Commentaire par chapitre
Psalms Chapitre 139
서론
Sans titre
简体中文
Original anglais
Some of the Jewish doctors are of opinion that this is the most excellent of all the psalms of David; and a very pious devout meditation it is upon the doctrine of God's omniscience, which we should therefore have our hearts fixed upon and filled with in singing this psalm. I. This doctrine is here asserted, and fully laid down, Ps 139:1-6. II. It is confirmed by two arguments:—1. God is every where present; therefore he knows all, Ps 139:7-12. 2. He made us, therefore he knows us, Ps 139:13-16. III. Some inferences are drawn from this doctrine. 1. It may fill us with pleasing admiration of God, Ps 139:17,18. 2. With a holy dread and detestation of sin and sinners, Ps 139:19-22. 3. With a holy satisfaction in our own integrity, concerning which we may appeal to God, Ps 139:23,24. This great and self-evident truth, That God knows our hearts, and the hearts of all the children of men, if we did but mix faith with it and seriously consider it and apply it, would have a great influence upon our holiness and upon our comfort.
1-6
The Omniscience of God
简体中文
神的全知
交与伶长。大卫的诗篇。
¹ 耶和华啊,你已经鉴察我、认识我。
² 我坐下,我起来,你都晓得;你从远处知道我的意念。
³ 我行路,我躺卧,你都细察;你也深知我一切所行的。
⁴ 耶和华啊,我舌头上的话,你没有一句不知道的。
⁵ 你在我前后环绕我,按手在我身上。
⁶ 这样的知识奇妙,是我不能测的;至高,我不能及。
大卫在此立下这大真理:我们所事奉的神完全认识我们,我们内外之人的一切动作行为,在他面前都是赤露敞开的。
一、他以向神说话的方式立下这真理;他向神说这话,向他承认,并将荣耀归他。神的真理借祷告诉说时,正如借讲道诉说时那样丰满;并远胜借争辩诉说。当我们向神自己论到神时,我们便发现自己当以最大的真诚和敬畏来说——这必使印象更深。
二、他将自己应用其中来立下这话——不是说「你认识『一切』」,而是说「你认识『我』」;这是我最当信、最当思想而得益的。「那时」我们才是为益处而知——当我们为自己而知之时(伯5:27)。当我们承认「主啊,一切灵魂都是你的」时,我们必须加上:「我的灵魂是你的;你既恨恶一切罪,也恨恶我的罪;你既善待一切,善待以色列,也善待我。」如此在此:「『你已经鉴察我、认识我』——如我们认识我们最仔细最确切查究过的事那样认识我。」大卫是君王,而「君王的心……无人能测」(箴25:3);但在他们的主面前却非如此。
三、他下到具体:「你认识我,无论我在何处、无论我在作何事,并属于我的一切。」1. 「『你晓得』我一切的动作——我的『坐下』安息、我的『起来』作工,我知道我坐下时以何种心境安顿自己,我起来时以何种心境奋发自己;我的灵魂以何为安息、为支撑,以何为目标、为福乐、为归宿而伸手。你认识我回家时如何在我家前行事,我出门时为何事而去。」2. 「你晓得我一切的思想。」没有什么比思想更隐密更快;它常不为别人所知;它常不为我们自己所留意;然而『你从远处知道我的意念』。我的思想无论彼此如何相隔多远,你晓得其连锁,能看出其关联——其中许多已从我注意中溜走,连我自己也不能看出。」或作:「『你从远处晓得它们』,甚至在我想到之前,又远在我已想过、并自己早已忘记之后。」或作:「『你从远处晓得它们』——从天的高处你看见心的深处」(诗33:14)。3. 「你认识我一切的计划和作为;你『细察』每一条『道路』;你『筛』(或『簸』)『我的道路』」(有人如此译),「如此彻底分辨我所行之善恶,如借筛分出糠秕与麦子。」我们一切的行为都受神的判断所审察(诗17:3)。神注意我们所走的每一步——每一步正路、每一步偏路。他「深知我一切所行的」——深切认识;他知道我们行的是什么规则、向什么目的行、与什么同伴行。4. 「你认识我一切的退隐;你晓得『我躺卧』;当我从一切交往中退出,回想一日所经过的事、安顿自己休息时,你知道我心中有什么,我以什么思想就寝。」5. 「你认识我,和我所说的一切(诗139:4):『我舌头上的话』——没有一句虚妄的话、也没有一句好话——『你没有一句不知道的』;知道其意何在、出自什么思想、以什么目的而说。我舌尖上预备要说、却克制保留的话,你也知道。」『我舌头上的话,没有一句你不知道的』(有人如此读);因为思想对神就是话。6. 「你认识我,我的每一部分:『你在我前后环绕我』,因此无论我走何方,都在你眼下,绝无可能逃脱。你『按手在我身上』,我不能从你逃走。」无论我们在何处,都在神的眼目和手下。或许这是暗指医生按手在病人身上以诊脉或察其情。神认识我们,正如我们不仅认识所见的,更认识所感的、所亲手摸的。「他的一切圣民都在他手中。」
四、他以此希奇而言(诗139:6):「这太奇妙,是我不能测的;至高,我不能及。」1. 「你对我有如此的认识,是我对自己所没有、也不能有的。我不能注意我一切的思想,也不能对自己作出像你对我所作的判断。」2. 「这知识是我所不能领会、更不能述说的。我确知你晓得万事,但如何晓得,我却不能说。」我们不能借查寻而查出神如何查寻并查出我们;我们也不知我们是如何被认识的。
Original anglais
The Omniscience of God
To the chief musician. A psalm of David.
¹ O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
² Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
³ Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
⁵ Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
David here lays down this great doctrine, That the God with whom we have to do has a perfect knowledge of us, and that all the motions and actions both of our inward and of our outward man are naked and open before him.
I. He lays down this doctrine in the way of an address to God; he says it to him, acknowledging it to him, and giving him the glory of it. Divine truths look fully as well when they are prayed over as when they are preached over, and much better than when they are disputed over. When we speak of God to him himself we shall find ourselves concerned to speak with the utmost degree both of sincerity and reverence, which will be likely to make the impressions the deeper.
