalm we memorized. It was the shortest psalm and the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. It can easily become another rhetorical psalm, full of Christian clichés. “Praise the lord, all nations.” What will it take to avoid such clichés?

   It has been said that wherever one finds Chinese, there are Chinese restaurants. Wherever one finds Koreans, there are churches and missionaries. It was estimated that half of the Korean population in Beijing are either missionaries or individuals in some kind of mission work. We often ask why the Korean believers are so mission minded.

Recently, someone shared with us saying that in many of the Korean churches in the states, beginning with children, they are taught of God's mission heart. It is God's heart that his great and reliable love is to be proclaimed in all parts of the world. To go to places where the gospel has not preached is an indelible mark of their faith. It is like the kimchi they eat in every meal ; i t is in their blood.

If we are to take Psalm 117 beyond its appearance of Christian rhetoric and clichés, we need to align our hearts with God's heart. God's size is fixed, it cannot be changed. We are to stretch our size to fit God's. We are to capture this mission heart as our heart as well. For HCC and any other church, p roclaiming the gospel, that is, God's great and everlasting love, to people in every nation is not a matte r of whether we should do it or no t . It is always on the top of our priority. The question we ask is how and not why. As a church, what more can we do? Individually, we also ask how can God use my life to tell his eternal and constant love to those He brings into my life. How can God use me to bring the gospel message to other parts of the world?