2024年3月24日 牧者之言

诗126：1当耶和华将那些被掳的带回锡安的时候，我们好像做梦的人。
Psalm 126: 1 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.

上周日下午我和魏牧师去探访一对刚刚信主的夫妇。见到他们之后，魏牧师说：“哇，真的是感谢主。我们第一次探访（2月5日）到第二次探访（3月17日），这两次截然不同。这一个多月以来，他们发生了这么大的变化。主真是借着众人的祈祷带来了改变。”受探访的姐妹也见证说：“主真的是太神奇了。我们好像做了一场梦一样。我们希望下周日到教会为主作见证！”

我们家在奥克拉荷马城服侍时，一位访问学者在教会为主作见证说：“我和儿子在这里的两年时间里，我好像做了一场梦。这是主托给我们的梦。这梦实在是太美好了，我几乎都不愿意醒来。”感谢主，在他即将离开那座城市之前接受了耶稣基督为他个人的救主，并成为主的门徒。

人生如梦。在上帝的眼中，不信主的人生也是一场梦。“人睡醒了，怎样看梦；主啊，你醒了也必照样轻看他们的影像”（诗73：20）。这场梦里或许充满成功与宴乐，鲜花与掌声，财富与名誉，然而它终将变为虚无缥缈的黄粱一梦。

在讲诗篇的过程中我爱上了诗篇。诗篇126篇是一首优美的上行之诗。第一节说：“当耶和华将那些被掳的带回锡安的时候，我们好像做梦的人”。它描述上帝将被掳到巴比伦的以色列人重新带回家园时，他们好像做梦的人。这场梦美好到一个地步，使人们简直都不敢相信它是真实的。若不是上帝的帮助，谁能相信当以色列人在巴比伦七十年之后，居然能重返故土呢？同理，若不是上帝的帮助，谁能相信我们这些有罪的浪子能重新回到上帝的家园呢？接着，外邦人中有人说：“耶和华为他们行了大事”。主在基督徒身上所行的神迹，叫不信主的人都感到惊奇，他们心服口服地说：“真有神！耶和华真为他们行了大事”。诗人祈祷说：“耶和华啊，求你使我们被掳的人归回，好像南地的河水复流。”据说，南地（Negev）是犹大南方旷野极度干旱之地，年雨量低于一寸，但在那里有些小河道，在以前某一时间曾有河水流过。谁能知道，在那里何时会再有河水复流？谁能使枯枝败叶变得柳暗花明，谁能化腐朽为神奇，又有谁能使旷野开道路使沙漠开江河呢？只有上帝。最后，诗人说：“流泪撒种的，必欢呼收割。那带种流泪出去的，必要欢欢乐乐地带禾捆回来”。只有用汗水、泪水、甚至是血水辛勤播种耕耘，才能迎来属灵的收割和复兴。

在金陵读书时，美南浸信会裴斐传教士教我们的第一首英文歌曲是：“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream” (中文翻译: “划，划，划着你的小船，慢慢地順流而下，快乐，快乐，快乐，快乐，人生不过是一场梦” 。一位中国老教授莫如喜听到这首歌后，巧妙地将“life is but a dream”（人生不过是一场梦）改为“life is full of dreams”（人生充满梦幻）。是的，基督的救恩将我们原本只是一场梦的人生改变成充满梦幻的人生。

上周日晚上，七岁的儿子李天意（Isaiah Li）小朋友写了他人生的第一首诗：

这首诗的大意是向着更高、更快、更强的方向进军！让我们靠主继续做诗做梦吧，总有一天，主一切美好的应许都将实现！阿门。

“We were like dreamers when the Lord brought back the captives to Zion.” (Psalm 126:1)

Last Sunday afternoon, Rev. Ron West and I visited a newly converted couple. After meeting them, Ron said, “Wow, it’s truly thanks to the Lord. The difference between our first visit (February 5th) and the second visit (March 17th) is striking. In just over a month, they have undergone such a significant transformation. The Lord has truly brought about change through the prayers of many.” The sister we visited also testified, saying, “The Lord is truly miraculous. We feel like we had a dream. We hope to testify for the Lord at church this coming Sunday!”

During our service in Oklahoma City, a visiting scholar testified for the Lord at church, saying, “During our two years here, my son and I felt like we were dreaming. This was the dream that the Lord granted us. It was such a beautiful dream that I almost didn’t want to wake up.” Thank the Lord, he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and became a disciple of the Lord before leaving the city.

Life is like a dream. In the eyes of God, the life of those who do not believe in the Lord is also a dream. “As a dream when one awakes, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise them as fantasies” (Psalm 73:20). This dream may be filled with success and feasting, flowers and applause, wealth and fame, yet it will ultimately turn into nothing.

During the process of preaching the Psalms, I fell in love with them. Psalm 126 is a beautiful Song of Ascents. The first verse says: “When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like dreamers.” This describes how when God brought back the Israelites who had been exiled to Babylon, they felt like dreamers. The dream was so beautiful that people could hardly believe it was real. If it weren’t for God’s help, who could believe that after seventy years in Babylon, the Israelites could actually return to their homeland? Similarly, if it weren’t for God’s help, who could believe that we, sinful prodigals, could return to God’s home? Then, among the nations, someone said, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The miracles that the Lord performs in Christian’s life make unbelievers amazed, and they affirm wholeheartedly, both in word and spirit, saying, “Truly there is a God! The Lord has done great things for them.” The poet prays, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.” It is said that the Negev is an extremely dry desert in the southern wilderness of Judah, with an annual rainfall of less than an inch, but there were some small streams there, where river water once flowed at some point in the past. Who knows when there will be streams again? Who can turn dry branches and leaves into lush foliage, who can turn decay into wonder, and who can make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert? Only God can. Finally, the poet says, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” Only through hard work and toil with sweat, tears, and even blood, can spiritual harvest and revival be ushered in.

When studying in Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, the first English song taught to us by the Southern Baptist missionary, Professor Fay Pearson, was “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.” When a Chinese professor Mo Ruxi heard this song, she ingeniously changed “life is but a dream” to “life is full of dreams.” Yes, the salvation of Christ transforms our lives, originally just a dream, into lives full of dreams.

Last Sunday evening, my seven-year-old son, Isaiah Li, wrote his first poem in his life:

“Who is big,
and who is small,
bigger number,
what we come!”

The gist of the poem is to march towards higher, faster, and stronger! Let us continue to dream and write poetry in the Lord, for one day, all the wonderful promises of the Lord will be fulfilled! Amen.