II. He lays it down in a way of application to himself, not, "Thou hast known all," but, "Thou hast known me; that is it which I am most concerned to believe and which it will be most profitable for me to consider." Then we know these things for our good when we know them for ourselves, Job 5:27. When we acknowledge, "Lord, all souls are thine," we must add, "My soul is thine; thou that hatest all sin hatest my sin; thou that art good to all, good to Israel, art good to me." So here, "Thou hast searched me, and known me; known me as thoroughly as we know that which we have most diligently and exactly searched into." David was a king, and the hearts of kings are unsearchable to their subjects (Pr 25:3), but they are not so to their Sovereign.
III. He descends to particulars: "Thou knowest me wherever I am and whatever I am doing, me and all that belongs to me." 1. "Thou knowest me and all my motions, my down-sitting to rest, my up-rising to work, with what temper of mind I compose myself when I sit down and stir up myself when I rise up, what my soul reposes itself in as its stay and support, what it aims at and reaches towards as its felicity and end. Thou knowest me when I come home, how I walk before my house, and when I go abroad, on what errands I go." 2. "Thou knowest all my imaginations. Nothing is more close and quick than thought; it is always unknown to others; it is often unobserved by ourselves, and yet thou understandest my thought afar off. Though my thoughts be ever so foreign and distant from one another, thou understandest the chain of them, and canst make out their connexion, when so many of them slip my notice that I myself cannot." Or, "Thou understandest them afar off, even before I think them, and long after I have thought them and have myself forgotten them." Or, "Thou understandest them from afar; from the height of heaven thou seest into the depths of the heart," Ps 33:14. 3. "Thou knowest me and all my designs and undertakings; thou compassest every particular path; thou siftest (or winnowest) my path" (so some), "so as thoroughly to distinguish between the good and evil of what I do," as by sifting we separate between the corn and the chaff. All our actions are ventilated by the judgment of God, Ps 17:3. God takes notice of every step we take, every right step and every by-step. He is acquainted with all our ways, intimately acquainted with them; he knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk towards, what company we walk with. 4. "Thou knowest me in all my retirements; thou knowest my lying down; when I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting upon what has passed all day and composing myself to rest, thou knowest what I have in my heart and with what thought I go to bed." 5. "Thou knowest me, and all I say (Ps 139:4): There is not a word in my tongue, not a vain word, nor a good word, but thou knowest it altogether, knowest what it meant, from what thought it came, and with what design it was uttered. There is not a word at my tongue's end, ready to be spoken, yet checked and kept in, but thou knowest it." When there is not a word in my tongue, O Lord! thou knowest all (so some read it); for thoughts are words to God. 6. "Thou knowest me in every part of me: Thou hast beset me behind and before, so that, go which way I will, I am under thy eye and cannot possibly escape it. Thou hast laid thy hand upon me, and I can not run away from thee." Wherever we are we are under the eye and hand of God. perhaps it is an allusion to the physician's laying his hand upon his patient to feel how his pulse beats or what temper he is in. God knows us as we know not only what we see, but what we feel and have our hands upon. All his saints are in his hand.
