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「我要安靜，在我的居所觀看。」（聖經以賽亞書十八章 4 節）
你們記得亞述王西拿基立攻擊猶大的那段故事嗎？當亞述軍隊攻來的時候，神並沒有阻止他們；似乎神允許他們這樣作一般。神仍舊安安靜靜地在祂的居所觀看，太陽也仍舊照著他們；但是到了夜間，耶和華的使者擊殺了全部的傲慢的亞述軍隊，正如農夫的鐮刀割剪樹枝一般容易。
我們看，神的觀念多麼奇異 ── 祂喜歡安靜，在祂的居所觀看！祂的安靜並不是默許，祂的緘默並不是同意；祂不過在等待祂自己的時候罷了 ── 在最合宜的時候，祂要起來，在惡者的圖謀正要成就的時候，祂要起來用災禍毀滅他們。 當我們看到世上的邪惡，想到惡人的成就，掙扎在仇人的欺壓下的時候，就應當想到神是在安靜觀看。
我們再看主耶穌在世時的態度。一天晚上，耶穌獨自在岸上，看見門徒在海中，因風不順，搖櫓甚苦，祂怎麼樣呢？靜靜地望著。拉撒路生病的時候，祂明知道所愛的人在伯大尼何等痛苦，但是祂卻不去....直等到拉撒路的病勢一天沉重一天，死 了，安放在墳墓裡了，祂才前去，為的是要等待最合宜的時間。
親愛的讀者，祂對你是不是也是這樣「安靜」呢？祂並不是不關心，一切祂都看見；祂的手指正按在你的脈搏上，很留意地在數算起伏的次數，在祂看為最恰當的時候，祂就要起來拯救你。──譯自日誠報（Daily Devotional Commentary）
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"I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling place." (Isa. 18:4, R. V.)
ASSYRIA was marching against Ethiopia, the people of which are described as tall and smooth. And as the armies advance, God makes no effort to arrest them; it seems as though they will be allowed to work their will. He is still watching them from His dwelling place, the sun still shines on them; but before the harvest, the whole of the proud army of Assyria is smitten as easily as when sprigs are cut off by the pruning hook of the husbandman.
Is not this a marvelous conception of God-being still and watching? His stillness is not acquiescence. His silence is not consent. He is only biding His time, and will arise, in the most opportune moment, and when the designs of the wicked seem on the point of success, to overwhelm them with disaster. As we look out on the evil of the world; as we think of the apparent success of wrong-doing; as we wince beneath the oppression of those that hate us, let us remember these marvelous words about God being still and beholding.
There is another side to this. Jesus beheld His disciples toiling at the oars through the stormy night; and watched though unseen, the successive steps of the anguish of Bethany, when Lazarus slowly passed through the stages of mortal sickness, until he succumbed and was borne to the rocky tomb. But He was only waiting the moment when He could interpose most effectually. Is He still to thee? He is not unobservant; He is beholding all things; He has His finger on thy pulse, keenly sensitive to all its fluctuations. He will come to save thee when the precise moment arrived.
--- Devotional Commentary.
Whatever His questions or His reticences, we may be absolutely sure of an unperplexed and undismayed Saviour.
"O troubled soul, beneath the rod,
Thy Father speaks, be still, be still;
Learn to be silent unto God,
And let Him mould thee to His will.
"O praying soul, be still, be still,
He cannot break His plighted Word;
Sink down into His blessed will,
And wait in patience on the Lord.
"O waiting soul, be still, be strong,
And though He tarry, trust and wait;
Doubt not, He will not wait too long,
Fear not, He will not come too late."
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