“Encounter with God Brings Wonder and Awe 與神相遇帶來驚訝與敬畏“(Revelation 啓示錄 1:17-18)
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
我看見了他,就仆倒在他腳前,像死了一樣。他用右手按著我,說:“不要怕!我是首先的,我是末後的,又是永活的;我曾經死過,看哪,現在又活著,直活到永永遠遠,並且拿著死亡和陰間的鑰匙。
There is a point in true worship where the mind of true believers may cease to understand and goes over to a kind of delightful astonishment, a degree of wonder without limit and beyond expression! An encounter with God brings wonderment and awe where enraptured worshippers, such as Abraham (falling on his face in holy wonderment), Moses (hiding his face before the presence of God) and Paul (hardly telling whether he was in or out of the body) etc., met God in intimate experience and could find no words to express all they felt and saw and heard! Christian hymnody takes us where the efforts of common prose break down, and brings the wings of poetic feeling to the aid of the wondering saint. Open an old hymnal and turn to the sections on worship and the divine perfections and you will see the part that wonder has played in worship through the centuries. (A. W. Tozer)
在真正敬拜中的某一時刻,其中真正信徒的心智會不再懂得,並向著一種喜樂的驚嘆重温,有著一種沒有止境而超出表達之驚訝的程度!與神相遇帶來了驚訝和敬畏,其中欣喜若狂的敬拜者如亞伯拉罕(在神聖的驚訝中臉伏於地)、摩西(在神的顯現前把面遮蓋)和保羅(幾乎不能分辨自己究竟是在身內還是身外)等等,在親密的體驗裡與神相遇,並可以找不著言詞去表達所有他們感受的、看見的和聽到的!而基督教聖詩把我們帶到一般文章的努力都失敗的境界裡,並把富有詩意情感的翅膀,帶給驚訝聖徒的幫助。打開一本古舊的聖詩,並翻到崇拜和神聖之完美那些部分,你就必看見歷世歷代以來,那种驚嘆曾經在敬拜中所扮演的部分。(陶恕)
Prayer: Oh the Lamb of God, you are the God of all eternity, Lord of eternity past and eternity future. Like Apostle John we would still be overwhelmed by your glorious turning up. Even our whole life walking with you on this earth could not sufficiently prepare us to see you in your heavenly glory. The victory that you won over sin and death was a permanent victory. You did not rise from the dead just to die again. Only you hold the keys of Hades and of Death. We can trust that you never let the devil borrow the keys. Amen.
禱告: 神的羔羊啊,你是一切永恆的神、過去之永恆和將來之永恆的主。像使徒約翰一樣,我們仍然會被你榮耀的露面所壓倒。就算我們在地上整個的人生,與你同行都不可以充份地預備自己,在屬天的榮耀裡去見你。你得勝罪和死亡的勝利,是永久的勝利;你不是為了儘儘再次死掉而從死人中間復活。唯有你拿著陰間和死亡的鑰匙;我們能夠信頼你從來不會讓魔鬼借用那些鑰匙。阿們。