IV. He speaks of it with admiration (Ps 139:6): It is too wonderful for me; it is high. 1. "Thou hast such a knowledge of me as I have not of myself, nor can have. I cannot take notice of all my own thoughts, nor make such a judgment of myself as thou makest of me." 2. "It is such a knowledge as I cannot comprehend, much less describe. That thou knowest all things I am sure, but how I cannot tell." We cannot by searching find out how God searches and finds out us; nor do we know how we are known.
7-16
The Omniscience of God
简体中文
神的全知
⁷ 我往哪里去躲避你的灵?我往哪里逃躲避你的面? ⁸ 我若升到天上,你在那里;我若在阴间下榻,看哪,你也在那里。 ⁹ 我若展开清晨的翅膀,飞到海极居住, ¹⁰ 就是在那里,你的手必引导我,你的右手也必扶持我。 ¹¹ 我若说:黑暗必定遮蔽我,我周围的亮光必成为黑夜; ¹² 黑暗也不能遮蔽我使你不见,黑夜却如白昼发亮;黑暗和光明,在你看都是一样。 ¹³ 因我的肺腑是你所造的;我在母腹中,你已覆庇我。 ¹⁴ 我要称谢你,因我受造奇妙可畏;你的作为奇妙;这是我心深知道的。 ¹⁵ 我在暗中受造,在地的深处被联络,那时我的形体并不向你隐藏。 ¹⁶ 我未成形的体质,你的眼早已看见了;你所定的日子,我被造就,尚未有其一。
我们若知道所受教训之事的确实性,便大有裨益,使我们不仅相信它们,更能说出我们为何相信,并能为我们心中盼望的缘由作出交代。大卫确信神完全认识他和他的各样道路:
一、因为他始终在神的眼前。神若无所不在,便必是全知的;他确是无所不在;这暗示了他本体的无限与广阔,由此推出他同在的遍在;天地包括了一切受造之物,而造物主充满二者(耶23:24);他不仅认识二者、治理二者,更充满二者。受造之物每一部分都在神的鉴察与影响之下。大卫在此也附带应用地承认这事,并看见自己如此敞开在神面前。
1. 没有任何逃遁能使我们脱离神的面前:「我往哪里去躲避你的灵,躲避你的面」,即躲避你属灵的临在、躲避你这个灵呢?「神是灵」,所以以为我们看不见他,他也就看不见我们,这便是愚妄:「我往哪里逃躲避你的面?」这并不是说他想要远离神;不,他无别事更愿与神亲近;他只是设此情形:「假设我竟愚妄到想要逃出你的视线,好摆脱对你的敬畏;假设我想要背叛对你的顺服,或想否认对你的倚靠、独立谋生;唉!我能往哪里去呢?」一位异教徒也能说:「无论你转向何处,你都将看见神迎面而来。」他又列举了最遥远之地,并预期在其中遇见神。(1)在天上:「我若升」上去——正如我盼望不久就要如此——「你在那里」,与你同在便是我的永远福乐。天是个广大之地,充满了不可胜数的人群,然而在其中任何一个角落、任何一处人群之中,都无法逃脱神的眼目。那世界的居民对神的倚靠,正如这世界的居民一样是不可或缺的,也照样敞露在他严格的鉴察之下。(2)「在阴间」——在「示阿勒」中,这可指地的深处、地的正中心。我们若尽力向地下挖掘,以为藏在那里,便是错了;神知道鹫眼所未见的道路,在他看来地全然是表面。这也可指死人之境。我们虽被移出一切活人的眼前,却仍未移出永生神的眼前;在他的眼前,我们不能在坟墓里隐藏。这也可指被定罪者之地:「我若在阴间下榻」(在那里设榻并不舒服,那里昼夜不得安息,然而成千上万的人却要永远在那些火焰中设榻),「看哪,你也在那里」——在你的大能和公义中。神的忿怒是那要永远在那里焚烧的火,启14:10。(3)在这世界的极远角落:「我若展开清晨的翅膀」——晨光的射线(称为日头的翅膀,玛4:2),没有比这更迅速的了——「飞到海极」或地极(伯38:12-13)居住,我若逃到最遥远、最隐秘的岛屿——那最远的极地、未知之地——我也必在那里寻见你;「就是在那里,你的手必引导我」,无论我走到何处,并且「你的右手也必扶持我」,使我不能再前行,使我不可能脱离你的权势。约拿「逃往他施去躲避耶和华」之时,神很快就拿住了他。
2. 没有任何幔子能将我们从神眼前隐藏,连最厚的黑暗也不能,诗139:11-12。「我若说:黑暗必定遮蔽我」,当一切别的都失效之时,唉!我发现自己受了欺骗;夜的帷幔对我并不比清晨的翅膀更有用处;「我周围的亮光必成为黑夜。」那常有助于被追捕的罪犯逃脱、有助于败军退却的事,在我逃避神的事上对我毫无帮助。神将光暗分开之时,便为自己保留了这一特权:对他而言,「黑暗和光明」始终「在你看都是一样」。「黑暗也不能遮蔽我使你不见」,因为没有黑暗、也没有死荫,能让作孽的人在其中隐藏。任何伪善的面具或掩饰,无论多么堂皇,都不能使任何人或任何行为不在神面前显明其真相。隐秘的罪窝,在神面前正如最公开、最明目张胆的恶行一样敞开。
