【诗116:15】在耶和华眼中，看圣民之死极为宝贵。【Psa116:15】Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

诗篇116篇的背景，恰恰是诗人几乎落入死亡，却被神救了回来：“死亡的绳索缠绕我，阴间的痛苦抓住我……”（3节）“耶和华啊，求你救我的灵魂！”（4节）“你救我的命免了死亡……”（8节）The setting of Psalm 116 is that the psalmist had nearly fallen into death, but God rescued him: “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me…” (v. 3). “O LORD, save my life!” (v. 4). “For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death…” (v. 8).

所以，“在耶和华眼中，看圣民之死极为宝贵”，并不是说神喜欢祂的百姓死亡，而是说：属祂之人的生命在祂眼中极其宝贵，我们的生与死都在祂的手中。Therefore, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” does not mean that God delights in the death of His people. Rather, it means that the lives of those who belong to Him are exceedingly precious in His sight, and both our life and our death are in His hands.属祂之人的死亡，在祂眼中绝不是一件轻忽的事；死亡的权势也不能越过神的主权，随意夺去属祂之人的生命。The death of His people is never a trivial matter to Him; nor can the power of death overstep God’s sovereignty and take their lives at will.

而在新约的光中，我们更看见，神也会允许我们经过许多如同“死”一般的环境，并借着这些试炼，使我们脱离偶像和各种属地的捆绑，学习向罪死、向神活；In the light of the New Testament, we see even more clearly that God may allow us to pass through many circumstances that feel like “death.” Through these trials, He frees us from idols and every earthly bondage, teaching us to die to sin and live to God.因着信，经历基督死而复活的大能，并在百般如火的试炼中，使我们的信心经过试验，比金子更加宝贵。By faith, we experience the power of Christ’s death and resurrection; and through trials of many kinds, as though tested by fire, our faith is proved to be of greater worth than gold.

亚伯拉罕就是如此。因着信，他被试验的时候献上以撒，“他以为神还能叫人从死里复活；他也仿佛从死中得回他的儿子”（来11:17–19）。Abraham experienced this. By faith, when God tested him, he offered Isaac. “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:17–19).

经过这场如同死亡一般的信心试验，亚伯拉罕没有抓住神所赐的应许过于抓住赐应许的神。他愿意把自己最宝贵的交还给神，因为他相信，即使经过死亡，神仍然能够叫死人复活。Through this test of faith, which was like passing through death, Abraham did not hold on to God’s promised gift more tightly than he held on to the God who gave the promise. He was willing to return his most precious treasure to God because he believed that, even through death, God was still able to raise the dead.

因此，神对他说：“你既行了这事，不留下你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子，我便指着自己起誓说：论福，我必赐大福给你……并且地上万国都必因你的后裔得福，因为你听从了我的话。”（创22:16–18）Therefore God said to him: “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I swear by myself… I will surely bless you… and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:16–18).

祷告 | Prayer

亲爱的天父，清晨我来到祢面前，让我的心再次进入诗人的经历。他经过死亡的威胁，尝到了祢救恩的滋味以后，说：“我要在耶和华面前行活人之路。”（9节）Dear Heavenly Father, this morning I come before You and allow my heart to enter once again into the psalmist’s experience. After passing through the threat of death and tasting the goodness of Your salvation, he said, “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living” (v. 9).

主啊，经过死亡的幽谷，他更加认识祢是拯救他的神。死亡、阴间的痛苦、忧伤、软弱、灰心和沮丧不能再像从前一样辖制他，因为他的信心经过试验，就更加知道，无论前面的环境如何，祢都与他同行。Lord, after walking through the valley of death, he knew You more deeply as the God who saves him. Death, the anguish of the grave, sorrow, weakness, discouragement, and despair could no longer rule over him as they once had. Because his faith had been tested, he knew more surely that whatever lay ahead, You would walk with him.

天父，感谢祢赐下独生爱子耶稣基督。祂借着十字架上最宝贵的死，败坏了掌死权的魔鬼，使我们可以脱离罪和死亡的辖制；Heavenly Father, thank You for giving Your one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Through His most precious death on the cross, He destroyed the devil, who held the power of death, so that we might be set free from the dominion of sin and death.祢又将圣灵赐给我们，住在我们里面，使我们可以行在光中，与祢同行，真正走在活人之路上。You have also given us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, enabling us to walk in the light, walk with You, and truly walk in the land of the living.

使徒保罗也经历了无数次如同“死”一般的环境，以至于他说：“使我认识基督，晓得祂复活的大能，并且晓得和祂一同受苦，效法祂的死，或者我也得以从死里复活。”（腓3:10–11）The apostle Paul also passed through countless circumstances that were like “death,” so that he could say: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10–11).

主啊，愿我们也像保罗一样，在每一次试炼中更深地认识祢。求祢赐给我们信心，使我们不是绕过十字架的死，而是在试炼中学习舍己，向罪死，向自己旧人的道路死，Lord, may we, like Paul, know You more deeply through every trial. Please give us faith so that we do not try to avoid the death of the cross, but learn in our trials to deny ourselves, to die to sin, and to die to the old ways of our former self.经历与基督同钉十字架的‘死’，好叫我们越来越认识基督，也越来越经历祂复活的大能，直到基督在我们的生命中完全得着荣耀。Let us experience the “death” of being crucified with Christ, so that we may know Christ more and more and increasingly experience the power of His resurrection, until Christ is fully glorified in our lives.

奉主耶稣基督的名祷告，阿门。In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

（Brother Raymond）