『井阿,湧上水來。你們要向這井唱歌。』(民二十一章十七節)
一口希奇的井!一首希奇的歌!當以色列人在曠野流蕩,沒有水喝,幾乎渴死的時候,耶和華對摩西說:『招聚百姓,我好給他們水喝。』(十六節)
於是他們集合在一處,用杖挖掘粗鬆的沙地;他們一面掘,一面唱:『井阿,湧上水來,你們要向這井歌唱。』看哪,頃刻間,久藏地下的泉源,一起湧上來,滿足他們的需要。
這個故事也教訓我們一件事:今天在這屬靈的曠野行走的我們,也可以憑信心和讚美來得到祝福的泉源。他們怎樣得到井水呢?藉著讚美。他們在沙地上唱信心的歌,同時用應允的杖掘井。讚美使我們得泉源,怨言使我們招審判。甚至禱告亦不能使井湧上水來,因為沒有一件東西比讚美更能蒙神喜悅。
讚美是信心最準確的憑據。信徒阿,你有沒有讚美上帝呢?神給你數不過來的恩典,你有否讚美祂呢?你有沒有膽量為著祂所給你的患難-化裝的祝福-來讚美祂呢?你有否學會為著尚未來到的祝福預先讚美祂呢?
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"Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it." (Num. 21:17.)
THIS was a strange song and a strange well. They had been traveling over the desert's barren sands, no water was in sight and they were famishing with thirst. Then God speak to Moses and said:
"Gather the people together, and I will give them water," and this is how it came.
They gathered in circles on the sands. They took their staves and dug deep down into the burning earth and as they dug, they sang,
"Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it," and lo, there came a gurgling sound, a rush of water and a flowing stream which filled the well and ran along the ground.
When they dug this well in the desert, they touched the stream that was running beneath, and reached the flowing tides that had long been out of sight.
How beautiful the picture given, telling us of the river of blessing that flows all through our lives, and we have only to reach by faith and praise to find our wants supplied in the most barren desert.
How did they reach the waters of this well? It was by praise. They sang upon the sand their song of faith, while with their staff of promise they dug the well.
Our praise will still open fountains in the desert, when murmuring will only bring us judgment, and even prayer may fail to reach the fountains of blessing.
There is nothing that please the Lord so much as praise. There is no test of faith so true as the grace of thanksgiving. Are you praising God enough? Are you thanking Him for your actual blessings that are more than can be numbered, and are you daring to praise Him even for those trials which are but blessings in disguise? Have you learned to praise Him in advance for the things that have not yet come? --- Selected.
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