February 28

"Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually."(Heb. 13:15)

A city missionary¹, stumbling through the dirt of a dark entry, heard a voice say, "Who's there, Honey?" Striking a match, he caught a vision of earthly want and suffering, of saintly trust and peace, "cut in ebony"━calm, appealing eyes set amid the wrinkles of a pinched, black face that lay on a tattered² bed. It was a bitter night in February, and she had no fire, no fuel, no light. She had had no supper, no dinner, no breakfast. She seemed to have nothing at all but rheumatism³ and faith in God. One could not well be more completely exiled from all pleasantness of circumstances, yet the favorite song of this old creature ran:

"Nobody knows de trouble I see,

Nobody knows but Jesus;

Nobody knows de trouble I see—

Sing Glory Hallelu!

"Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,

Sometimes I'm level on the groun',

Sometimes the glory shines aroun'

Sing Glory Hallelu!"

And so it went on: "Nobody knows de work I does, Nobody knows de griefs I has," the constant refrain being the "Glory Hallelu!" until the last verse rose:

"Nobody knows de joys I has,

Nobody knows but Jesus!"

"Troubled on every side, yet not distressed⁴; perplexed⁵, but not in despair; persecuted⁶, but not forsaken⁷; cast down, but not destroyed."(2 Cor.4:8-9) It takes great Bible words to tell the cheer of that old negro auntie.

Remember Luther on his sick-bed. Between his groans⁸ he managed to preach on this wise: "These pains and trouble here are like the type which the printers set; as they look now, we have to read them backwards⁹, and they seem to have no sense or meaning in them; but up yonder, when the Lord God prints us off in the life to come, we shall find they make brave reading." Only we do not need to wait till then. Remember Paul walking the hurricane deck amid a boiling sea, bidding the frightened crew "Be of good cheer," (Acts.27:22) Luther, the old negro auntie━all of them human sun-flowers. ━Wm. G. Garnett

二月二十八日

“我们应当…常常以颂赞为祭，献给神”（来十三：15）

　　一个传道人，在乡村工作；某天晚上，无意之中走进了一所又暗又脏的小屋；他听见屋隅发出微弱的声音问说：“是谁”？他点了一根火柴，从火光中看见了地上的缺乏和痛苦，天上的喜乐和平安━一个黑色的老妇人，卧病在床。她患着风湿症，痛苦异常；可是她仍顶平安，顶喜乐。那时正是最冷的二月，她没有燃料，也没有粮食；没有灯光，也没有早﹑午﹑晚餐。她所有的，只是依靠神的信心。人生的痛苦，在她身上都齐全了，一点也没有甚么可以叫她快乐的了，可是她仍旧能彀发出“哈利路亚”的赞美来，好似一无缺乏和病痛一般。

“无人知道我所经历的困苦，

无人知道，除了耶稣；

无人知道我所经历的困苦━

哈利路亚，赞美主！”

“有时我高升，有时我下沉，

有时被弃于地，受屈蒙尘，

有时荣光自四处照临━

哈利路亚，赞美主！”

歌词接下去：“无人知道我的工作，无人知道我的悲痛，”结尾还是重复那一句，“哈利路亚，赞美主！”一直到最后二句：

“无人知道我的欢愉

无人知道，祇有耶稣！”

　　她真是“四面受敌，却不被困住；心里作难，却不至失望；遭逼迫，却不被丢弃；打倒了，却不至死亡。”（林后四：8-9）。

　　马丁路得在他的病榻上顶痛苦的时侯，仍不住的赞美和感谢，并传这段信息：“这些痛苦和困难，很像排字人所排的铅版；现在看上去，字是反的，也读不出甚么意义来；可是等到铅版印在纸上，我们就看得顶清楚，而且亦明了其中的意义了。今天我们所受的痛苦，果然解释不通，但是到了那一天，我们就会明白的”。保罗在狂风大浪的中间，出来站在船板上，安慰害怕的众人：“你们放心”（徒二十七：22）。保罗，马丁路得，和那位黑色的妇人，都是我们的好榜样。━迦内德

1 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

2 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

3 rheumatism   

n.风湿病

参考例句：

• The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。
• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

4 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

5 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

6 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

7 Forsaken   

adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词

参考例句：

• He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
• He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。

8 groans   

n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• There were loud groans when he started to sing. 他刚开始歌唱时有人发出了很大的嘘声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was a weird old house, full of creaks and groans. 这是所神秘而可怕的旧宅，到处嘎吱嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。