April 23

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt¹ revive me." (Psalm² 138:7)

The Hebrew rendering³ of the above is "go on in the center of trouble." What descriptive words! We have called on God in the day of trouble; we have pleaded His promise of deliverance but no deliverance has been given; the enemy has continued oppressing until we were in the very thick of the fight, in the center of trouble. Why then trouble the Master any further?

When Martha said, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died," our Lord met her lack of hope with His further promise, "Thy brother shall rise again." And when we walk "in the center of trouble" and are tempted⁴ to think like Martha that the time of deliverance is past, He meets us too with a promise from His Word. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me."

Though His answer has so long delayed, though we may still continue to "go on" in the midst of trouble, "the center of trouble" is the place where He revives, not the place where He fails us.

When in the hopeless place, the continued hopeless place, is the very time when He will stretch forth⁵ His hand against the wrath⁶ of our enemies and perfect that which concerneth us, the very time when He will make the attack to cease and fail and come to an end. What occasion is there then for fainting? --Aphra White.

THE EYE OF THE STORM

"Fear not that the whirlwind shall carry thee hence,

Nor wait for its onslaught in breathless suspense⁷,

Nor shrink from the whips of the terrible hail,

But pass through the edge to the heart of the gale⁸,

For there is a shelter, sunlighted and warm,

And Faith sees her God through the eye of the storm.

"The passionate⁹ tempest with rush and wild roar

And threatenings of evil may beat on the shore,

The waves may be mountains, the fields battle plains,

And the earth be immersed in a deluge¹⁰ of rains,

Yet, the soul, stayed on God, may sing bravely its psalm,

For the heart of the storm is the center of calm.

"Let hope be not quenched¹¹ in the blackness of night,

Though the cyclone¹² awhile may have blotted¹³ the light,

For behind the great darkness the stars ever shine,

And the light of God's heavens, His love shall make thine,

Let no gloom dim thine eyes, but uplift them on high

To the face of thy God and the blue of His sky.

"The storm is thy shelter from danger and sin,

And God Himself takes thee for safety within;

The tempest with Him passeth into deep calm,

And the roar of the winds is the sound of a psalm.

Be glad and serene¹⁴ when the tempest clouds form;

God smiles on His child in the eye of the storm."

　 　 四月二十三日

“我虽行在患难中，你必将我救活”（诗一百三十八；7）。

　　希伯来原文的直译是“我虽行在患难的中心，你必将我救活。”许多时候，我们在患难中求告神；我们恳请他实行他拯救的应许，可是拯救仍不来到；原来他要等到我们被仇敌逼到患难的中心，然后伸手施行拯救。所以，目前何必急于烦劳他呢？

　　马大对主说：“主啊，你若早在这里，我兄弟必不死”（约十一：21）；我们的主答应她的绝望说：“你兄弟必然复活。”（约十一：23）当我们到了患难的中心，我们也会像马大一般想拯救的时候过去了，但是主坚固我们说：“我虽行在患难中，你必将我救活”。

　　虽然他的答应延搁了许久，虽然我们还须在患难中继续受逼迫，但是患难的中心是他施行拯救的地方，不是他误事的地方。到了那时，他要伸出他的手来对付仇敌的忿怒，停止一切的攻击。信徒们，为什么这样绝望呢？——华爱德

不要怕飓风把你卷离此地，

也不要屏息等它的攻击，

也不要畏缩于冰雹的暴戾，

却要从风暴的边缘进入它中间，

那飓风眼，有阳光温暖和遮蔽。

信心从飓风眼里去见神。

狂啸怒吼奔腾而来的大风浪，

这凶恶的威胁可能以你为目标，

海中波涛如山，陆上田野成战场，

地土几乎沉没于大雨洪流中，

信靠神的人，却仍把诗篇高唱，

因为暴风雨的中心是安宁的地方。

风暴可能暂时遮掩光明，

但不要在黑暗中丧失希望，

因为星星永远在黑暗的后面照耀，

神的大爱，使你获得天上的光芒，

不要让阴暗蒙蔽你的眼睛，

要仰望神的圣容和蓝色的天堂。

风雨是阻挡危险与罪恶的遮荫，

神将亲自带你进去获得安宁，

浪随着他会化为平静，

风的怒号变成赞美的歌声，

当阴云密布时，要安详而欢欣，

神的微笑在暴风雨中心降临。

1 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

2 psalm   

n.赞美诗，圣诗

参考例句：

• The clergyman began droning the psalm.牧师开始以单调而低沈的语调吟诵赞美诗。
• The minister droned out the psalm.牧师喃喃地念赞美诗。

3 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

4 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

7 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

8 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

9 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

10 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

11 quenched   

解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却

参考例句：

• He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
• I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。

12 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

13 blotted   

涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干

参考例句：

• She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
• The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。

14 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。