八月十三日
黎巴嫩的香柏樹，是耶和華所栽種的。（詩104：16）
黎巴嫩的香柏樹可以比作基督徒，他們是神所栽種的。每一個神的兒女都是這樣，他不是人栽種的，也不是自己栽種的，而是神所栽種的。神靈的奧秘的手親自把活種子栽植在接受他的心田中。人接受他也是他自己的工作。神的每一個後裔都是這位偉大的“栽培的人”所栽種的。黎巴嫩的香柏樹也不是靠人來灌澆的，它們矗立在峻峭的岩石之上，是人所不能灌澆的；但天父卻能供給它們的需要。學會度信心生活的基督徒也是這樣。他不依靠人和必朽壞的東西；他時時仰望父神，幷專專仰望他來維持他的生活。天上的甘露是他的份，天上的神是他的泉源。再者，黎巴嫩的香柏樹幷不受人的保護。當狂風暴雨時，人幷不能保全它們。它們是神的樹，所以惟有受他的保全。
基督徒也正是這樣。他幷不是種在溫暖的花房裏，免受風吹雨打的摧殘；他乃是完全暴露在外，他毫無屏障，毫無遮蔽；但永生神的雙翼卻常覆庇著他所栽種的。信徒也像香柏樹一樣滿了汁水，就是在冬雪之中也有常青的充足活力。最後，香柏樹所以那樣蓊郁茂盛，那樣巍峨魁梧，都是爲了頌贊神。神，獨有神是香柏樹的一切，因此大衛在詩篇中說：“結果的樹木和一切香柏樹……都當贊美耶和華。”信徒所有的沒有一樣能使人得稱頌的；他是神自己的手所栽種，所養活，所灌溉，所保護的，所以當將一切榮耀歸給他。
August
13
“The
cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted.” — Psalm 104:16
Lebanon’s cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their
planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is
not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the
divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which He had Himself
prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman
as his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for
their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human irrigation;
and yet our heavenly Father supplieth them. Thus it is with the Christian who
has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal
things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to Him
alone. The dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven is his fountain.
Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal power. They owe
nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and tempest. They are
God’s trees, kept and preserved by Him, and by Him alone. It is precisely the
same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant, sheltered from
temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no shelter, no
protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover
the cedars which He Himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of sap
having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter’s snows. Lastly, the
flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the praise of God only.
The Lord, even the Lord alone hath been everything unto the cedars, and,
therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, “Praise ye the
Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” In the believer there is nothing
that can magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord’s own
hand, and to Him let all the glory be ascribed.
