Kapitel-Kommentar
Psalms Kapitel 102
서론
Ohne Titel
简体中文
Englisches Original
Some think that David penned this psalm at the time of Absalom's rebellion; others that Daniel, Nehemiah, or some other prophet, penned it for the use of the church, when it was in captivity in Babylon, because it seems to speak of the ruin of Zion and of a time set for the rebuilding of it, which Daniel understood by books, Da 9:2. Or perhaps the psalmist was himself in great affliction, which he complains of in the beginning of the psalm, but (as in Ps 77:1-20 and elsewhere) he comforts himself under it with the consideration of God's eternity, and the church's prosperity and perpetuity, how much soever it was now distressed and threatened. But it is clear, from the application of Ps 102:25,26, to Christ (Heb 1:10-12), that the psalm has reference to the days of the Messiah, and speaks either of his affliction or of the afflictions of his church for his sake. In the psalm we have, I. A sorrowful complaint which the psalmist makes, either for himself or in the name of the church, of great afflictions, which were very pressing, Ps 102:1-11. II. Seasonable comfort fetched in against these grievances, 1. From the eternity of God, Ps 102:12,24,27. 2. From a believing prospect of the deliverance which God would, in due time, work for his afflicted church (Ps 102:13-22) and the continuance of it in the world, Ps 102:28. In singing this psalm, if we have not occasion to make the same complaints, yet we may take occasion to sympathize with those that have, and then the comfortable part of this psalm will be the more comfortable to us in the singing of it.
1-11
Complaints in Affliction
简体中文
患难中的怨叹
困苦人发昏的时候，在耶和华面前吐露苦情的祷告。
¹ 耶和华啊，求你听我的祷告，容我的呼求达到你面前。
² 我在急难的日子，求你不要掩面不顾我；求你向我侧耳，我呼求的日子，求你快快应允我。
³ 因为我的年日如烟云消灭，我的骨头如火把烧着。
⁴ 我的心被伤，如草枯干，甚至我忘记吃饭。
⁵ 因我唉哼的声音，我的肉紧贴骨头。
⁶ 我如同旷野的鹈鹕，又像荒场的鸱鸮。
⁷ 我儆醒不睡，如同房顶上孤单的麻雀。
⁸ 我的仇敌终日辱骂我，那些向我发狂的，以我起誓。
⁹ 我吃炉灰，如同吃饭，我所喝的与眼泪搀杂，
¹⁰ 都因你的恼怒和你的忿怒；你将我举起，又把我摔下。
¹¹ 我的日子如日影偏斜，我也如草枯干。
本篇的标题十分可注意；它是一篇「困苦人的祷告」。它由一位自己也在苦难中的人所写——他是与教会一同受苦、为教会受苦；具有为公之心的人，这种患难比别人压得更重。它是为苦难之境所设计的，也是为那些可能落在同样困苦中之人的使用而设；因为「从前所写的圣经，都是为教训我们写的」。神全备的话语都为指引我们祷告而有用；但此处，如同别处常见，圣灵为我们拟好了祈求，把话放在我们口中（何14:2：「你们带话归向耶和华」）。此处有一篇祷告放在困苦人手中：愿他们不仅用手，更用心献上，呈给神。注意，1. 世上最好的圣徒有时也遭遇极重的苦难。2. 即便是善人，也几乎可被患难所淹没，并在其下昏厥。3. 当我们处境苦难、心灵昏迷之时，我们的本分和益处是祷告，并借着祷告「在耶和华面前吐露我们的怨叹」——这含着神所许可我们向他自由、我们到他面前有言论的自由，正如我们有进到他面前的自由；这又含着受苦之灵借着谦卑陈明其苦情忧伤卸下重担，是何等的舒解。此处正有如此陈明，其中，
一、诗人谦卑求神留意他的苦难，并留意他在苦难中的祷告（诗102:1,2）。当我们在苦难中祷告时，1. 我们当以神恩惠地听允我们为念；因为我们的祷告若不蒙神悦纳，对自己也必毫无果效。因此我们当以此为念——使我们的祷告「达到神」，达到「他的耳朵」（诗18:6）；为达此目的，我们当「举起祷告」，并随之举起我们的灵魂。2. 我们可盼望神恩惠地听允我们，因为他指派我们寻求他，也应许我们不致徒然寻求他。我们若以信心献上祷告，便可以信心说：「耶和华啊，求你听我的祷告！」「听允我」，即（1）「向我显出你自己，不要在『我急难的日子』以不悦向我『掩面不顾』。你若不快快救我，至少让我知道你恩待我；我若看不见你的手为我行事，至少让我看见你的脸向我笑」。神向善人掩面，即便在他亨通时已是够大的患难（诗30:7，「你掩了面，我便惊惶」）；但我们若在急难中神又掩面，情形就实在悲惨。（2）「为我显出你自己；不仅听允我，更应允我；赐我我所缺乏、所追求的解救；快快应允我，就在『我呼求的日子』」。当患难压住我们，神许可我们在祷告中如此迫切，但要以谦卑和忍耐。
二、他悲苦地哀叹他因患难所降低的处境。1. 他的身体消瘦枯槁，成了骷髅，只剩皮包骨。正如 Prosperity 和喜乐以「使骨头肥润」、「骨头如草发旺」来表明，大患难和忧伤在此以相反来表明：「我的骨头如火把烧着」（诗102:3）；「我的肉紧贴骨头」（诗102:5）；不仅如此，「我的心被伤，如草枯干」（诗102:4）；它触及要害，那里有可觉的衰败。「我也如草枯干」（诗102:11），被患难的热力烤焦。我们若因身体疾病如此降卑，不要以为奇怪；身体如草软弱属土，所以枯干不足为奇。2. 他极其忧郁，灵里忧伤。他被对患难的思想所占据，甚至「忘记吃饭」（诗102:4）；他对必需的食物毫无胃口，也不能尝出味道。神向灵魂掩面之时，感官的乐便成为无味之物。他总是「唉哼」、「叹息」，如同担重担的人（诗102:5），这使他消瘦、精神枯竭。他喜爱独处，正如忧郁之人所行。他的朋友离弃他，对他回避，他也同样不在乎他们的同伴（诗102:6,7）：「我如同旷野的鹈鹕」，或作「麻鳽」（有人如此解），发出哀声；「我像鸱鸮」，喜爱在荒废的废墟中栖息；「我儆醒不睡，如同房顶上孤单的麻雀。我住在阁楼，在那里度过时光沉思我的患难、自怜」。人在忧伤时如此行，固然是纵容自己，却损害自己，并不知道自己所为，也不知道这样给那试探者何等机会。在患难中，我们当独坐思念自己的道（哀3:28），却不可独坐纵情过度忧伤。3. 他被仇敌恶言相待，各样坏话都被人说。当他的朋友离开他时，他的仇敌就联合起来攻击他（诗102:8）：「我的仇敌终日辱骂我」——意在搅扰他（因为磊落的心对辱骂敏感），并在人前使他遭嫌。当他们别无他法可达及他时，便向他射这些箭——「苦毒的话」。他们在此事上不倦：「终日」而行，如同持续的滴漏。他的仇敌极其狂暴：「向我发狂」，又极其顽梗、不可和解。「以我起誓」；如同犹太人起誓要杀保罗；或者，「他们如同控告者，对我起誓」，要取我的命。4. 他在神不悦的记号之下禁食流泪（诗102:9,10）：「我吃炉灰，如同吃饭」——我本该吃饼，却躺在尘土炉灰之中；「我所喝的与眼泪搀杂」——本该借喝水Refreshed自己，却只借着流泪ease自己。是为了什么？他告诉我们（诗102:10）：「都因你的恼怒」。不是患难本身叫他如此 troubled，而是他所感受、所视为患难之因的神怒。这才是患难灾祸中的「苦艾和胆汁」：「你将我举起，又把我摔下」——如同我们把物举高，是为要把它摔碎；我们先举起，好更重地摔下；或者，「你从前曾举我于尊荣、喜乐、非常Prosperity 中，但那回忆加重了现今的忧伤，使之更难忍受」。我们必须看见神的手，在他举起我们和摔下我们之时都看见，并说：「耶和华的名是应当称颂的，他赐也给、他也取去。」5. 他看自己如同将死的人：「我的年日如烟云消灭」（诗102:3），速速消逝。或者，「它们在烟雾中消灭」，一无所剩；它们「如日影偏斜」（诗102:11），如黄昏的影子，或临近之夜的前兆。这一切虽似在描述诗人自己的灾祸，因此严格说来是为个别受苦之人的祷告，却被视为对神教会患难的描写——诗人以公众的苦情为自己的苦情，与之同情。基督奥秘的身体，有时如同诗人此处的身体，「枯干」、「焦灼」，甚至如同「死透的枯骨」。教会有时被迫「逃到旷野」，似乎失丧、自弃，处于神不悦的记号之下。
