作者：W. Robert Godfrey
譯者/校對者:
Maria Marta/誠之
在讀初中時，我透過一間教會的福音工作歸信了基督，這間教會主要是唱詩篇的。因此，多年來，詩篇已經成為我生活的一部分，我對詩篇也有更多的認識。但直到最近幾年，我才發現詩篇深刻的魅力與吸引力。I was converted to Christ as a junior in high
school through the ministry of a church that primarily sang the Psalms. So, for
many years, I have lived with the Psalms and have come to know some things
about them. But only in recent years have I found them profoundly engaging and
fascinating.
詩篇有幾個特色對我特別有吸引力。首先是它優美的語言，以及它對偉大信仰真理的詩意表達。看這些單純的話：「耶和華是我的牧者」（詩廿三1）。它們給許多、許多遭受困苦的人帶來多大的安慰﹗或者思想詩篇第一〇三篇中、上帝的救贖應許：「我的心哪，你要稱頌耶和華，不可忘記祂的一切恩惠。祂赦免你的一切罪孽，醫治你的一切疾病。 祂救贖你的命脫離死亡，以仁愛和慈悲為你的冠冕。祂用美物使你所願的得以知足，以致你如鷹返老還童」（2～5節）。或默想上帝記念我們的痛苦那富含深意的畫面：「把我眼淚裝在你的皮袋裡。」（詩五十六8）Several
features of the Psalms have been especially attractive to me. The first is the
beauty of the language and the poetic expression of the great truths of the
faith. Consider the simple words, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1). How
much comfort they have brought to many, many souls in distress. Or think of the
promises of God’s redemption in Psalm 103: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your
diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast
love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like
the eagle’s” (vv. 2–5). Or ponder the poignant picture of God’s remembrance of
our suffering: “Put thou my tears into thy bottle” (Ps. 56:8 KJV).
第二個吸引我的地方是我發現到，你越挖掘《聖詠集》（Psalter）（譯按：即《詩篇》的歌本），你就有越多的發現。像所有偉大的詩歌那樣，詩篇就如一個礦井，不斷有新的深度可以到達，也有更多的金礦可以挖掘。無論我們付出何種更認識它們的努力，都會得到豐厚的報償。The second attraction is the discovery that
the more you dig into the Psalter, the more you discover. Like all great
poetry, the Psalms are like a mine with ever new depths to reach and ever more
gold to find. They reward abundantly whatever effort we make to know them
better.
第三，有適用於各種場合的詩篇。可以肯定一件事，詩篇一定不會提到賀曼賀卡（Hallmark cards；譯按：美國非常流行的賀卡公司製作的卡片）所明確提到的所有場合。但詩篇標記了上帝子民生命中所有重要的屬靈時刻和情感。正如約翰加爾文所說，「我經常描述這本書卷為『對靈魂全面的剖析』」，我相信這是合宜的，因為沒有哪一種我們意識得到的情感不在此得著反照，如同鏡子一般。」[1] 詩篇教導我們，如何在人生的各種境遇中，向上帝表達我們的情感。Third, there are psalms for all occasions. The
Psalms do not, to be sure, make explicit reference to all the occasions for
which there are Hallmark cards. But they do mark all the important spiritual
moments and emotions in the lives of the people of God. As John Calvin said, “I
have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, ‘An
Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul;’ for there is not an emotion of which any
one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.” The Psalms
teach us how to express our emotions to God in all the circumstances of our
lives.
第四，詩篇中充滿了基督。它們不僅明確預言基督的到來（如第二篇、第廿二篇、第一一〇篇），而且詩篇的信息總是把靈魂牽引到耶穌基督和祂偉大的拯救工作的面前。正如古老教會所說的那樣：「口中常誦詩篇，心中常有基督」（semper in ore psalmus, semper in corde Christus）。詩篇會增強我們與耶穌基督的團契。Fourth, the Psalms are full of Christ. They
not only explicitly prophesy the coming of Christ (e.g., Pss. 2; 22; 110), but
the message of the Psalms always pulls the soul to Christ and His great saving
work. As was said in the ancient church, “Always a psalm in the mouth, always
Christ in the heart” (semper in ore psalmus, semper in corde Christus). The
Psalms intensify our fellowship with Christ.
