九月二十一日[mp3_embed playlst=”/downloading/audio/evening/09/0921.mp3″]
经文: 不要把我的灵魂和罪人一同除掉。（诗篇二十六：9）
恐惧使大卫作出上述之祈祷。他内心有微声说道：“恐怕最后我会同罪人一起被除灭。”那恐惧虽然与不信有关，却是萌发自与过去之罪有关连的神圣之焦虑。即使已蒙饶恕的人可能也会问：“若上帝纪念我的罪，从生命册上除去我的名字，怎么办？”他回想近来没有结果子──极少感恩、极少爱、极少追求圣洁。瞻望将来，他忧虑自己的软弱以及围绕他的种种试探。他害怕自己可能堕落成为敌人的猎物。罪恶感、眼前的恶行、压倒他的败坏逼使他带着恐惧颤惊来祈求：“不要把我的灵魂和罪人一同除掉。”你若能如此祈求，就毋需害怕你将和罪人一同被除掉。你是否具备大卫所有的两样优点──外在的，诚实地与主同行，和内在的，全心信靠主？你是否依赖基督的献祭？你是否能带着谦卑的盼望来就近上帝的祭坛？倘若你能，不必担心，你不可能和罪人一同被除掉。在审判台前只有同类是放在一起的。“先将稗子薅出来，捆成捆，留着烧。惟有麦子，要收在仓里。”（太十三：30）你若像上帝的子民，那么，你会与上帝的子民在一起。上帝如此爱你，不忍将你和堕落的人一同除掉。基督所爱的人会灭亡吗？不可能的！地狱不能抓住你，你是属于天国的！信靠你的救主，不必害怕！
Evening, September 21
Scripture: “Gather not my soul with sinners.”(Psalm 26:9)
Fear made David pray thus, for something whispered, “Perhaps, after all, thou mayst be gathered with the wicked.” That fear, although marred by unbelief, springs, in the main, from holy anxiety, arising from the recollection of past sin. Even the pardoned man will enquire, “What if at the end my sins should be remembered, and I should be left out of the catalogue of the saved?” He recollects his present unfruitfulness－so little grace, so little love, so little holiness, and looking forward to the future, he considers his weakness and the many temptations which beset him, and he fears that he may fall, and become a prey to the enemy. A sense of sin and present evil, and his prevailing corruptions, compel him to pray, in fear and trembling, “Gather not my soul with sinners.” Reader, if you have prayed this prayer, and if your character be rightly described in the Psalm from which it is taken, you need not be afraid that you shall be gathered with sinners. Have you the two virtues which David had－the outward walking in integrity, and the inward trusting in the Lord? Are you resting upon Christ’s sacrifice, and can you compass the altar of God with humble hope? If so, rest assured, with the wicked you never shall be gathered, for that calamity is impossible. The gathering at the judgment is like to like. “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” If, then, thou art like God’s people, thou shalt be with God’s people. You cannot be gathered with the wicked, for you are too dearly bought. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, you are his for ever, and where he is, there must his people be. You are loved too much to be cast away with reprobates. Shall one dear to Christ perish? Impossible! Hell cannot hold thee! Heaven claims thee! Trust in thy Surety and fear not!