Englisches Original
Complaints in Affliction
A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.
¹ Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
² Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
³ For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as a hearth.
⁴ My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
⁶ I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
⁷ I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
⁸ Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
¹⁰ Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
¹¹ My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
The title of this psalm is very observable; it is a prayer of the afflicted. It was composed by one that was himself afflicted, afflicted with the church and for it; and on those that are of a public spirit afflictions of that kind lie heavier than any other. It is calculated for an afflicted state, and is intended for the use of others that may be in the like distress; for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written designedly for our use. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but here, as often elsewhere, the Holy Ghost has drawn up our petition for us, has put words into our mouths. Ho 14:2, Take with you words. Here is a prayer put into the hands of the afflicted: let them set, not their hands, but their hearts to it, and present it to God. Note, 1. It is often the lot of the best saints in this world to be sorely affected. 2. Even good men may be almost overwhelmed with their afflictions, and may be ready to faint under them. 3. When our state is afflicted, and our spirits are overwhelmed, it is our duty and interest to pray, and by prayer to pour out our complaints before the Lord, which intimates the leave God gives us to be free with him and the liberty of speech we have before him, as well as liberty of access to him; it intimates also what an ease it is to an afflicted spirit to unburden itself by a humble representation of its grievances and griefs. Such a representation we have here, in which,
I. The psalmist humbly begs of God to take notice of his affliction, and of his prayer in his affliction, Ps 102:1,2. When we pray in our affliction, 1. It should be our care that God would graciously hear us; for, if our prayers be not pleasing to God, they will be to no purpose to ourselves. Let this therefore be in our eye that our prayer may come unto God, even to his ears (Ps 18:6); and, in order to that, let us lift up the prayer, and our souls with it. 2. It may be our hope that God will graciously hear us, because he has appointed us to seek him and has promised we shall not seek him in vain. If we put up a prayer in faith, we may in faith say, Hear my prayer, O Lord! "Hear me," that is, (1.) "Manifest thyself to me, hide not thy face from me in displeasure, when I am in trouble. If thou dost not quickly free me, yet let me know that thou favourest me; if I see not the operations of thy hand for me, yet let me see the smiles of thy face upon me." God's hiding his face is trouble enough to a good man even in his prosperity (Ps 30:7, Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled); but if, when we are in trouble, God hides his face, the case is sad indeed. (2.) "Manifest thyself for me; not only hear me, but answer me; grant me the deliverance I am in want of and in pursuit of; answer me speedily, even in the day when I call." When troubles press hard upon us, God gives us leave to be thus pressing in prayer, yet with humility and patience.