二、因为他是神手中的工作。造这机器的,知道它一切的运作。神造了我们,所以他毫无疑问认识我们;我们在成形之时他就看见了我们,我们既已成形,岂能向他隐藏呢?他坚持这一论据(诗139:13-16):「我的肺腑是你所造的」,意思是你是我最隐秘的思想和意图、并我灵魂最深处的主人;你不仅知道它们,更治理它们,如同我们治理我们所拥有的一样;而你对我国度的拥有是正当的拥有,「因为我在母腹中,你已覆庇我」,意即你造了我(伯10:11),你造我于隐秘之中。灵魂向一切在我们周围的人隐藏。「除了在人里头的灵,谁知道人的事?」林前2:11。因此经上提到「心中隐藏的人」。然而遮蔽我们的乃是神自己,所以他愿意之时便能启示我们;当他把我们从全世界面前隐藏之时,并非有意把我们从他眼前隐藏。关于人的受造——我们每一个人的受造:
1. 这事的荣耀完全归给神,唯独归给他;「因为造我们的是他,我们并非自己造自己。」「我要称谢你」——我存在的创始者;我的父母只是其中的器皿。这事是(1)在神的鉴察之下:「我的形体」,当它藏在母腹之中,不,当它还不过是在形成之中、未成形的胚胎之时,「并不向你隐藏」;「你的眼早已看见了」。(2)借神的作为而成。神的眼当时看见我们,他的手也造了我们;我们是他的工作。(3)照着神的模型:「在你书上一切所定的日子,我被造就」,意即你的册子已经先写下了一切肢体;永恒的智慧拟定了计划,又借全能的大能立起了这高贵的构造。
2. 此处对此说了荣耀的话。人的孕育当与最初的创造同样以敬虔的敬畏来思想。请思想:(1)作为一件大奇事,我们几乎可以称之为大神迹——只是它是循自然的常规而行。我们「受造奇妙可畏」;我们大可惊叹这些活物之殿的奇妙设计、每一部分的构造,以及各部分彼此的和谐。(2)作为一大奥秘——自然的奥秘:「我心深知道」这是奇妙的,但如何向别人描述我却不知道;因为「我在暗中受造」,在母腹中「被联络」,如同「在地的深处」那样隐秘、那样远离视线。(3)作为大怜悯:我们一切肢体「在继续中被塑造」,正如在神智慧谋略的册中所写的,「那时这些日子尚未有一个」;或如有人所读:「其中无一被遗漏」。我们若有任何肢体在神的册子上缺了,便也会在我们身体上缺了;但借他的恩典,我们有一切的肢体和感觉,缺了其中任何一样都可能使我们成为自己的重担。可见我们有充分的理由因受造赞美神,并断定那在我们形体未成之时已看见我们形体的神,如今在我们形体既成之后也同样看见。
Original anglais
The Omniscience of God
⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
¹² Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
¹³ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
It is of great use to us to know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed, that we may not only believe them, but be able to tell why we believe them, and to give a reason of the hope that is in us. David is sure that God perfectly knows him and all his ways,
I. Because he is always under his eye. If God is omnipresent, he must needs be omniscient; but he is omnipresent; this supposes the infinite and immensity of his being, from which follows the ubiquity of his presence; heaven and earth include the whole creation, and the Creator fills both (Jer 23:24); he not only knows both, and governs both, but he fills both. Every part of the creation is under God's intuition and influence. David here acknowledges this also with application and sees himself thus open before God.
