【诗83:18】使他们知道：惟独你名为耶和华的， 是全地以上的至高者。【Psa 83:18】Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

《诗篇》83篇是一首令人屏息凝神的国家哀歌与伸冤诗，是历史上以色列面对十国联军突然压境、生死存亡之际的“祈求”。 Psalm 83 is a gripping national lament and prayer for justice. It records Israel’s cry at a moment of national survival, when a coalition of ten nations suddenly closed in around them.经文第4节暴露出仇敌最恶毒的动机：“来吧，我们将他们剪灭，使他们不再成国！使以色列的名不再被记念！”这不仅是一场领土争夺战，更是一场属灵的灭绝战。Verse 4 reveals the enemy’s most vicious intention: “Come, let us destroy them as a nation, so that the name of Israel is remembered no more!” This was not simply a conflict over land, but a spiritual war of extermination.撒旦借着周围的列邦，企图将属神的子民从地面上彻底抹去，断绝神救赎的路线。Through the surrounding nations, Satan sought to wipe God’s people completely from the earth and cut off the line of God’s redemptive purpose.

在整个国家岌岌可危的时刻，诗人没有看环境，也没有去比较敌我的军事力量。At the moment when the whole nation stood on the brink of destruction, the psalmist did not fix his eyes on the circumstances or compare the military strength of Israel and its enemies.他转向神，单单回顾并数点神一路过去的作为，并求告神让这些狂傲的仇敌“像旋风卷过的碎秸，像风前的糠秕”（13节）。He turned to God alone, looking back and recounting all that God had done in the past, and asked Him to make those arrogant enemies “like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind” (verse 13).到了18节，更是求神使他们知道神到底是谁。当诗人思想神、求告神的时候，他的信心就越来越坚固，深信那位曾经拯救以色列的神，今天仍然坐着为王。By verse 18, he was asking God to make them know who He truly is. As the psalmist meditated on God and cried out to Him, his faith became stronger and stronger. He was convinced that the God who had rescued Israel in the past still reigned as King.整首诗几乎没有强调“我们”，因为诗人所关心的，不只是百姓能否脱险，而是神的名是否被高举，好使万民知道，惟独耶和华是全地以上的至高者。The psalm places almost no emphasis on “us”, because the psalmist’s concern was not merely whether the people would survive, but whether God’s name would be lifted high, so that all peoples might know that the Lord alone is the Most High over all the earth.

主啊，我曾看见一位祢的仆人，常常经历这种“十国联盟”式的属灵围攻。有时候突然一群人联手，用白眼、巫术和各样的压力，用尽方法打压、攻击祢的仆人。Lord, I once saw one of Your servants repeatedly face this kind of spiritual assault from a “coalition of ten nations”. At times, a group of people would suddenly unite, using hostile looks, witchcraft, and all kinds of pressure, doing everything possible to suppress and attack Your servant.眼看对方势力强大，仿佛一手遮天，到处搞事，妄图让祢的仆人心力交瘁、焦虑不堪，像救火一样四处奔波，好使祢国度的扩展受阻。The opposing forces seemed powerful, as though they controlled everything. They created trouble everywhere, trying to wear Your servant down mentally and physically, fill Your servant with anxiety, and keep Your servant rushing from one crisis to another, so that the advance of Your kingdom would be hindered.但祢的仆人将自己置之度外，持定必胜的确信，昼夜献上祈祷。这信心所付出的代价，就是精力与体力的耗尽，如同一支蜡烛在神面前燃烧自己，为己无所求，为主求一切。Yet Your servant laid personal safety aside, held firmly to the certainty of victory, and prayed day and night. The cost of this faith was the draining of strength and energy, like a candle burning itself out before God, asking nothing for self but seeking everything for the Lord.然而，在运用神的智慧与仇敌周旋并得胜的过程中，祢的仆人深知不是与属血气的争战，而是盼望他们能够回转、悔改、认识神。Yet while using God’s wisdom to face the enemy and overcome, Your servant understood clearly that the struggle was not against flesh and blood, and still longed for those people to turn back, repent, and come to know God.在这种属灵围攻与火一般的试炼中能够得胜，绝不是靠着天然的生命，而是靠着那经过十字架对付过的生命。To overcome in such spiritual siege and fiery testing could never come from natural human strength, but only from a life that had been dealt with through the cross.

主啊，反观我自己，当我遇到压力、逼迫，感觉性命堪忧时，我老我的反应常常是：“你不让我活，你也别想好过。”“你都要置我于死地了，我就不会对你客气。” Lord, when I look honestly at myself, I see that when I face pressure or persecution and feel that my life is under threat, the response of my old self is often: “If you will not let me live, then I will make sure you do not live well either.” “If you are trying to destroy me, then I will not be gentle with you.”我整天想着怎么把别人钉在十字架上，口中终日诉说着“他不对、我对”。可是，争对了、争赢了又如何？心里一旦被仇恨苦毒充满，不等别人来毁灭我们，那些怒气、苦毒和仇恨就已经先吞吃了我们自己。I spend all day thinking about how to put others on the cross, while constantly saying, “He is wrong, and I am right.” But what does it really achieve if I prove myself right or win the argument? Once hatred and bitterness fill the heart, before anyone else destroys us, that anger, bitterness, and hatred have already begun to consume us from within.

主啊，祢岂不是正要在这样的灭绝中来拯救我们吗？顺从老我唯有死路一条。感谢祢把祢的仆人摆在我面前，让我有榜样可循；效法祢的仆人，就能看见基督的脚踪。Lord, are You not seeking to save us in the very midst of this destruction? Following the old self leads only to death. Thank You for placing Your servant before me as an example to follow. In following Your servant, I can trace the footsteps of Christ.这让我看明，基督也曾亲自经历过“十国联盟”式的属灵围攻与外邦的争闹，世上的君王曾一同起来反对祂（诗2，徒4）。但基督如何呢？This helps me see that Christ Himself also endured a spiritual assault like a “coalition of ten nations” and the raging of the nations; the kings of the earth gathered together against Him (Psalm 2; Acts 4). Yet how did Christ respond?基督默默无声、闭口不言，反而谦卑、饶恕、为仇敌祝福祷告、怜悯、爱仇敌，甚至为仇敌舍命，让我们看见了什么是真正的永生之道。Christ remained silent and did not open His mouth. Instead, He humbled Himself, forgave, blessed and prayed for His enemies, showed mercy, loved His enemies, and even laid down His life for them, showing us the true way of eternal life.

主啊，愿祢的名首先在我心中被高高举起。在各样的环境中，让我单单以神为中心，凡事效法祢，让基督在我身上照常显大，活着就是为你作见证。Lord, may Your name first be lifted high within my heart. In every circumstance, help me to remain centred on God alone and to imitate You in all things, so that Christ may be magnified in me as always and my life may bear witness to You.使我们脚掌所踏之地，都能因着祢的生命在我身上，让万民认识祢的名，知道唯独耶和华是全地以上的至高者，得见万膝必向祢跪拜，万口必向祢承认！ Wherever the soles of our feet tread, may the life of Christ revealed through me cause all peoples to know Your name and recognise that the Lord alone is the Most High over all the earth. May we see every knee bow before You and every tongue confess You!

（李姊妹和写经团队 Sister Li and the Daily Devotional Team）