II. He makes a lamentable complaint of the low condition to which he was reduced by his afflictions. 1. His body was macerated and emaciated, and he had become a perfect skeleton, nothing but skin and bones. As prosperity and joy are represented by making fat the bones, and the bones flourishing like a herb, so great trouble and grief are here represented by the contrary: My bones are burnt as a hearth (Ps 102:3); they cleave to my skin (Ps 102:5); nay, my heart is smitten, and withered like grass (Ps 102:4); it touches the vitals, and there is a sensible decay there. I am withered like grass (Ps 102:11), scorched with the burning heat of my troubles. If we be thus brought low by bodily distempers, let us not think it strange; the body is like grass, weak and of the earth, no wonder then that it withers. 2. He was very melancholy and of a sorrowful spirit. He was so taken up with the thoughts of his troubles that he forgot to eat his bread (Ps 102:4); he had no appetite to his necessary food nor could he relish it. When God hides his face from a soul the delights of sense will be sapless things. He was always sighing and groaning, as one pressed above measure (Ps 102:5), and this wasted him and exhausted his spirits. He affected solitude, as melancholy people do. His friends deserted him and were shy of him, and he cared as little for their company (Ps 102:6,7): "I am like a pelican of the wilderness, or a bittern (so some) that make a doleful noise; I am like an owl, that affects to lodge in deserted ruined buildings; I watch, and am as a sparrow upon the house-top. I live in a garret, and there spend my hours in poring on my troubles and bemoaning myself." Those who do thus, when they are in sorrow, humour themselves indeed; but they prejudice themselves, and know not what they do, nor what advantage they hereby give to the tempter. In affliction we should sit alone to consider our ways (La 3:28), but not sit alone to indulge an inordinate grief. 3. He was evil-spoken of by his enemies, and all manner of evil was said against him. When his friends went off from him his foes set themselves against him (Ps 102:8): My enemies reproach me all the day, designing thereby both to create vexation to him (for an ingenuous mind regrets reproach) and to bring an odium upon him before men. When they could not otherwise reach him they shot these arrows at him, even bitter words. In this they were unwearied; they did it all the day; it was a continual dropping. His enemies were very outrageous: They are mad against me, and very obstinate and implacable. They are sworn against me; as the Jews that bound themselves with an oath that they would kill Paul; or, They have sworn against me as accusers, to take away my life. 4. He fasted and wept under the tokens of God's displeasure (Ps 102:9,10): "I have eaten ashes like bread; instead of eating my bread, I have lain down in dust and ashes, and I have mingled my drink with weeping; when I should have refreshed myself with drinking I have only eased myself with weeping." And what is the matter? He tells us (Ps 102:10): Because of thy wrath. It was not so much the trouble itself that troubled him as the wrath of God which he was under the apprehensions of as the cause of the trouble. This, this was the wormwood and the gall in the affliction and the misery: Thou hast lifted me up and cast me down, as that which we cast to the ground with a design to dash it to pieces; we lift up first, that we may throw it down with the more violence; or, "Thou hast formerly lifted me up in honour, and joy, and uncommon prosperity; but the remembrance of that aggravates the present grief and makes it the more grievous." We must eye the hand of God both in lifting us up and casting us down, and say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord, who both gives and takes away." 5. He looked upon himself as a dying man: My days are consumed like smoke (Ps 102:3), which vanishes away quickly. Or, They are consumed in smoke, of which nothing remains; they are like a shadow that declines (Ps 102:11), like the evening-shadow, or a forerunner of approaching night. Now all this, though it seems to speak the psalmist's personal calamities, and therefore is properly a prayer for a particular person afflicted, yet is supposed to be a description of the afflictions of the church of God, with which the psalmist sympathizes, making public grievances his own. The mystical body of Christ is sometimes, like the psalmist's body here, withered and parched, nay, like dead and dry bones. The church sometimes is forced into the wilderness, seems lost, and gives up herself for gone, under the tokens of God's displeasure.
12-22
The Future Glory of Zion
简体中文
锡安将来的荣耀