我在詩篇裏所發現的，是教會歷史上許多人所熟知的。貫穿教會歷史，詩篇這卷書被許多地方的許多基督徒所珍愛。在古代和中世紀時期，詩篇被頻繁研究和頌唱，特別在修道士當中。偉大的亞他那修（Athanasius，296-373）曾經說，「我相信一個人找不到比詩篇更壯麗的詩歌了; 因為詩篇涵括人的整個生命、思想感情、與靈魂的活動。為了讚美並榮耀上帝，人可以選擇適用於每一種場合的詩篇，這樣他便發現詩篇是為他而寫的。」宗教改革時期，教會所有的人都重新得到聖經，也意味著重新得到詩篇。馬丁路德在早期當修士時，已經學習詩篇，而且之後一直熱愛詩篇。他稱《聖詠集》為「小聖經」，他說：「《聖詠集》應該成為一本寶貴、被人珍愛的書卷，原因無他：它如此清晰地應許了基督的死與復活——並描畫出基督的國度和基督教世界的狀況與本質——以至於它可稱為小聖經。它包括整部聖經中最美和最簡潔的一切。」What I have found in the Psalms has been well
known to many in the history of the church. Throughout history, the book of
Psalms has been treasured by many Christians in many places. In the ancient and
medieval periods, the Psalms were studied and sung very frequently, especially
by monastics. The great Athanasius (296–373) said, “I believe that a man can
find nothing more glorious than these Psalms; for they embrace the whole life
of man, the affections of his mind, and the motions of his soul. To praise and
glorify God, he can select a psalm suited to every occasion, and thus will find
that they were written for him. ”In the Reformation, the recovery of the Bible
for all in the church meant also a recovery of the Psalms. Luther had learned
the Psalms early as a monk and continued to love them. He called the Psalter “a
little Bible,” saying, “The Psalter ought to be a precious and beloved book, if
for no other reason than this: it promises Christ’s death and resurrection so
clearly—and pictures his kingdom and the condition and nature of all
Christendom—that it might well be called a little Bible.
在改革宗的教會裏，詩篇被當作教會的詩歌集，每一節都得到頌唱。能夠用嘴唇，用上帝的說話來讚美祂，對早期的加爾文主義者來說是值得喜悅的事。監督整本《聖詠集》的詩律制作、以供會眾頌唱的加爾文，這樣表達他對詩篇的熱情：「呼求上帝是我們得著平安主要的方法，而論到這種（禱告）操練，沒有比詩篇更好、更準確的指引。一個人對詩篇所達致的了解與熟練程度，和他在屬天至要教義上的認識，有著連帶的關係。」[2] In it is comprehended most beautifully and
briefly everything that is in the entire Bible.” Among the Reformed, the Psalms
were versified and sung as the songbook of the church. Those early Calvinists
delighted to be able to take the words of God on their lips to praise Him. John
Calvin, who supervised the versification of the whole Psalter for singing,
expressed his enthusiasm for the Psalms in these words: “As calling upon God is
one of the principal means of securing our safety, and as a better and more
unerring rule for guiding us in this exercise [of prayer] cannot be found
elsewhere than in the Psalms, it follows, that in proportion to the proficiency
which a man shall have attained in understanding them, will be his knowledge of
the most important part of celestial doctrine.”
加爾文的追隨者分享了加爾文關於這一價值的信念。例如，在稱為胡格諾派（Huguenots）的法國加爾文主義者的經驗中，我們可以清楚看到這一點。科特雷（Bernard Cottret）曾寫道：「聖詠集是法國的宗教改革」。十六世紀中期，法國新教徒熱愛詩篇，渴望頌唱詩篇，甚至在殉道死亡的路上也口唱詩篇。 法國胡格諾派在他們編制的有詩韻的詩篇譯本（metrical version of the Psalms）中發現「提供加爾文敬虔的詩意能力」。這些供十六世紀教會傳唱的詩篇詩體翻譯，幫助當時的教會再次看到《聖詠集》的力量和實用性。The followers of Calvin shared his conviction
about the value. We can see that clearly, for example, in the experience of the
French Calvinists known as Huguenots. As Bernard Cottret wrote, “The psalter
was the French Reformation.” Those French Protestants of the mid-sixteenth
century loved the Psalms and sang them eagerly, even on their way to die as
martyrs. The French Huguenots found in their metrical version of the Psalms
songs that “lent Calvin’s piety poetic power.” These poetic translations of the
Psalms for singing in the sixteenth century helped the church again to see the
power and relevance of the Psalter.
然而，對改革宗的基督徒來說，詩篇不僅僅是鼓舞和安慰。詩篇甚至遠遠不只是一種用上帝的話向上帝表達他們的喜樂和憂傷的途徑。《聖詠集》解釋了他們活出的生命，與敵對他們的邪惡和支撐他們的上帝這兩者之間的關聯。身為上帝的子民，他們乃是活在詩篇當中的。The Psalms were, however, more than
inspiration and comfort for Reformed Christians. The Psalms were more even than
a way to express their joys and sorrows to God in God’s own words. The Psalter
explained the life they lived in relation both to the wicked who opposed them
and to the God who sustained them. As the people of God, they lived in the
Psalms.
譯註：[1] [2]分别摘錄自《更寬廣的生命——加爾文著作文選》John
Calvin: The Man with Broader Vision，第53，54頁，加爾文（John
Calvin)著/陳佐人選譯，校園書房出版社，2011。
本文摘錄自W. Robert Godfrey所著的《Learning
To Love the Psalms》一書。
This excerpt is adapted from
Learning to Love the Psalms by W. Robert Godfrey.