Do your decisions please God?

你的抉择能讨上帝喜悦吗？

Take delight in the , and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

又要以耶和华为乐，祂就将你心里所求的赐给你。-诗篇37篇4节

Early in our marriage, I struggled to figure out my wife’s preferences. Did she want a quiet dinner at home or a meal at a fancy restaurant? Was it okay for me to hang out with the guys, or did she expect me to keep the weekend free for her? Once, instead of guessing and deciding first, I asked her, “What do you want?”

记得结婚初期，我常常需要揣测妻子的心意：她会想在家里享受安静舒适的晚餐，还是会想去餐馆用餐？周末时，她希望我和朋友出去，还是留在家里陪伴她呢？有一次，我没有猜测或做任何决定，而是直接问她：“妳想要什么？”

“I’m fine with either,” she replied with a warm smile. “I’m just happy you thought of me.”

她温柔地笑着对我说：“我觉得都可以啊！你愿意为我着想，我就很高兴了！”

At times I’ve wanted desperately to know exactly what God wanted me to do—such as which job to take. Praying for guidance and reading the Bible didn’t reveal any specific answers. But one answer was clear: I was to trust in the Lord, take delight in Him, and commit my way to Him (Psalm 37:3–5).

有时，我也很想从上帝那里得到明确的答案，知道祂要我做什么，比如祂要我选择什么样的工作。虽然我祈求上帝的引导和阅读圣经，都没有得着任何具体的答案，但有一个答案是显而易见的：我要倚靠上帝，又要以祂为乐，并将我的事交托给祂（诗篇37篇3-5节）。

That’s when I realized that God usually gives us the freedom of choice—if we first seek to put His ways before our own. That means dropping choices that are plainly wrong or would not please Him. It might be something immoral, ungodly, or unhelpful toward our relationship with Him. If the remaining options please God, then we’re free to choose from them. Our loving Father wants to give us the desires of our hearts—hearts that take delight in Him (v. 4).

那时我意识到，上帝通常会让我们自由地去做选择，前提是我们先寻求上帝的心意，而不是追求满足自己的喜好。这意味着，对于明显是错误、不讨上帝喜悦的选择，我们都应放弃。因为这些选择可能是不道德的、不敬虔的，或是会破坏我们与上帝的关系。如果剩下的选项是上帝所喜悦的，我们就可以自由地从中做出选择。当我们的心以天父上帝为乐，这位慈爱的天父会将你我心里所求的赐给我们（4节）。

Teach us, O God, to put You first in everything we do. Show us how to take delight in You, that our hearts will be transformed to be like Yours.

上帝啊，我们愿学习让祢在凡事上居首位。求祢让我们明白，如何以祢为乐，使我们的心思意念能愈发合乎祢的心意。

Psalm 37:3-7    NIV

37 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:23-24   NIV

23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; 24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

诗篇 37:3-7

37 你当倚靠耶和华而行善，住在地上，以他的信实为粮。4 又要以耶和华为乐，他就将你心里所求的赐给你。5 当将你的事交托耶和华，并倚靠他，他就必成全。6 他要使你的公义如光发出，使你的公平明如正午。7 你当默然倚靠耶和华，耐性等候他，不要因那道路通达的和那恶谋成就的心怀不平。

诗篇 37:23-24 

23 义人的脚步被耶和华立定，他的道路耶和华也喜爱。24 他虽失脚，也不至全身仆倒，因为耶和华用手搀扶他。

INSIGHT

灵粮透视

A prayerful reading of Psalm 37 yields increased joy, assurance, and confidence in the Lord. After an opening exhortation to not be upset by the short-lived vitality and success of those who ignore the Lord (vv. 1–2), a series of commands follow that call for faithful dependence on Him (vv. 3–8). The remainder of the psalm includes commentary about the conduct of two kinds of people (the righteous and the wicked), who follow two different paths and end up at two different places (vv. 9–11, 20). In various ways, the wicked harass and prey upon the righteous (vv. 12–15, 32). But the righteous are not alone. The Lord—in whom they trust and delight and upon whom they wait—protects them, making them safe and secure and stable (vv. 16–17, 23–26, 32–33). The conclusion of the psalm speaks powerfully to those who place their faith in God. “The salvation of the righteous comes from the ; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The  helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him” (vv. 39–40). 

带着祷告的心阅读诗篇37篇，能让人在主里更加喜乐，更有把握，也更有信心。诗人一开始就劝戒我们，不要为那些藐视上帝之人短暂的兴盛和成功而心怀不平（1-2节），接下来就发出一系列的命令，呼吁读者忠心倚靠耶和华（3-8节）。本诗其它内容主要谈论义人和恶人的行为，他们分别走了两条不同的道路，最终面对两种不同的结局（9-11、20节）。恶人虽用各种手段图谋杀害义人（12-14、32节），但义人并不孤单，他们所倚靠并欣然等候的上帝会保护、扶持他们，使他们安全稳妥（15-17、23-26、33-34节）。最终，这篇诗铿锵有力地对那些信靠上帝的人说：“但义人得救，是由于耶和华。祂在患难时作他们的营寨。耶和华帮助他们，解救他们；祂解救他们脱离恶人，把他们救出来，因为他们投靠祂。”（39-40节）

整理：于姊妹