¹² 惟你—耶和华必存到永远；你可记念的名也存到万代。 ¹³ 你必起来怜恤锡安，因现在是可怜她的时候，日期已经到了。 ¹⁴ 你的仆人原来喜悦她的石头，恩待她的尘土。 ¹⁵ 列国要敬畏耶和华的名，世上诸王都敬畏你的荣耀。 ¹⁶ 因为耶和华建造了锡安，在他荣耀里显现。 ¹⁷ 他垂顾穷人的祷告，并不藐视他们的祈求。 ¹⁸ 这必为后代的人记下，将来受造的民要赞美耶和华。 ¹⁹ 因为他从至高之圣所垂看；从天向地观察， ²⁰ 要垂听被囚之人的叹息，释放将要死的人； ²¹ 使人在锡安传扬耶和华的名，在耶路撒冷赞美他， ²² 就是在万民和列国聚会事奉耶和华的时候。
诗人在此思想并招聚了许许多多极大、宝贵的安慰，用以平衡前文的怨言；因为「正直人在黑暗中，有光向他发现」，所以，他们虽然被压下，却不至绝望。诗人自己的光景不好，神的百姓的光景也不好；但他有许多思想可以振奋自己。
一、我们都是必死的人，我们的利益和安慰也都在衰残，但神是永活的神、永远的神（诗 102:12）：「我的日子如影儿偏去」——无药可治；黑夜将临到我身上；「惟你—耶和华必存到永远」。我们的生命是短暂的，你的生命却是恒久的；我们的朋友会死，但你—我们的神—不死；那威吓我们的，不能触及你；我们的名必写在尘土里，葬于遗忘之中，但「你可记念的名存到万代」——直到时间之末，不，直到永远，你必被人认识、被人尊崇。敬虔人爱神胜过爱自己，因此能以那永存之神的不可改变之福的乐念，来抵消自己的忧伤和死亡。神「存到永远」，是他教会忠实的保护者、维护者；他的尊荣和永久的纪念既在很大程度上系于教会的利益，我们便有把握，这些事必不被疏忽。
二、可怜的锡安如今在苦难中，但救拔和帮助她的时刻必到（诗 102:13）：「你必起来怜恤锡安。」拯救的盼望建立在神的良善上——「你必怜恤锡安」，因为她已成为你所怜悯的对象；也建立神的大能上——「你必起来怜恤」，意即必激励自己而行，必在藐视教会仇敌一切敌挡中而行。「万军之耶和华的热心必成全此事。」极能鼓舞人的是：教会的拯救有定期，不仅将来某时必到，更要在所定的日期来到，就是无限智慧所定的（因此是最好之时），也是永恒真理所定的（因此是确定之时，必不被忘记，也不被进一步延搁）。七十年期满，拯救锡安脱离巴比伦之女的时机必到，至终也果然到了。锡安如今荒凉，即大卫城中所建的圣殿：怜恤锡安，就是重建圣殿，正如诗 102:16 所释。这事要出于神的恩惠；惟有这能使一切归正，除此无他；因此但以理祈求（但 9:17）：「使你的脸光照你荒凉的圣所。」对一个国家而言，重建锡安是他们所能渴望的极大恩惠。对一个倾覆的国家，再没有比恢复并重新建立教会的特权更可羡慕的福分了。如今这事在这里被人切慕、被人渴想，1. 因为这将使锡安之友大大欢喜（诗 102:14）：「你的仆人原来喜悦她的石头」，纵然圣殿已被拆毁、石头四散；「恩待她的尘土」，连它的瓦砾和废墟也顾惜。在此请观察，圣殿虽已毁，然而它的石头尚可用于重建，有人以此自勉，因为他们连它的尘土也恩待。那些真爱神教会的人，无论教会处于顺境或逆境中都爱她；当神将眷顾锡安废墟的意念放在他百姓心中、使他们以祷告和努力表明如此眷顾之时，便是大有盼望神必恩待锡安废墟的根据；又因有那为她如此关切的人，并「等候耶和华的救恩」，这也是向神为锡安求怜悯的好恳求。2. 因为这对锡安的邻邦有好的影响（诗 102:15）。这或许是使他们归正的蒙福途径，至少使他们受感动；因为「列国要敬畏耶和华的名」，对他和他的百姓存崇高的意念；「世上诸王」也必被你的荣耀所感动。当神藉他的护理如此尊荣教会，他们对神的教会必比从前有更美的想法；他们既见神站在教会一边，必惧怕对教会采取任何行动；不，他们必说：我们要与你们同去，因为我们「看见神与你们同处」（亚 8:23）。所以经上说（斯 8:17），「那地的人民有许多因惧怕犹大人，就入了犹大籍。」3. 因为这将归于锡安之神的荣耀（诗 102:16）：「耶和华建造了锡安」——他们认定这事必成，因为神亲自承担这事——「他在荣耀里显现」；正因如此，凡以他的荣耀为最高目标的人，都渴望并为此祷告。请注意，教会的建立就是神的得荣耀；因此我们可以确信，这事必在所定之时成就。那些凭信心祷告「父啊，愿你荣耀你的名」的人，可能像基督自己一样，从天上有声音得着同样的回答：「我已经荣耀了我的名，还要再荣耀」——虽然此刻它或被掩蔽。
三、神百姓的祷告如今似乎被轻忽，无人理会，但它们必将被复查，大得鼓励（诗 102:17）：「他垂顾穷人的祷告。」诗 102:16 说神要「在他荣耀里显现」，这荣耀甚至诸王也「敬畏」（诗 102:15）。当显贵的人「在他们的荣耀里显现」时，他们容易轻蔑地看待那些来求告的穷人；但伟大的神不如此行。请观察，1. 求告者的卑微；他们是「穷人」。此处原文用字甚为优雅，原指旷野的石南，矮小的灌木，如墙上长出的牛膝草。他们被设想为处于低微、破碎的状态，富于属灵的福分，却缺乏属世的财物——贫穷的、软弱的、孤苦的、被剥光的；这字有这许多不同的译法；这字也可指那低微破碎的灵，就是神在一切就近他的人中所寻找的，并要满有恩典地垂顾。这要使他们屈膝。穷乏的人当是祷告的人（提前 5:5）。2. 神对他们的恩待，不顾其卑微：「他垂顾他们的祷告」，就是留意他们的呈诉（代下 6:40），「并不藐视他们的祈求」。这话所含的意思比字面更多：他必看重，必喜悦，必赐下平安的回答——这是祷告所能得的最高尊荣。之所以这样表达，是因为别人藐视他们的祷告，他们自己也怕神藐视，而苦难延长、祷告不得应允之时，神似乎也被以为藐视了他们的祷告。当我们想到自己的卑微和污秽，想到我们心中的幽暗和死沉，并我们祷告中的诸多缺失，我们便有理由怀疑我们的祷告在天上要被藐视地接收；但我们在此得着相反的保证，因为我们有一位与父同在的中保，并且我们是在恩典之下，不在律法之下。神这样恩待他祷告的百姓，纵使他们穷乏，必成为祷告的永久鼓励（诗 102:18）：「这必为后代的人记下，使无人因穷乏而绝望，也不因暂时未得应允便以为祷告被忘记了。别人所得的经历，当成为我们寻求神、信靠神的鼓励。我们既从别人的经历中得安慰，便当将荣耀归给神：将来受造的民要因他为他们和他们的先祖所行的事赞美耶和华。许多如今未生的人，因阅读教会的历史，要被感动而归主。那蒙神恩典重新创造的民——就是他受造之物中的「初熟果子」的——必因他们穷乏之时神应允他们的祷告而赞美耶和华。
四、那不公被定罪的囚犯，看来如将宰的羊，但神必照顾使他们得释放（诗 102:19,20）：神已「从至高之圣所垂看」，从他所预备宝座的「天」上——那高处、那圣地——「向地观察」，因为那是瞭望之所，这地上没有什么能在他全知的眼前隐藏；他垂看，不是为要观看世上的国度和它们的荣耀，而是为施恩——「要垂听被囚之人的叹息」（这声音我们却要躲开不听），不仅要垂听，更要帮助——「释放将要死的人」，就在他们与死亡只差一步之时。有人以此指犹太人从巴比伦被掳中得释放。神在那里听见了他们的叹息，正如他们从前在埃及之时（出 3:7,9），便下来拯救他们。神不仅留意他受苦百姓的祷告——那是恩典的语言——甚至留意他们的叹息——那是天然的语言。请看神的怜悯，听见囚犯的叹息；又看神的大能，松开囚犯的锁链，甚至当他们已被定死罪、被五花大绑、双重镣铐之时。我们可以在彼得身上看见一例（徒 12:6）。神如此降卑、如此怜悯的实例，必有助于，1.「使人在锡安传扬耶和华的名」，表明他名实相符，正如他自己所宣告的：「耶和华神，有怜悯有恩典」；而他在锡安传扬他名，必成为他在耶路撒冷受赞美的内容（诗 102:21）。神若以他的护理传扬他的名，我们便当以我们的承认传扬他的赞美——这赞美当为他名的回响。神必释放他作囚犯和被掳之民的百姓脱离巴比伦，「使他们在锡安传扬他的名」——就是他所选立为自己名下之处——「并在耶路撒冷赞美他」，就是他们归回之时；在被掳之地他们不能唱锡安的歌（诗 137:3,4），神又领他们回耶路撒冷，好叫他们能在那里歌唱。为此，神赐人脱离捆绑得自由（「求你领我的灵魂出离监牢，好称赞你的名」，诗 142:7），又赐人死里复活的生命。「愿我的灵魂活着，它就必赞美你」（诗 119:175）。2. 这些事必有助于吸引别人来敬拜神（诗 102:22）：当神的百姓在耶路撒冷聚集之时（如他们从巴比伦归回之后），许多外邦国中的人也加入他们「事奉耶和华」。这在拉 6:21 已经应验：不仅是从被掳之地出来的以色列人，连「一切除掉所染外邦人污秽归附他们」的人，也都「欢欢喜喜地守除酵节」。但这话还可远望及末世外邦人归信基督。基督宣告「被掳的得释放」，「那受压制的得自由」（参看以赛亚书相应经文），好叫他们在福音教会中传扬耶和华的名——在这教会中，犹太人和外邦人要合而为一。
Englisches Original
The Future Glory of Zion
¹² But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
¹³ Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
¹⁴ For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
¹⁵ So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
¹⁶ When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
¹⁷ He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
¹⁸ This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
¹⁹ For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
²⁰ To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
²¹ To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
²² When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Many exceedingly great and precious comforts are here thought of, and mustered up, to balance the foregoing complaints; for unto the upright there arises light in the darkness, so that, though they are cast down, they are not in despair. It is bad with the psalmist himself, bad with the people of God; but he has many considerations to revive himself with.
