Unwanted Guests 不速之客
Dexu Xia
Who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins. Psalm 19:12–13
Kyle and Allison had a wonderful honeymoon in an exotic location. When they returned home, however, they discovered that Kyle’s feet had developed a strange, itchy rash. The couple was referred to an infectious disease specialist. He informed them that small parasites had burrowed their way into Kyle’s feet through blisters caused by his new flip flops. What started out as a dream vacation ended in a challenging battle with unwanted “guests.”
David knew that if he didn’t ask God for help to fight sin, his dream of living a pleasing life before Him would turn into a battle with the unwanted guests of sin and rebellion. After declaring how God is revealed in the natural world (Psalm 19:1–6) and His wisdom found in His instruction (vv. 7–10), David asked God to protect him from inadvertent, arrogant, and deliberate disobedience. “Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins,” he wrote (vv. 12–13). He recognized that he didn’t have the human resources to keep the infectious disease of sin from affecting him. So, he wisely asked God for help.
How can we make sure our dream of living in a way that honors God doesn’t become hijacked by sin? Let’s keep our eyes on Him, confess and repent of our sin, and seek divine help in keeping unwanted spiritual parasites from burrowing into our lives.
What roles do the spiritual habits of confession and repentance play in your life? How important is living a God-honoring life to you?
Loving God, I don’t know myself as well as I should, and I fall short of what I know is right and good. Please help me trust in Your power in my battle with sin
谁能知道自己的错失呢？愿祢赦免我隐而未现的过错。求祢拦阻仆人不犯任意妄为的罪。—诗篇19篇12-13节
凯尔和艾莉到风景宜人的地方度过了美好的蜜月假期。但他们回到家时，却发现凯尔的脚上长了一种怪异且发痒的皮疹。他们咨询了传染病专家，才知道凯尔的新拖鞋让他的脚起了水泡，而小小的寄生虫就从这些水泡钻进脚里。他们没想到一心渴望的假期，最终却沦为与这些不速之客的争战。
大卫知道如果不祈求上帝帮助他对抗罪恶，那么，他所渴望的那种讨上帝喜悦的生活，就会沦为与罪孽和叛逆这些不速之客的争战。在诗篇19篇中，大卫首先宣告了上帝在自然界中显现（1-6节），以及上帝的律例法度所流露的智慧（7-10节）。然后，大卫祈求上帝保守他，使他不犯无心、傲慢和故意不顺服的罪。他向上帝呼求：“愿祢赦免我隐而未现的过错。求祢拦阻仆人不犯任意妄为的罪”（12-13节）。大卫非常清楚，他无法防止罪恶这种传染病对自己的影响，因此他明智地向上帝寻求帮助。
我们要如何确保自己不受罪的影响，可以拥有我们渴望的那种荣耀上帝的生活呢？让我们定睛仰望上帝，承认我们的罪和悔改，并且寻求上帝的帮助，防止那些破坏属灵生命的寄生虫侵入我们的生活。
认罪悔改的属灵操练在你的生活中扮演什么角色？过荣耀上帝的生活
对你来说有多重要？
慈爱的上帝，我不够了解自己，有时也无法判断是非对错，求祢帮助我完全倚靠祢的能力，努力不犯罪。