1. No flight can remove us out of God's presence: "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, from thy presence, that is, from thy spiritual presence, from thyself, who art a Spirit?" God is a Spirit, and therefore it is folly to think that because we cannot see him he cannot see us: Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Not that he desired to go away from God; no, he desired nothing more than to be near him; but he only puts the case, "Suppose I should be so foolish as to think of getting out of thy sight, that I might shake off the awe of thee, suppose I should think of revolting from my obedience to thee, or of disowning a dependence on thee and of shifting for myself, alas! whither can I go?" A heathen could say, Quocunque te flexeris, ibi Deum videbis occurrentem tibi—Whithersoever thou turnest thyself, thou wilt see God meeting thee. Seneca. He specifies the most remote and distant places, and counts upon meeting God in them. (1.) In heaven: "If I ascend thither, as I hope to do shortly, thou art there, and it will be my eternal bliss to be with thee there." Heaven is a vast large place, replenished with an innumerable company, and yet there is no escaping God's eye there, in any corner, or in any crowd. The inhabitants of that world have as necessary a dependence upon God, and lie as open to his strict scrutiny, as the inhabitants of this. (2.) In hell—in Sheol, which may be understood of the depth of the earth, the very centre of it. Should we dig as deep as we can under ground, and think to hide ourselves there, we should be mistaken; God knows that path which the vulture's eye never saw, and to him the earth is all surface. Or it may be understood of the state of the dead. When we are removed out of the sight of all living, yet not out of the sight of the living God; from his eye we cannot hide ourselves in the grave. Or it maybe understood of the place of the damned: If I make my bed in hell (an uncomfortable place to make a bed in, where there is no rest day or night, yet thousands will make their bed for ever in those flames), behold, thou art there, in thy power and justice. God's wrath is the fire which will there burn everlastingly, Re 14:10. (3.) In the remotest corners of this world: "If I take the wings of the morning, the rays of the morning-light (called the wings of the sun, Mal 4:2), than which nothing more swift, and flee upon them to the uttermost parts of the sea, or of the earth (Job 38:12,13), should I flee to the most distant and obscure islands (the ultima Thule, the Terra incognita), I should find thee there; there shall thy hand lead me, as far as I go, and thy right hand hold me, that I can go no further, that I cannot go out of thy reach." God soon arrested Jonah when he fled to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
2. No veil can hide us from God's eye, no, not that of the thickest darkness, Ps 139:11,12. "If I say, Yet the darkness shall cover me, when nothing else will, alas! I find myself deceived; the curtains of the evening will stand me in no more stead than the wings of the morning; even the night shall be light about me. That which often favours the escape of a pursued criminal, and the retreat of a beaten army, will do me no kindness in fleeing from them." When God divided between the light and darkness it was with a reservation of this prerogative, that to himself the darkness and the light should still be both alike. "The darkness darkeneth not from thee, for there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." No hypocritical mask or disguise, how specious soever, can save any person or action from appearing in a true light before God. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open and barefaced villanies.