I. We are dying creatures, and our interests and comforts are dying, but God is an everliving everlasting God (Ps 102:12): "My days are like a shadow; there is no remedy; night is coming upon me; but, thou, O Lord! shalt endure for ever. Our life is transient, but thine is permanent; our friends die, but thou our God diest not; what threatened us cannot touch thee; our names will be written in the dust and buried in oblivion, but thy remembrance shall be unto all generations; to the end of time, nay, to eternity, thou shalt be known and honoured." A good man loves God better than himself, and therefore can balance his own sorrow and death with the pleasing thought of the unchangeable blessedness of the Eternal Mind. God endures forever, his church's faithful patron and protector; and, his honour and perpetual remembrance being very much bound up in her interests, we may be confident that they shall not be neglected.
II. Poor Zion is now in distress, but there will come a time for her relief and succour (Ps 102:13): Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion. The hope of deliverance is built upon the goodness of God—"Thou wilt have mercy upon Zion, for she has become an object of thy pity;" and upon the power of God—"Thou shalt arise and have mercy, shalt stir up thyself to do it, shalt do it in contempt of all the opposition made by the church's enemies." The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. That which is very encouraging is that there is a time set for the deliverance of the church, which not only will come some time, but will come at the time appointed, the time which Infinite Wisdom has appointed (and therefore it is the best time) and which Eternal Truth has fixed it to, and therefore it is a certain time, and shall not be forgotten nor further adjourned. At the end of seventy years, the time to favour Zion, by delivering her from the daughter of Babylon, was to come, and at length it did come. Zion was now in ruins, that is, the temple that was built in the city of David: the favouring of Zion is the building of the temple up again, as it is explained, Ps 102:16. This is expected from the favour of God; that will set all to rights, and nothing but that, and therefore Daniel prays (Da 9:17), Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate. The building up of Zion is as great a favour to any people as they can desire. No blessing more desirable to a ruined state than the restoring and re-establishing of their church-privileges. Now this is here wished for and longed for, 1. Because it would be a great rejoicing to Zion's friends (Ps 102:14): Thy servants take pleasure even in the stones of the temple, though they were thrown down and scattered, and favour the dust, the very rubbish and ruins of it. Observe here, When the temple was ruined, yet the stones of it were to be had for a new building, and there were those who encouraged themselves with that, for they had a favour even for the dust of it. Those who truly love the church of God love it when it is in affliction as well as when it is in prosperity; and it is a good ground to hope that God will favour the ruins of Zion when he puts it into the heart of his people to favour them, and to show that they do so by their prayers and by their endeavours; as it is also a good plea with God for mercy for Zion that there are those who are so affectionately concerned for her, and are waiting for the salvation of the Lord. 2. Because it would have a good influence upon Zion's neighbours, Ps 102:15. It will be a happy means perhaps of their conversion, at least of their conviction; for so the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, shall have high thoughts of him and his people, and even the kings of the earth shall be affected with his glory. They shall have better thoughts of the church of God than they have had, when God by his providence thus puts an honour upon it; they shall be afraid of doing any thing against it when they see God taking its part; nay, they shall say, We will go with you, for we have seen that God is with you, Zec 8:23. Thus it is said (Es 8:17) that many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. 3. Because it would redound to the honour of Zion's God (Ps 102:16): When the Lord shall build up Zion. They take it for granted it will be done, for God himself has undertaken it, and he shall then appear in his glory; and for that reason all that have made his glory their highest end desire it and pray for it. Note, The edifying of the church will be the glorifying of God, and therefore we may be assured it will be done in the set time. Those that pray in faith, Father, glorify thy name, may receive the same answer to that prayer which was given to Christ himself by a voice from heaven, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it yet again, though now for a time it may be eclipsed.
