Prayer in Disguise 变相的祷告

[Dexu Xia]

God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. Job 19:6

Today's Scripture Job 19:5-12

Today's Insights    In Job 19:5-12, Job speaks with striking candor, not only hurling accusations at his friends but also at God. He says that God has “walled up” (v. 8 esv) his path, a translation of the Hebrew word that conveys building a barrier or enclosing something so it can’t escape. Job also claims God has “set darkness upon [his] paths” (v. 8 esv), suggesting not mere inconvenience but the removal of light itself, a symbol of life and order. He describes himself as a besieged city: God’s “troops” advance together, building “a siege ramp” against him (v. 12), implying a military approach.

Job refuses to sanitize his language. He dares to depict God as his attacker, one who “tears [him] down” and “uproots [his] hope like a tree” (v. 10). This isn’t blasphemy but rather the brutal honesty of a sufferer. His speech can remind us today that we can bring both our praise and our honest anger to God in prayer.

Today's Devotion    After the horrors of Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel lost his faith. “Where were you, God of kindness?” he asked, recalling the evil he and others suffered. “In my childhood I did not expect much from human beings. But I expected everything from you.”  And yet, Wiesel realized later that his faith had never really left him. “It is because I believed in God that I was angry at God,” he told a journalist, “and still am.” You don’t get angry at someone you don’t believe exists.

We might feel uncomfortable expressing anger at God, but biblical characters did. “You deceived me, Lord,” the prophet Jeremiah cried (20:7). “Will you forget me forever?” David wrote (Psalm 13:1). “God has wronged me,” Job said (19:6). Unaware of Satan’s role in his misfortune, Job accused God of being cruel (10:3) and even subpoenaed Him to court (31:35)! While Job later discovered that his understanding was limited (42:3), it’s important to note God never rebukes his feelings.

Despite his questions, Elie Wiesel prayed, “Let us make up. It is unbearable to be divorced from you so long.” We too might be angry at God for not limiting the suffering in our world, but our expressing it to Him can become prayer in disguise—keeping us close to the God who wants us to bring not just our praise but our anger to Him too.

Reflect & Pray

When have you felt angry at God? How can Job’s story help us express and keep a clear perspective?

Dear God, I'm angry at the suffering in this world, but choose to trust You.

 By Sheridan Boysey

上帝冤枉我，用网罗围困我。约伯记19章6 节

今日经文：约伯记19章5-12 节

今日洞见：在约伯记19章5-12节中，约伯坦率的陈述令人惊异，他不仅向朋友们发出指控，甚至直指上帝。他说上帝“堵住”（8节）他的道路（译自希伯来原文，意指筑起屏障或将某物围困其中，使其无法逃脱）。约伯还声称上帝“使我的道路黑暗”（8节），这不仅意味着某种不便，更暗示光本身的消逝，而光正是生命与秩序的象征。他将自己描绘成一座被围困的城池，上帝的“军队”集合进发，对他筑起“攻城土堆”（12节），这暗示一种军事围攻。

  约伯拒绝修饰自己的言辞。他敢于将上帝描绘成攻击者，是“拆毁他”并“像拔树一样拔除他指望”的攻击者（10节）。这并非亵渎，而是一位受难者所流露出的残酷而真实的坦诚。约伯的这番话提醒着今天的我们：在祷告中，我们可以既向上帝献上赞美，也可以呈上我们内心真实的愤怒。

今日灵修：在经历了奥斯威辛集中营的种种恐怖后，埃利维塞尔一度丧失了对上帝的信心。“仁慈的上帝啊，你当时身在何处？”他质问道，脑海中回荡着他和同胞们所遭受的种种罪恶。“童年时，我对世人期望不高；但我对你，上帝，却寄予了全部的期望。” 然而，维塞尔后来意识到，他的信仰其实从未真正离他而去。“正因为我信上帝，所以我才对上帝感到愤怒，”他曾对一位记者说道，“至今依然如此。”对于一个你根本不相信其存在的上帝，你绝不会对他感到愤怒的。

  我们或许会觉得向上帝表达愤怒是一件令人不安的事，但在圣经人物中，不乏这样的先例。“耶和华啊，你曾诱惑我，”先知耶利米曾这样呼喊（20:7）。“你要忘记我直到永远吗？”大卫曾这样写道（诗篇13:1）。“上帝冤枉了我，”约伯曾这样说道（19:6）。约伯当时尚不知撒旦在自己这场厄运中所扮演的角色，便指责上帝残忍（10:3），甚至传唤上帝上庭对质（31:35）！虽然约伯后来意识到自己的认知是有限的（42:3），但值得注意的是，上帝从未因此而责备他的情感。

  尽管心中充满疑问，埃利·维塞尔依然祷告道：“让我们重归于好吧。与您分离如此之久，实在令人难以忍受。”我们或许也会因上帝未曾遏制世间的苦难而对他感到愤怒，但若能将这份愤怒向他倾诉，这便化作了一种变相的祷告，它使我们与上帝保持亲近；而这位上帝，正是那位渴望我们不仅向他献上赞美，也能向他倾诉愤怒的上帝。

 反思与祷告  何时你曾对上帝感到愤怒？约伯的故事如何帮助我们表达情感并保持清晰的视角？ 亲爱的上帝，我因世间的苦难而感到愤怒，但我选择信靠您。

作者：谢里丹·博伊西