三月十六日

我在你面前是客旅（或譯我，與你為客旅）（詩39:12）

神啊，是的，我是“與你”一起，並非“向你”是客旅。我若離開你，你的恩典就離開我；而現在，我與你同在一起，我在這個罪惡的世界上行走，正像一個經過外國的人一樣。“你”來到你自己的地方也是客旅。人們忘記你，羞辱你，訂立各種新法律和規則對付你，並不知道你。當你的愛子來到世界上，這世界本是藉他造的，但世人卻不認識他。從來沒有一個人像你的愛子在他同母的弟兄當中那樣受羞辱。那是不足希奇的，若是我的生活像耶穌，也必受人的冷待，並且像一個客旅。神啊！我也不願在耶穌所寄居的地方久居。他在這裡是一個過客，我也不願作這裡的一個居民。他被釘的手釋放了我在地上被捆綁的靈魂，因此我在這裡是一個客旅。我的言語在這些巴比倫人以為是異國的方言。我在罪人中寄居，還不如一個韃靼人在倫敦的歹土或鬧市來得安舒。但我的樂趣乃在於：“我與你為客旅。”你和我同受苦，同作客。有這樣一位客旅同路是多麼一件令人快慰的事！當你在路上和我說話時，我的心就火熱起來。雖然我在異鄉為異客，也比那坐在寶座上得君王更為有福，比那些住在華屋中的人更安樂。

“慈悲救主領我旅人，走過今世曠野地。我是軟弱，主有大能，求主扶持賜我力。全能救主，全能救主，作我盾牌常保護。”

March 16

"I am a stranger with thee." --Psalm 39:12

Yes, O Lord, with Thee, but not to Thee. All my natural alienation from Thee, Thy grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Thyself, I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a stranger in Thine own world. Man forgets Thee, dishonours Thee, sets up new laws and alien customs, and knows Thee not. When Thy dear Son came unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird among the denizens of any land as Thy beloved Son among His mother's brethren. It is no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, my manners are singular, and my actions are strange. A Tartar would be more at home in Cheapside than I could ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a stranger with Thee. Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed society! My heart burns within me by the way when thou dost speak to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blest than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their ceiled houses.

"To me remains nor place, nor time:

My country is in every clime;

I can be calm and free from care

On any shore, since God is there.

While place we seek, or place we shun,

The soul finds happiness in none:

But with a God to guide our way,

'Tis equal joy to go or stay."