III. The prayers of God's people now seem to be slighted and no notice taken of them, but they will be reviewed and greatly encouraged (Ps 102:17): He will regard the prayer of the destitute. It was said (Ps 102:16) that God will appear in his glory, such a glory as kings themselves shall stand in awe of, Ps 102:15. When great men appear in their glory they are apt to look with disdain upon the poor that apply to them; but the great God will not do so. Observe, 1. The meanness of the petitioners; they are the destitute. It is an elegant word that is here used, which signifies the heath in the wilderness, a low shrub, or bush, like the hyssop of the wall. They are supposed to be in a low and broken state, enriched with spiritual blessings, but destitute of temporal good things—the poor, the weak, the desolate, the stripped; thus variously is the word rendered; or it may signify that low and broken spirit which God looks for in all that draw nigh to him and which he will graciously look upon. This will bring them to their knees. Destitute people should be praying people, 1Ti 5:5. 2. The favour of God to them, notwithstanding their meanness: He will regard their prayer, and will look at it, will peruse their petition (2Ch 6:40), and he will not despise their prayer. More is implied than is expressed: he will value it and be well pleased with it, and will return an answer of peace to it, which is the greatest honour that can be put upon it. But it is thus expressed because others despise their praying, they themselves fear God will despise it, and he was thought to despise it while their affliction was prolonged and their prayers lay unanswered. When we consider our own meanness and vileness, our darkness and deadness, and the manifold defects in our prayers, we have cause to suspect that our prayers will be received with disdain in heaven; but we are here assured of the contrary, for we have an advocate with the Father, and are under grace, not under the law. This instance of God's favour to his praying people, though they are destitute, will be a lasting encouragement to prayer (Ps 102:18): This shall be written for the generation to come, that none may despair, though they be destitute, nor think their prayers forgotten because they have not an answer to them immediately. The experiences of others should be our encouragements to seek unto God and trust in him. And, if we have the comfort of the experiences of others, it is fit that we should give God the glory of them: The people who shall be created shall praise the Lord for what he has done both for them and for their predecessors. Many that are now unborn shall, by reading the history of the church, be wrought upon to turn proselytes. The people that shall be created anew by divine grace, that are a kind of first-fruits of his creatures, shall praise the Lord for his answers to their prayers when they were more destitute.
IV. The prisoners under condemnation unjustly seem as sheep appointed for the slaughter, but care shall be taken for their discharge (Ps 102:19,20): God has looked down from the height of his sanctuary, from heaven, where he has prepared his throne, that high place, that holy place; thence did the Lord behold the earth, for it is a place of prospect, and nothing on this earth is or can be hidden from his all-seeing eye; he looks down, not to take a view of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, but to do acts of grace, to hear the groaning of the prisoners (which we desire to be out of the hearing of), and not only to hear them, but to help them, to loose those that are appointed to death, then when there is but a step between them and it. Some understand it of the release of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon. God heard their groaning there as he did when they were in Egypt (Ex 3:7,9) and came down to deliver them. God takes notice not only of the prayers of his afflicted people, which are the language of grace, but even of their groans, which are the language of nature. See the divine pity in hearing the prisoner's groans, and the divine power in loosing the prisoner's bonds, even when they are appointed to death and are pinioned and double-shackled. We have an instance in Peter, Ac 12:6. Such instances as these of the divine condescension and compassion will help, 1. To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and to make it appear that he answers to his name, which he himself proclaimed, The Lord God, gracious and merciful; and this declaration of his name in Zion shall be the matter of his praise in Jerusalem, Ps 102:21. If God by his providences declare his name, we must by our acknowledgments of them declare his praise, which ought to be the echo of his name. God will discharge his people that were prisoners and captives in Babylon, that they may declare his name in Zion, the place he has chosen to put his name there, and his praise in Jerusalem, at their return thither; in the land of their captivity they could not sing the songs of Zion (Ps 137:3,4), and God brought them again to Jerusalem in order that they might sing them there. For this end God gives liberty from bondage (Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name, Ps 142:7), and life from the dead. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, Ps 119:175. 2. They will help to draw in others to the worship of God (Ps 102:22): When the people of God are gathered together at Jerusalem (as they were after their return out of Babylon) many out of the kingdoms joined with them to serve the Lord. This was fulfilled Ezr 6:21, where we find that not only the children of Israel that had come out of captivity, but many that had separated themselves from them among the heathen, did keep the feast of unleavened bread with joy. But it may look further, at the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ in the latter days. Christ has proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that were bound, that they may declare the name of the Lord in the gospel-church, in which Jews and Gentiles shall unite.