II. Because he is the work of his hands. He that framed the engine knows all the motions of it. God made us, and therefore no doubt he knows us; he saw us when we were in the forming, and can we be hidden from him now that we are formed? This argument he insists upon (Ps 139:13-16): "Thou hast possessed my reins; thou art Master of my most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul; thou not only knowest, but governest, them, as we do that which we have possession of; and the possession thou hast of my reins is a rightful possession, for thou coveredst me in my mother's womb, that is, thou madest me (Job 10:11), thou madest me in secret. The soul is concealed from all about us. Who knows the things of a man, save the spirit of a man?" 1Co 2:11. Hence we read of the hidden man of the heart. But it was God himself that thus covered us, and therefore he can, when he pleases, discover us; when he hid us from all the world he did not intend to hide us from himself. Concerning the formation of man, of each of us,
1. The glory of it is here given to God, entirely to him; for it is he that has made us and not we ourselves. "I will praise thee, the author of my being; my parents were only the instruments of it." It was done, (1.) Under the divine inspection: My substance, when hid in the womb, nay, when it was yet but in fieri—in the forming, an unshapen embryo, was not hidden from thee; thy eyes did see my substance. (2.) By the divine operation. As the eye of God saw us then, so his hand wrought us; we were his work. (3.) According to the divine model: In thy book all my members were written. Eternal wisdom formed the plan, and by that almighty power raised the noble structure.
2. Glorious things are here said concerning it. The generation of man is to be considered with the same pious veneration as his creation at first. Consider it, (1.) As a great marvel, a great miracle we might call it, but that it is done in the ordinary course of nature. We are fearfully and wonderfully made; we may justly be astonished at the admirable contrivance of these living temples, the composition of every part, and the harmony of all together. (2.) As a great mystery, a mystery of nature: My soul knows right well that it is marvellous, but how to describe it for any one else I know not; for I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the womb as in the lowest parts of the earth, so privately, and so far out of sight. (3.) As a great mercy, that all our members in continuance were fashioned, according as they were written in the book of God's wise counsel, when as yet there was none of them; or, as some read it, and none of them was left out. If any of our members had been wanting in God's book, they would have been wanting in our bodies, but, through his goodness, we have all our limbs and sense, the want of any of which might have made us burdens to ourselves. See what reason we have then to praise God for our creation, and to conclude that he who saw our substance when it was unfashioned sees it now that it is fashioned.
17-24
The Omniscience of God
简体中文
神的全知
¹⁷ 神啊,你的意念向我何等宝贵!其数何等众多! ¹⁸ 我若数点,比海沙更多;我醒觉的时候,仍和你同在。 ¹⁹ 神啊,你必要杀戮恶人;所以你们好流人血的,离开我去吧! ²⁰ 因为他们说恶言攻击你;你的仇敌也妄称你的名。 ²¹ 耶和华啊,恨恶你的,我岂不恨恶他们么?攻击你的,我岂不憎嫌他们么? ²² 我切切地恨恶他们,以他们为仇敌。 ²³ 神啊,求你鉴察我,知道我的心思;试炼我,知道我的意念, ²⁴ 看在我里面有什么恶行没有,引导我走永生的道路。
诗人在此从多方面将神的全知这一真理加以应用。
一、他以惊奇和感恩承认,神在他一生的日子都眷顾他(诗 139:17,18)。那认识他的神,也记念他;他对他的意念是爱的意念,是「赐平安的意念,不是降灾祸的意念」(耶 29:11)。神的全知本可以公义地监视我们以致害我们,如今却为我们所用,监视我们为要向我们行善(耶 31:28)。神关乎我们和我们福祉的谋略,1. 奇妙地宝贵:「何等宝贵!」它们本身深奥,无法测透、无法领悟。神在关乎我们的护理作为中,已经伸展极广,竟以远超我们的筹算和预见为我们成就了美事。它们对我们也是宝贵的;我们当以极大的敬畏,又以喜乐感恩的心,来思念它们。我们关乎神的思想,当比任何别的思想更使我们愉悦。2. 奇妙地众多:「其数何等众多!」我们无法想象神关乎我们的恩慈谋略何等多,他为我们行了何等多美善的事,我们从他领受了何等多样的怜悯。我们若要「数点」它们——其头绪,更何况其细节——「比海沙更多」,且每一件都是伟大的、十分可观的(诗 40:5)。我们无法想象神怜悯之多,每早晨都是新的。3. 时常不息:「我醒觉的时候」——每早晨——「仍和你同在」,在你眼目和眷顾之下,在你的保护中安全安逸。这也说明大卫对神眼目常在他身上有不断的虔诚感受:「我醒觉的时候,仍和你同在」——在我心思中与你同在;若我们早晨醒来之时,最先的思想是向他,并在那时把他摆在我们面前,必大有帮助使我们终日敬畏主。
