The Ways and the Paths

Ministry in Word

The Ways and the Paths – Part 1

道与路 – 第一部

Psalm 25:4-7
诗篇25:4-7

“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach

me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O LORD,

your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O

LORD.”

「耶和华啊，求你将你的道指示我，将你的路教训我！求你以你的真理引导我，教训我，因为你是救我的神。我终日等候你。耶和华啊，求你记念你的怜悯和慈爱，因为这是亘古以来所常有的。求你不要记念我幼年的罪愆和我的过犯；耶和华啊，求你因你的恩惠，按你的慈爱记念我。」

PURPOSE AND WAYS

目的与方法

For some reasons the beginning of a new year is to many people often a time to make

resolutions. I guess we all want to improve ourselves in some ways. We want to feel

better about ourselves. But most of all we want another chance at doing that, because

often we didn’t follow through with our resolution in the previous year. It might last a

month, two months, or even more, but we often failed to carry it throughout the year.

That’s why when New Year day comes around, it is resolution time again.

不晓得为什麽对许多人而言一年之首常常是立志的时候。我猜我们大家都想要在某方面改良自己吧。我们想要喜爱自己多一点，但最主要的是我们要再有机会来改良自己，因为我们经常没有完成上一年立志要做的。我们可能坚持了一个月，两个月，或者甚至更久，但我们通常没法维持一年。这就是为什麽新年一到，又是立志的时候了。



We need a better way to do what we do in order to improve ourselves. And who else but

God has the best way for anything and everything, for Isaiah 55:8-9 state that God’s

thoughts are NOT our thoughts, NEITHER are our ways His ways. As the heavens are

higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our

thoughts. His ideas are the best ideas for us and His ways are the best ways. Not only

that, we should choose God’s way over our way because Proverb 14:12 says, “There is a

way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” We don’t want to follow

a way that leads to a dead end, not to mention to death.

要改良自己我们需要一个较佳的方法来做我们所做的。除了神以外还有谁凡事都有最佳的方法呢，因为以赛亚书55:8说神的意念非同我们的意念，神的道路也非同我们的道路，天怎样高过地，照样，神的道路高过我们的道路；神的意念高过我们的意念。他的主意对我们是最美的主意，他的方法是最好的方法。不单如此，我们该选择神的路而非我们的路因为箴言14:12说，「有一条路，人以为正，至终成为死亡之路。」我们不想走上一条死巷，莫说死亡之路了。



But purpose comes before the ways. We must first know why we are doing what we do

before we can improve the way we do them. We must first know the purpose of our life

before we can find the best ways to live our life.

但该先有目的才考虑道路。我们一定先要知道我们做一件事的原因，然後才能改

善我们的做法。我们一定先要知道我们生命的目的，然後才能找到最佳的方法来

过我们的生活。



In the television program, the Biggest Loser, many over weight people try to win the

contest of who loses the most weight. Why do these contestants do all the hard work and

exercises to reduce their body weight? Of course winning the prize is an incentive. But

many of them also realize that their obesity is a health hazard, and without reducing their

weights they may not live to see their children grow up. Once they have found their most

important purpose, they will then learn the best way to accomplish it.

在「最大的减少者」这个电视节目中，很多过重的人要赢减体重最多的比赛。为何这些参赛者要这麽辛苦做运动来减肥呢？当然赢得奖金是一个动机。但他们之中许多人亦知道他们的痴胖是对健康的危害，若再不减肥他们可能活不到看到他们的孩子长大。他们一旦发现他们最重要的目的，他们就去寻找最好的办法来完成它。



In today’s scriptures King David asked God, “Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me

your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me.” WHY did King David ask God for this?

The reason is in the verse that follows it: “For you are God my Savior, and my hope is in

you all day long.” There is a purpose for us to ask God to show us His ways and guide us

in His truth. The purpose is that we want to declare and affirm our relationship with God,

that He is our God our Savior, the Creator of our physical and spiritual life, and the

Redeemer of our souls. It is also because we want to declare and affirm our dependence

on God, that we put our hope in Him 24 hours a day everyday, that there is not a moment

of our life that we need not to rely on Him, that He is the sustainer of our physical and

spiritual life. THAT is our purpose to ask for God’s teaching of His paths. And that is

God’s purpose for our life.

在今天的经文中大卫王求神，「耶和华啊，求你将你的道指示我，将你的路教训我！求以你的真理引导我，教训我。」为什麽大卫王求神做这事呢？可以在下一句找到原因：「为你是救我的神。我终日等候你。」我们所以求神将他的道指示我们和以他的真理引导我是有目的的。那目的就是我们要宣告和肯定我们与神的关系，就是他是救我们的神、我们物质与属灵生命的创造主，和我们灵魂的救赎主。同时也是因为我们要宣告和肯定我们对神的依靠，我们每日24小时等候他，我们生命中没有一个时刻我们不须要依靠他，他是我们物质与属灵生命的维持者。那就是我们求神将他的路教训我们的目的。而那就是神对我们生命的

目的。



To be continued next week.

下周待续。



May we first learn God’s purpose for our life. May we then learn His ways and His paths

to realize this purpose.

愿我们先寻到神在我们生命中的目的。愿我们也学习他的道路来实现这目的。



Tom and Tehwan Tso

仲谋与德菀

“The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls.” 1Peter 1:9

“信心的果效， 就是灵魂的救恩” 彼得前书1：9