23-28
Hoping in God's Compassion
简体中文
仰望神的怜悯
²³ 他使我的力量在中道上衰弱，使我的日子短少。 ²⁴ 我说：我的神啊，不要在我中年的时候把我取去；你的年数世世无穷。 ²⁵ 你起初立了地的根基；天也是你手所造的。 ²⁶ 天地都要灭没，你却要长存；天地都要如外衣渐渐旧了。你要将天地如里衣更换，天地就都改变了； ²⁷ 惟有你永不改变；你的年数没有穷尽。 ²⁸ 你仆人的子孙要长存；他们的后裔要在你面前坚立。
我们在此可观察，
一、犹太教会被掳巴比伦、几乎要被灭绝剪除的迫切危险（诗 102:23）：「他使我的力量在中道上衰弱」。他们多年来在得着父辈关乎弥赛亚之伟大应许的路上——他们如旅客渴望旅程结束般，渴望它。律法的典章引导他们在路上；但当十支派迷失于亚述，二支派几乎迷失于巴比伦之时，那国的力量衰弱，似乎它的日子也被缩短；因为他们说：「我们的指望失去了；我们被剪除」（结 37:11）。那么关乎示罗要从犹大兴起、星从雅各出来、弥赛亚从大卫家出来的应许，将如何呢？这些若失败，应许也失败。诗人以自己的身份论及此事，这话也可很恰当地应用于今世的两种常见苦难：1. 多病。身体的疾病很快「使我们的力量在中道上衰弱」——使「看守房屋的发颤，有力的人屈身」。2. 短命。前者既觉，后者便恐；当我们在中年，按自然规律力量衰弱之时，我们所指望的除了「我们的月数在中道被剪除」之外，还有什么？我们除了相应预备，又当怎样？我们必须承认神的手在其中（因为我们的力量和时间都在他手中），并必须使它与他的爱相调和——因为善用力量的人力量却衰弱，难以省去的人日子却缩短，这往往是那些人的分。
二、为延续这事而祷告（诗 102:24）：「我的神啊，不要在我中年的时候把我取去」——不要让这可怜的教会在应许所定日子的中道被剪除；不要让它被剪除，直到弥赛亚来到。「不要毁坏它，因为赐福在其中」（赛 65:8）。它虽是罪犯，却为其中之赐福的缘故，求缓刑。这是为受苦之人的祷告——我们可以存顺服神旨意的心，凭信献上，求神不要「在我们中年的时候把我们取去」，而是若他愿意，便存留我们，使我们更能事奉他，更成熟于天国。
三、强制此祷告的恳求，取自所应许之弥赛亚的永恒（诗 102:25-27）。使徒引用这些经文（来 1:10-12），并告诉我们：他是「指着儿子」说的；在那解释中我们当依从。论及教会所经过的一切变迁和所受的一切危险，这是十分安慰的——「耶稣基督昨日、今日、一直到永远，是一样的」。「你的年数世世无穷」，不能缩短。论及我们身体的衰残死亡、并朋友从我们中间被迁去，这也是十分安慰的——神是永活的神，所以若他是我们的，在他里面我们便有永远的安慰。在这恳求中，请观察他为说明造物主的永恒，将它与受造物的可变相比；因为永不改变是神独有的特权。1. 神造了世界，因此在它之前他从永远已有。神的儿子——永生的道——造了世界。经上明说：「万物是藉着他造的；凡被造的，没有一样不是藉着他造的」；所以「太初」「他与神同在……就是神」（约 1:1-3；西 1:16；弗 3:9；来 1:2）。地和天，并天地的众军，包括宇宙和它的丰满，这些都从神藉他的儿子得着存在（诗 102:25）：「你起初立了地的根基」，地虽「立在海上」「立在大水之上」，却「安定」；何况教会，它「建造在磐石上」。「天也是你手所造的」，它的一切运行和影响也由你引导；所以神不仅是一切存在的源头，也是一切能力和统治的源头。请看这位伟大的救赎主何等配得在天上地下一切权柄的托付——因为他自己作为二者的创造者，完全认识二者，并对二者有主权。2. 神将再撤废世界，因此他必存到永远（诗 102:26,27）：「天地都要灭没」，因为「你要更换它们」——以造它们的同一全能之力；所以无疑「你却要长存；惟有你永不改变」。神与世界，基督与受造物，彼此争夺人不灭之灵魂的最深处和最高处；这里所说的话，我们或以为足以立刻决定这场争辩，并使我们归于神和基督。因为，（1）在受造物里的分是衰残将亡的：「天地都要灭没」——它们不能像我们那样久存。日子将到，「地和其上的作为都要被烧尽」（彼后 3:10）；那时那些把财宝积蓄在其中的人将如何呢？天地要「如外衣渐渐旧了」——不是渐渐的衰残，而是所定之时一到，便要如我们不再需要的旧衣被搁置：「你要将天地如里衣更换，天地就都改变了」——不是归于无有，而是改变，可以变为与先前全然不同——「新天新地」。请看神对天地的主权。他可随意改变它们，并在随意之时改变它们；它们在昼夜、冬夏的运转中所受的不断变迁，是它们末后和最终变更的凭据——那时「天」和「时间」（藉它们量度的）「就不再有了」。（2）在神里的分是恒常永远的：「惟有你永不改变」——不受任何变更；「你的年数没有穷尽」（诗 102:27）。基督在成全上必与在应许上一样，对他的被掳教会与对得释放的教会一样。教会不要惧怕她的力量衰弱，或她的日子缩短，因为基督自己既是她的力量又是她的生命；他是永不改变的，并曾说：「因为我活着，你们也要活着」（约 14:19）。基督在时候满足之时降临，并在旧约巴比伦的权势之上建立了他的国，他也要在新约巴比伦的权势之上保守它。
四、这祷告必蒙应允的安慰确据（诗 102:28）：「你仆人的子孙要长存」——基督既永不改变，教会也必一代一代地长存；从头的永恒，我们可推及身体的恒久——虽然身体常软弱多病，甚至到了死门。那些想要「消耗至高者的圣民」的人必要失望。基督的仆人必有子孙；那些子孙必有后裔——承认神之民的传承；教会和世界一样，都在「要生养众多」之赐福的影响之下。这些「子孙要长存」——不是在他们自己的位格上（因有死），而是在他们的后裔中，这后裔要在神面前（即在事奉他、藉他恩典）被坚立；宗教的传承不会在世界存立之时被割断；而是一代敬虔人过去，另一代又来，如此基督的宝座必永存。
Englisches Original
Hoping in God's Compassion
²³ He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
²⁴ I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
²⁵ Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
²⁶ They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
²⁷ But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
²⁸ The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
We may here observe,
I. The imminent danger that the Jewish church was in of being quite extirpated and cut off by the captivity in Babylon (Ps 102:23): He weakened my strength in the way. They were for many ages in the way to the performance of the great promise made to their fathers concerning the Messiah, longing as much for it as ever a traveller did to be at his journey's end. The legal institutions led them in the way; but when the ten tribes were lost in Assyria, and the two almost lost in Babylon, the strength of that nation was weakened, and, in all appearance, its day shortened; for they said, Our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts, Eze 37:11. And then what becomes of the promise that Shiloh should arise out of Judah, the star out of Jacob, and the Messiah out of the family of David? If these fail, the promise fails. This the psalmist speaks of as in his own person, and it is very applicable to two of the common afflictions of this time:—1. To be sickly. Bodily distempers soon weaken our strength in the way, make the keepers of the house to tremble and the strong men to bow themselves. 2. To be short-lived. Where the former is felt, this is feared; when in the midst of our days, according to a course of nature, our strength is weakened, what can we expect but that the number of our months should be cut off in the midst? and what should we do but provide accordingly? We must own God's hand in it (for in his hand our strength and time are), and must reconcile it to his love, for it has often been the lot of those that have used their strength well to have it weakened, and of those that could very ill be spared to have their days shortened.