二、他从这真理推论:罪人的结局必是灭亡。神知道恶人的一切恶,因此必为此算账:「神啊,你必要杀戮恶人!」因为他们的一切恶都在你面前敞开,无论他们如何巧为掩饰、加以粉饰,以遮蔽世人的眼目。无论你暂时容他们兴旺多久,「至终你必杀戮他们」。如今请观察,1. 神要刑罚他们的原因,是他们胆敢侮辱他、向他放肆(诗 139:20):「他们说恶言攻击你」;他们「用口亵渎上天」(诗 73:9),必因他们「顶撞他所说刚愎的话」受审问(犹 15)。他们是他的「仇敌」,并以「妄称他的名」表明他们的敌意——正如我们将一个人的名当作口头禅、只以戏谑和讥诮的方式提及他,便是轻视他。那些以亵渎不敬的态度使用起誓或祷告的神圣形式,便是妄称神的名,并藉此表明自己是神的仇敌。有人解作指假冒为善的人:「他们说恶言攻击你;他们谈论神,假装敬虔,却是怀着某种恶谋,作为恶意的伪装;他们既是神的仇敌,却假装友谊,便『妄称他的名』;他们起假誓。」2. 大卫从此看见恶人灭亡的前景,作何应用。(1)他斥拒他们:「你们好流人血的,离开我去吧!」你们不能玷污我,因为我不接纳你们的友谊,也不与你们相交;你们也不能毁灭我,因为我在神的保护之下,他必迫使你们离开我。(2)他恨恶他们(诗 139:21,22):「主啊,你知道人心,能为我作见证;恨恶你的,我岂不恨恶他们么?」——并因这缘故,因他们恨恶你。「我恨恶他们,因我爱你,恨见你的圣名受如此侮辱和轻慢。攻击你的,我岂不憎嫌他们么?」——看见他们的叛逆就忧伤,并预见他们必有的结局——就是这一切必有的灭亡。「罪被一切敬畏神的人所恨恶,罪人为他们所哀惜。」「我切切地恨恶他们」(即「我恨恶那些偏离之人的作为」,正如他在诗 101:3 解释自己),「我以『完全的恨恶』恨恶他们;我视那与神为敌的人为我的仇敌,不与他们亲密」(参诗 69:8)。
三、他就自己的诚实向神申诉(诗 139:23,24)。1. 他愿自己若有错,神便向他显明。诚实的人能以神的全知为他诚实的见证为安慰,也能谦卑确信地求神鉴察他、试炼他,将自己显给自己看(因为敬虔人愿知道自己的最坏),又显给别人看。诚实的人巴不得自己胸前有一窗,任谁都可见他的心:「主啊,我希望我不在恶道上;但『看在我里面有什么恶行没有』,还有什么败坏的倾向存留——让我看见;并从我身上除掉,因为我不容许它。」2. 他愿自己若有对的地方,便在其中被建立,那知道人心的知道如何有效地成全此事:「引导我走永生的道路。」请注意,(1)敬虔之道是永生之道;它永远真实美好,讨神喜悦,于我们有益,并要引到永生。有人说这是「古道」,就是「善道」。(2)众圣徒都愿被保守、被引导在这道上,免得迷失、偏离或疲乏。
Original anglais
The Omniscience of God
¹⁷ How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
¹⁹ Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
²⁰ For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
²¹ Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
²² I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Here the psalmist makes application of the doctrine of God's omniscience, divers ways.
I. He acknowledges, with wonder and thankfulness, the care God had taken of him all his days, Ps 139:17,18. God, who knew him, thought of him, and his thoughts towards him were thoughts of love, thoughts of good, and not of evil, Jer 29:11. God's omniscience, which might justly have watched over us to do us hurt, has been employed for us, and has watched over us to do us good, Jer 31:28. God's counsels concerning us and our welfare have been, 1. Precious to admiration: How precious are they! They are deep in themselves, such as cannot possibly be fathomed and comprehended. Providence has had a vast reach in its dispensations concerning us, and has brought things about for our good quite beyond our contrivance and foresight. They are dear to us; we must think of them with a great deal of reverence, and yet with pleasure and thankfulness. Our thoughts concerning God must be delightful to us, above any other thoughts. 2. Numerous to admiration: How great is the sum of them! We cannot conceive how many God's kind counsels have been concerning us, how many good turns he has done us, and what variety of mercies we have received from him. If we would count them, the heads of them, much more the particulars of them, they are more in number than the sand, and yet every one great and very considerable, Ps 40:5. We cannot conceive the multitude of God's compassions, which are all new every morning. 3. Constant at all times: "When I awake, every morning, I am still with thee, under thy eye and care, safe and easy under thy protection." This bespeaks also the continual devout sense David had of the eye of God upon him: When I awake I am with thee, in my thoughts; and it would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long if, when we awake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him and we did then set him before us.
