第三十七周 退后与恢复
“祂恢复我的魂。”（诗23:3直译）
诗：云翳遮蔽又散开，甘甜晤你蒙恩眷；
荣脸慈祥从未改，向我爱情永不倦。
哦，主耶稣护我魂，永在你里而仰赖；
我一流荡若罔闻，请教我快回你怀。
习惯而忠心的在小事上来对付肉体，就是不跌倒的秘诀。
要认识自己，这一番工夫是顶不舒服的，但是很有用。彼得被筛过，他要学的一个功课，就是知道自负自信，是叫他跌倒的原因。主最终不只恢复他的魂（心灵），并且使他成为祝福别人的导管，当你知道自己是一无所能，和一无所有，你就能出去帮助别人。正在那时候，主对彼得说：“你喂养我的羊。”
在人面前的谦卑，往往是在神面前得到了恢复的最好凭据。
假定我的心灵与主失去了交通，天然的心必定说，我要先改正我失去交通的原因，而后才到主前，但主是恩慈的；既然知道是如此，那就应该立刻照着我的本相，回到主的面前，深深的谦卑自己。只有在祂里面，也只有从祂那里，我们的心魂，才能得到恢复。
基督徒要真实的得到恢复，必须认清他与神断绝交通是在哪一点，又是怎样的任意偏行，神的同在使人有灵里的感觉；基督徒必须打出自己是在哪一点上失去这感觉，不然的话，与神的交通就不能完全恢复，已和意志也不能彻底破碎。
努力作事是对的，但千万不要让你的事情成为你心灵与神中间的阻隔。若是你们不及主那样明亮，并且越过越差，就应该打出那原因来，并仰望祂，祂必更加施恩。
倘若忧患横亘在我们与神之间，并且产生不信，这就是罪了。无论是因愁苦，或因犯罪，主都能恢复我们，许诗篇的作者不是说，我必先恢复我的心灵，然后去亲近神；祂是说：“祂恢复我的魂（心灵）”。
许多时候，因失去神的同在而使我们觉得他的宝贝；这是说：“我们以前没有宝贝他的同在。
人在罪的滑径上，脚步是越走越快的，因为那开头所犯的罪，在人的心灵中削弱了那能挡阻我们犯更大罪的东西──神的话，并神同在的感觉，这感觉能叫神一切的话，在我们身上发生实际的能力。
有一件最要紧的事，就是我们里面的生命，必须配得起外面活动的分量，否则，濒临属灵的危机。
当一个人没有约束的随己意而作，失去了神的保护，而又在仇敌权势之下；还说他有信心，那倒是惊人的！我谈常识，讲理智（二者都是很宝贵的），但历史告诉我们，唯独神自己，才能把这些赐给我们，并负责保护我们。
THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK BACKSLIDING AND RESTORATION
“He restoreth my soul.” Psalm 23:3
Still sweet ‘tis to discover,
If clouds have dimmed my sight,
When passed, eternal Lover,
Towards me, as e’er, Thou’rt bright.
Oh! guard my soul then, Jesus,
Abiding still with Thee;
And if I wander, teach me
Soon back to Thee to flee.
Habitual faithfulness in judging the flesh in little things is the secret of not falling.
It is very disagreeable work to get to know ourselves, but very useful work. Peter is sifted, and has to learn that this confidence that he has in himself is the very occasion of his failure. … In the end the Lord not only restores his soul but makes him the channel of blessing to others. When you know your own utter nothingness, then you can go and help others. “Go and feed my sheep” the Lord says to Peter.
Humility before man is often the best proof of restoration before God.
Suppose my soul is out of communion, the natural heart says, I must correct the cause of this before I can come to Christ. But He is gracious; and knowing this, the way is to return to Him at once just as we are, and then humble ourselves deeply before Him. It is only in Him and from Him that we shall find that which shall restore our souls.
To be truly restored the Christian must recognise the point of departure where his soul gave up communion with God and sought its own will. … Communion with God is not thoroughly re established, self and its will are not thoroughly broken, as long as the Christian has not found the point where his heart began to lose its spiritual sensibility, for the presence of God makes us feel that.
Diligence in your business is all right, but do not let it get between your soul and God. If you are not as bright with Him, and more and more so, search out why, and look to Him, for He giveth more grace.
If the sorrow gets between our souls and God so as to produce distrust, it is sin. … Whether from trouble, or from offending, He can restore. … The Psalmist does not say, I must get my soul restored, and then go to God, but “He restoreth my soul.”
How often the absence of God causes His value to be felt, whose presence had not been appreciated!
The slippery path of sin is often trodden with accelerated steps, because the first sin tends to weaken in the soul the authority and power of that which alone can prevent our committing still greater sins—that is, the word of God, as well as the consciousness of His presence, which imparts to the word all its practical power over us.
It is of all importance that our inner life should be kept up to the height of our outward activity, else we are near some spiritual fall.
It is surprising what a man can believe when he is left to himself, without being kept by God, when the power of the enemy is there. We talk of common sense, of reason (very precious they are), but history tells us that God alone gives them or preserves them to us.