Sunday, 14 November 2021

Title: A Sacrifice of Praise
By Lau Bee Lan

Hebrews 13:15 (ESV)
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”

We live in a fallen world where amidst experiences of joy and happiness, there are hardship and suffering, clearly demonstrated by the onset of the Covid -19 pandemic which has not abated. From time to time we hear of loss of loved ones due to Covid or post-Covid complications, some children became orphans, loss of livelihood, salary cuts, hunger, marital breakdown and mental distress to name but a few.

I recalled at the commencement of one of our church worship services, just before we began praising God in songs, a deaconess prayed, amongst others, “Let us sing what we mean and mean what we sing”. Those words resonated with my spirit because amidst the hustle bustle of life, our thoughts and feelings are never the same as we undergo a myriad of experiences due to the different events and circumstances that occur in our pilgrimage here on earth.
Our hearts overflow with much joy and praise to God when all things go well for example, when we are blessed with a promotion or our kids score good grades in school.

However, can we in all sincerity feel the same degree of joy and enthrallment when the circumstances are bleak, for example, when we are in the midst of going through some medical challenges? Can we shout out with exuberance and gusto and with all honesty declare the goodness of God and not allow our minds to wander away pondering on the problem or issue besetting us?

What is the posture of a child of God in a trying circumstance? God’s instruction is that through Jesus, we should continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God. (Hebrews 13:15)

A sacrifice of praise comes from the heart and is an act of the will. Such an attitude, amongst others, includes:
(i) choosing to trust and believe that God is good at all times regardless of the circumstances as declared by the psalmists, “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good” (Psalm135:3);
(ii) choosing to praise and honour God in spite of the circumstances, “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? …The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. …” (Malachi 3: 13-17);
(iii) continually praising God in good times and bad as exemplified by Paul and Silas who prayed and sang hymns to God whilst in prison, after being severely beaten for delivering a slave girl from demon possession, hence discontinuing her masters’ wrongful gains (Acts 16 :23-25); and
(iv) at all times humbly and with utmost gratitude, acknowledging God for who He is, holding Him in awe and reverence, and ascribing to Him what He duly deserves: all praise, honour and glory belong to Him:
“For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
Ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32: 3-4)

God who is rich in mercy and bountiful in love has given us His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the redemption of our sins. Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross has fully satisfied the divine justice of God. He is the perfect propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:2)

Being mindful of God’s greatest gift of love and compassion manifested through the finished work of our Lord Jesus, I am encouraged to “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”. Christ alone is sufficient for us notwithstanding whatever circumstances we are in. Therefore, in our spiritual journey, we must continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God in all situations.

Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, let us remember at all times to extol you declaring “How majestic is your name in all the earth”, constantly magnifying your name and praising you by looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

每日灵粮
星期日
2021 年 11 月 14日
主题：颂赞为献祭
作者：刘美兰
翻译：林良億

希伯来书 13:15 我们应当靠着耶稣，常常以颂赞为祭献给神，这就是那承认主名之人嘴唇的果子。

我们生活在一个堕落的世界中，在欢乐和幸福的经历里有艰辛和痛苦，疫情的爆发并没有减弱就清楚地证明了这一点。我们不时听到因疫情或疫情后并发症而失去亲人的消息，一些儿童成为孤儿、失去生计、减薪、饥饿、婚姻破裂和精神困扰等等。

我记得在我们的一次教会崇拜，在开始用歌曲赞美上帝之前，一位女执事祈祷，“我们应当口唱心和”。这句话在我心中引起强烈共鸣，因为在喧嚣的生活中，我们的思想和感受永远不相同，各人的天路历程中发生了不同的事件和情况。

当一切顺利时，例如当我们有幸升职或孩子在学校取得好成绩时，我们的心就会充满对上帝的喜悦和赞美。

然而，当环境暗淡时，例如当我们在经历一些医疗挑战时，我们能真诚地感受到同样程度的喜悦和兴奋吗？我们能否兴高采烈，诚实地宣告上帝的良善，而不允许我们的思想游离于困扰我们的问题或难题之上？

上帝的儿女在艰难环境中的姿态是什么？祂的教导是，我们应该通过主耶稣基督不断地向上帝献上赞美的祭（希伯来书 13:15）。

赞美的祭是发自内心的，是意志的行为。这种态度包括：

(一) 选择信靠并相信上帝在任何时候都是善的，无论情况如何，正如诗篇作者所说：“赞美耶和华，因为耶和华本为善”（诗篇 135：3）

(二) 不顾环境、选择赞美和荣耀上帝，“你说过，“事奉神是徒然的，遵守神所吩咐的，在万军之耶和华面前苦苦斋戒，有甚麽益处呢？……耶和华侧耳而听，且有纪念册在他面前，记录那敬畏耶和华、思念他名的人”（玛拉基书 3：13-17）

(三) 在顺境和逆境中不断赞美上帝，例如保罗和西拉在狱中向上帝祈祷和唱诗，他们因救出一个被鬼附的女仆而被毒打，从而停止了她主人的不正当收益（使徒行传16:23-25)

(四) 在任何时候都以谦卑和最大的感激之情，承认上帝是谁，敬畏祂，敬畏祂，将祂应得的归于祂：一切赞美、尊荣和荣耀都属于祂，“我要宣告耶和华的名，你们要将大德归于我们的神！ 他是磐石，他的作为完全，他所行的无不公平，是诚实无伪的神，又公义又正直”。 （申命记 32：3-4）

富有怜悯和慈爱的上帝已将祂唯一的儿子耶稣基督赐给我们，为救赎我们的罪而死在十字架上。主耶稣在十字架上的牺牲已经完全满足了上帝神圣的公义。祂是我们罪孽的完美挽回祭（约翰一书 2:2）。

可留意到上帝通过主耶稣完成的工作所体现的最大的爱和怜悯的礼物，我被鼓励要 “相信和服从，因为没有其他方法，要在耶稣里获得幸福，只能相信和服从”。无论我们身处何地，唯有基督对我们来说已经足够了。因此，在我们的属灵旅程中，我们必须在任何情况下不断地向上帝献上赞美的祭。

祷告：
我们在天上的父，让我们时刻记得赞美祢，宣告“祢的名在全地何其伟大”，并透过仰望耶稣基督，我们所信靠的创始成终的主，不断地称颂及赞美祢的名。奉主耶稣的圣名求的，阿们。