八月十六日

要將耶和華的名所當得的榮耀歸給他。（詩29：2）

神的榮耀是因著他的性情和行動而得的。他的性情是榮耀的，因爲他的一切都是聖潔的，在神裏面都是純全、可愛的。他必須是榮耀的，從他的性情所發出的一切行動也是榮耀的。他要向他所造的顯出他的慈愛、恩典和公義，他也要使他們將榮耀歸給他自己。我們沒有什麽可以榮耀自己的，因爲那造我們的是叫我們彼此分什麽尊卑高下嗎？我們所接受的一切不都是出于神一切的恩典嗎？那末我們應當怎樣謙卑地在神面前而行啊！世上既然只有一位當得榮耀的，那末當我們榮耀自己的時候，就是强奪與至高者同等的地位了。

蜉蝣能與使它生存的太陽爭榮嗎？瓦器能高抬自己在摶弄它的之上嗎？塵埃能與旋風抗衡嗎？洋海中的涓滴能與巨浪爭競嗎？你們一切義人哪！當將榮耀和力量完全歸于耶和華；要把他當得的尊榮給他。或許基督徒的生活要經過很多爭鬥才能學會下面一句話：“耶和華啊！榮耀不要歸與我們，不要歸與我們；要因你的慈愛和誠實歸在你的名下。”這是神時時教導我們的功課，有時要用苦痛的管教方法來教導我們。基督徒若是誇口說他“凡事都能作”，而不在這句話之前說“我靠著那加給我力量的”，不久他就必說“我什麽也不能作”，也必抱愧蒙羞。當我們爲神工作時，他必悅納我們所作的，他讓我們把冠冕放在他的脚前說：“這原不是我，乃是神的恩與我同在。”

August 16

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name." -- Psalm 29:2

God's glory is the result of His nature and acts. He is glorious in His character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that He must be glorious. The actions which flow from His character are also glorious; but while He intends that they should manifest to His creatures His goodness, and mercy, and justice, He is equally concerned that the glory associated with them should be given only to Himself. Nor is there aught in ourselves in which we may glory; for who maketh us to differ from another? And what have we that we did not receive from the God of all grace? Then how careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord! The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High. Shall the insect of an hour glorify itself against the sun which warmed it into life? Shall the potsherd exalt itself above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel? Shall the dust of the desert strive with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean struggle with the tempest? Give unto the Lord, all ye righteous, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto Him the honour that is due unto His name. Yet it is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this sentence--"Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name be glory." It is a lesson which God is ever teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by most painful discipline. Let a Christian begin to boast, "I can do all things," without adding "through Christ which strengtheneth me," and before long he will have to groan, "I can do nothing," and bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything for the Lord, and He is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown at His feet, and exclaim, "Not I, but the grace of God which was with me!"