II. He concludes from this doctrine that ruin will certainly be the end of sinners. God knows all the wickedness of the wicked, and therefore he will reckon for it: "Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God! for all their wickedness is open before thee, however it may be artfully disguised and coloured over, to hide it from the eye of the world. However thou suffer them to prosper for a while, surely thou wilt slay them at last." Now observe, 1. The reason why God will punish them, because they daringly affront him and set him at defiance (Ps 139:20): They speak against thee wickedly; they set their mouth against the heavens (Ps 73:9), and shall be called to account for the hard speeches they have spoken against him, Jude 1:15. They are his enemies, and declare their enmity by taking his name in vain, as we show our contempt of a man if we make a by-word of his name, and never mention him but in a way of jest and banter. Those that profane the sacred forms of swearing or praying by using them in an impertinent irreverent manner take God's name in vain, and thereby show themselves enemies to him. Some make it to be a description of hypocrites: "They speak of thee for mischief; they talk of God, pretending to piety, but it is with some ill design, for a cloak of maliciousness; and, being enemies to God, while they pretend friendship, they take his name in vain; they swear falsely." 2. The use David makes of this prospect which he has of the ruin of the wicked. (1.) He defies them: "Depart from me, you bloody men; you shall not debauch me, for I will not admit your friendship nor have fellowship with you; and you cannot destroy me, for, being under God's protection, he shall force you to depart from me." (2.) He detests them (Ps 139:21,22): "Lord, thou knowest the heart, and canst witness for me; do not I hate those that hate thee, and for that reason, because they hate thee? I hate them because I love thee, and hate to see such affronts and indignities put upon thy blessed name. Am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee, grieved to see their rebellion and to foresee their ruin, which it will certainly end in?" Note, Sin is hated, and sinners are lamented, by all that fear God. "I hate them" (that is, "I hate the work of them that turn aside," as he explains himself, Ps 101:3) "with a sincere and perfect hatred; I count those that are enemies to God as enemies to me, and will not have any intimacy with them," Ps 69:8.
III. He appeals to God concerning his sincerity, Ps 139:23,24. 1. He desires that as far as he was in the wrong God would discover it to him. Those that are upright can take comfort in God's omniscience as a witness of their uprightness, and can with a humble confidence beg of him to search and try them, to discover them to themselves (for a good man desires to know the worst of himself) and to discover them to others. He that means honestly could wish he had a window in his breast that any man may look into his heart: "Lord, I hope I am not in a wicked way, but see if there be any wicked way in me, any corrupt inclination remaining; let me see it; and root it out of me, for I do not allow it." 2. He desires that, as far as he was in the right, he might be forwarded in it, which he that knows the heart knows how to do effectually: Lead me in the way everlasting. Note, (1.) The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly true and good, pleasing to God and profitable to us, and will end in everlasting life. It is the way of antiquity (so some), the good old way. (2.) All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn out of it, nor tire in it.
有些犹太学者认为本篇是大卫诗篇中最卓越的一篇;它是一篇极敬虔的默想,论神全知的道理,因此我们唱这首诗时心思当固守此道、被其充满。本篇结构如下:一、此道在此被陈明、详尽陈述(诗139:1-6);二、由两个论证加以证实:1. 神无所不在,故他无所不知(诗139:7-12);2. 他造我们,故他认识我们(诗139:13-16);三、从此道引出若干推论:1. 使我们充满对神可喜悦的惊叹(诗139:17,18);2. 使我们充满对罪与罪人圣洁的敬畏与憎恶(诗139:19-22);3. 使我们对自己正直有圣洁的满意,并可就此向神申诉(诗139:23,24)。这一伟大而自明之真理——神知我们的心,并知一切人心——若我们以信心与之相和,认真思量并应用,必对我们的圣洁与我们的安慰发生极大影响。