our daily bread

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Dexu Xia

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Dec 15, 2017, 2:00:31 AM12/15/17

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Restored Failures

The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14

A guest band was leading praise and worship at our church, and their passion for the Lord was moving. We could see—and feel—their enthusiasm.

Then the musicians revealed that they were all ex-prisoners. Suddenly their songs took on special meaning, and I saw why their words of praise meant so much to them. Their worship was a testimony of lives broken and restored.

The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14

The world may embrace success. But stories of past failure offer people hope too. They assure us that God loves us no matter how many times we have failed. Pastor Gary Inrig says that what we call the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 could well be entitled God’s Hall of Reclaimed Failures. “There is scarcely an individual in that chapter without a serious blemish in his or her life,” he observes. “But God is in the business of restoring failures . . . . That is a great principle of God’s grace.”

I love the comfort of Psalm 145, which speaks of God’s “wonderful works” (vv. 5–6) and glorious kingdom (v. 11). It describes His compassion (vv. 8–9) and faithfulness (v. 13)—then immediately tells us that He lifts up those who have fallen (v. 14). All His attributes are expressed when He picks us up. He is indeed in the business of restoration.

Have you failed before? We all have. Have you been restored? All who have been redeemed are stories of God’s grace.

Our stories of failure can be God’s stories of success.

得着修复

凡跌倒的，耶和华将他们扶持；凡被压下的，将他们扶起。-诗篇145篇14节

有个福音乐团在我们的教会带领诗歌敬拜，他们对上帝的真诚赞美令人感动，我们都感受到他们爱主的热忱。

稍后，这些团员告诉我们，其实他们都曾经坐过牢。突然之间，他们的诗歌对我有了特别的意义，我明白他们所献上的赞美为何对他们都具有深意。他们的敬拜，正是破碎的生命得着修复的见证。

这个世界或许崇尚成功，但若讲述过去的失败，也同样可以带给人盼望。因为这些生命的经历让我们确信，不论我们失败几次，上帝仍然爱我们。盖瑞恩（Gary Inrig）牧师曾说，希伯来书11章常被称为“信心名人堂”，其实更应称为“失败者得修复之殿”。他观察到：“在那一章经文中提到的每一个人，在他们的生命中几乎都有严重的瑕疵。但上帝在其中做修复的工作……这就是上帝美好的恩典。”

我喜爱诗篇145篇安慰人心的话语，其中提到上帝“奇妙的作为”（5-6节）和上帝国度的荣耀（11节），并描述上帝的怜悯（8-9节）和信实（13节），紧接着，诗人告诉我们上帝会扶持那些跌倒的人（14节）。当上帝拯救我们时，显明了祂美好的特质，祂确实在做修复的工作。

你曾跌倒失败吗？我们都曾经失败。你的生命已得着修复了吗？所有蒙上帝救赎的人，他们的生命经历都是上帝恩典的见证。