II. A prayer for the continuance of it (Ps 102:24): "O my God! take me not away in the midst of my days; let not this poor church be cut off in the midst of the days assigned it by the promise; let it not be cut off till the Messiah shall come. Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it," Isa 65:8. She is a criminal, but, for the sake of that blessing which is in her, she pleads for a reprieve. This is a prayer for the afflicted, and which, with submission to the will of God, we may in faith put up, that God would not take us away in the midst of our days, but that, if it be his will, he would spare us to do him further service and to be made riper for heaven.
III. A plea to enforce this prayer taken from the eternity of the Messiah promised, Ps 102:25-27. The apostle quotes these verses (Heb 1:10-12) and tells us, He saith this to the Son, and in that exposition we must acquiesce. It is very comfortable, in reference to all the changes that pass over the church, and all the dangers it is in, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Thy years are throughout all generations, and cannot be shortened. It is likewise comfortable in reference to the decay and death of our own bodies, and the removal of our friends from us, that God is an everliving God, and that therefore, if he be ours, in him we may have everlasting consolation. In this plea observe how, to illustrate the eternity of the Creator, he compares it with the mutability of the creature; for it is God's sole prerogative to be unchangeable. 1. God made the world, and therefore had a being before it from eternity. The Son of God, the eternal Word, made the world. It is expressly said, All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made; and therefore the same was in the beginning from eternity with God, and was God, Joh 1:1-3, Col 1:16, Eph 3:9, Heb 1:2. Earth and heaven, and the hosts of both, include the universe and its fulness, and these derive their being from God by his Son (Ps 102:25): "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, which is founded on the seas and on the floods and yet it abides; much more shall the church, which is built upon a rock. The heavens are the work of thy hands, and by thee are all their motions and influences directed;" God is therefore the fountain, not only of all being, but of all power and dominion. See how fit the great Redeemer is to be entrusted with all power, both in heaven and in earth, since he himself, as Creator of both, perfectly knows both and is entitled to both. 2. God will unmake the world again, and therefore shall have a being to eternity (Ps 102:26,27): They shall perish, for thou shalt change them by the same almighty power that made them, and therefore, no doubt, thou shalt endure; thou art the same. God and the world, Christ and the creature, are rivals for the innermost and uppermost place in the soul of man, the immortal soul; now what is here said, one would think, were enough to decide the controversy immediately and to determine us for God and Christ. For, (1.) A portion in the creature is fading and dying: They shall perish; they will not last so long as we shall last. The day is coming when the earth and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up; and then what will become of those that have laid up their treasure in it? Heaven and earth shall wax old as a garment, not by a gradual decay, but, when the set time comes, they shall be laid aside like an old garment that we have no more occasion for: As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed, not annihilated, but altered, it may be so that they shall not be at all the same, but new heavens and a new earth. See God's sovereign dominion over heaven and earth. He can change them as he pleases and when he pleases; and the constant changes they are subject to, in the revolutions of day and night, summer and winter, are earnests of their last and final change, when the heavens and time (which is measured by them) shall be no more. (2.) A portion in God is perpetual and everlasting: Thou art the same, subject to no change; and thy years have no end, Ps 102:27. Christ will be the same in the performance that he was in the promise, the same to his church in captivity that he was to his church at liberty. Let not the church fear the weakening of her strength, or the shortening of her days, while Christ himself is both her strength and her life; he is the same, and has said, Because I live you shall live also. Christ came in the fulness of time, and set up his kingdom in spite of the power of the Old-Testament Babylon, and he will keep it up in spite of the power of the New-Testament Babylon.
IV. A comfortable assurance of an answer to this prayer (Ps 102:28): The children of thy servants shall continue; since Christ is the same, the church shall continue from one generation to another; from the eternity of the head we may infer the perpetuity of the body, though often weak and distempered, and even at death's door. Those that hope to wear out the saints of the Most High will be mistaken. Christ's servants shall have children; those children shall have a seed, a succession, of professing people; the church, as well as the world, is under the influence of that blessing, Be fruitful and multiply. These children shall continue, not in their own persons, by reason of death, but in their seed, which shall be established before God (that is, in his service, and by his grace); the entail of religion shall not be cut off while the world stands, but, as one generation of good people passes away, another shall come, and thus the throne of Christ shall endure.
有人以为本篇是大卫在押沙龙叛乱之时所写;另有人以为是但以理、尼希米,或某位先知,为教会被囚于巴比伦之用而作,因为其中似乎论及锡安的荒凉与重建之时,这是但以理从书上所明白的(但9:2)。又或许诗人自己处于极大苦难之中,他在本诗开头为此抱怨,但(正如诗77:1-20及其他处所记)他借思念神的永恒、并教会的兴盛与长存——无论她现今如何受压受威吓——而得安慰。然而由诗102:25,26应用于基督(来1:10-12)可知,本诗所指乃弥赛亚的日子,或论他的受苦、或论他教会为他缘故所受的苦。在本诗中我们看见:一、诗人所发的悲伤哀诉——或为自己、或奉教会之名——论那极紧迫的重大苦难(诗102:1-11);二、针对这些苦情所引进的合时安慰:1. 来自神的永恒(诗102:12,24,27);2. 来自以信心预见神必为受苦教会适时施行拯救(诗102:13-22),以及她在世上的长存(诗102:28)。我们唱这首诗时,即使没有同样的苦情可诉,也可趁机与那些有此苦情的人表同情,这样本诗中安慰的部分在我们歌唱时便更显甘甜。