July 10

"I called upon him, but he gave me no answer. " (S. of Sol. 5:6)

The Lord, when He hath given great faith, hath been known to try it by long delayings. He has suffered His servants' voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen¹ sky. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained unmovable, as though it were rusted² upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,that our prayer should not pass through."(Lam3:44)

Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because their prayers were not vehement³, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to bid our patience exercise itself, shall He not do as He will with His own!

No prayer is lost. Praying breath was never spent in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things that we count refusals or denials are simply delays. ━H. Bonar.

Christ sometimes delays His help that He may try our faith and quicken our prayers. The boat may be covered with the waves, and He sleeps on; but He will wake up before it sinks. He sleeps, but He never oversleeps; and there are no "too lates" with Him. ━Alexander Maclaren

Be still, sad soul! lift thou no passionate⁴ cry,

But spread the desert of thy being bare

To the full searching of the All-seeing eye;

Wait! and through dark misgiving⁵, black despair,

God will come down in pity, and fill the dry

Dead place with light, and life, and vernal air.

━J. C. Shairp

七月十日

“我呼叫祂，祂却不回答" （歌五：6）

神常常喜欢在赐给我们信心以后，用迟延的方法来试炼我们的信心。祂常常容忍祂的仆人们大声呼喊着，却不去回答他们。他们推着门，门却依然丝毫不动，好似门键上长满了铁锈一般。他们常像杰里迈亚一样哀呼，“你以黑云遮蔽自己，以至祷告不得透入”（哀三：44）

许多忠信的圣徒都曾持久不变地耐心等候，可是他们还没有得到答复，这并不是因为他们的祷告不够迫切，也不是他们的祷告不蒙悦纳，乃是神喜欢这样━神是天地的主，祂可以按照祂自己的意旨赐恩给我们。如果祂喜欢让我们忍耐经过试炼，为甚么不可以呢？

没有一个祷告会虚耗。我们的祷告神从来不会不答应或者不注意；有许多事情我们以为被拒绝了，实在，祇是迟延罢了。━彭纳

主有时延迟祂的救助，为着要试炼我们的信心，催促我们的祈祷。船被波浪掩盖了，耶稣却仍睡着；但是在船沉以前，祂自然会醒过来的。祂睡是睡，却从来不会睡过度；在祂没有“太迟了”的事情。━马克拉伦

安静，悲恸的人，不要哀哭悲哽，

把你生命中那荒漠似的阴影，

给无所不见的神细细辨明。

等待，经过了黑暗可怕的困境，

神将怀着怜悯来临，给干枯荒漠，

充满生命的活力和炯炯光明。

━ 薛普

1 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

2 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

4 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。

5 misgiving   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕

参考例句：

• She had some misgivings about what she was about to do.她对自己即将要做的事情存有一些顾虑。
• The first words of the text filled us with misgiving.正文开头的文字让我们颇为担心。