【双语灵修】极度渴望敬拜神DESPERATE FOR WORSHIP

诗篇42:1-5

神啊，我的心切慕你，如鹿切慕溪水。 我的心渴想神，就是永生神，我几时得朝见神呢？ 我昼夜以眼泪当饮食，人不住地对我说：“你的神在哪里呢？” 我从前与众人同往，用欢呼称赞的声音，领他们到神的殿里，大家守节。我追想这些事，我的心极其悲伤。 我的心哪，你为何忧闷？为何在我里面烦躁？应当仰望神，因他笑脸帮助我，我还要称赞他。

9月6日

极度渴望敬拜神

“我的心渴想神，就是永生神。我几时得朝见神呢？” - 诗 42:2

基督徒作家鲁益师是一个深思熟虑的人。某天有人问他，世界上哪一种宗教能带给人最大的快乐。他想了一下便回答说：“在快乐仍未完结前，自我崇拜能做得到。”他指出，当我们只专注在自己的需要和欲望时，确实能够找到短暂的快乐—只是在“快乐仍未完结前”，但不能维持下去。

长远来看，我们发觉自我崇拜永远不能满足我们。我们想要更多快乐、更舒适、拥有更多的欲望，终必导致我们陷入无止境和徒劳无功的追寻。而最令人担忧的，就是当我们只往内看，把注意力集中在自己身上时，我们便听不到周围那些重要的声音，特别是听不到神的声音。

我们当中很多人置身于以自我为中心的文化背景。我们周围的人都在追随个人梦想和欲望，这些都离弃了神吩咐我们单单在祂里面找到生命的邀请—一个能带来真正成长的生命。我们真是活在一个干渴的世界。

在这个充满挑战性的环境中，我们在《诗篇》42篇听到神的邀请，祂邀请我们在敬拜中朝见祂。像诗人那样，愿我们的渴慕，引领我们来到永活的神面前，唯有祂能满足我们最深的渴求。

祷告

天上的父，在今天，世界各地很多人都会在敬拜中寻求你。求你满足你的子民的渴慕，又感动我们歌颂赞美你和聆听你的话语。阿们。

Psalm 42:1-5

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

DESPERATE FOR WORSHIP

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? —Psalm 42:2

The Christian writer C. S. Lewis was a careful thinker. One day he was asked which of the world’s religions gave people the greatest happiness. He thought for a moment and answered, “While it lasts, the religion of worshiping oneself” would do that. He was pointing out that when we focus on our own needs and wants, it is indeed possible to find happiness in the short term—“while it lasts,” but not for long.

In the long term we discover that worship of self can never satisfy. Our appetite for more pleasure, more comfort, more possessions, and so on will lead us on an endlessly futile quest. Most troubling is that when we focus inward and only on ourselves, that cuts us off from the important voices around us, particularly God's voice.

Many of us live in cultural settings where the focus on self has become the norm. All around us, people search for happiness as they follow personal dreams and pursue personal desires apart from God’s invitation to find life in him alone—life that brings true flourishing. We live in a thirsty world.

In this challenging environment, we hear the Lord’s invitation in Psalm 42 to meet with him in worship. May our thirst lead us, like the psalmist, to the living God, who alone can meet our deepest needs.

Heavenly Father, many people around the world will seek you in worship today. Quench the thirst of your people, we pray, and move us to sing your praises and listen to your Word. Amen.