55. The Thorn Hedge
The way of the slothful man is as a hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain. Proverbs 15:19
IT has been said that the shrewdness of the Scotch nation is owing to the pretty general study of the Book of Proverbs in that country. Of this I am not a judge; but certainly, if carefully followed, the Proverbs of Solomon make men wise for this world with a high order of prudence. God would have his people wise. There is no credit in being a fool, even if you have the grace of God in your heart. To me it seems a duty to make as much of myself as I can, since I am a servant of the Lord: I do not want everybody to think that all my Lord's children are short of wit. In meditating upon this two-leaved proverb, we shall:

I. TAKE THE TEXT IN ITS TEMPORAL BEARINGS.
1. It is clear from the apposition that a slothful man is the opposite of righteous. Certainly he is so. His sins of omission abound. He breaks his word, he vexes others, Satan finds him mischief to do; he is, in fact, ready for every bad word and work.
2. It is not enough to be diligent unless we are righteous; for though the curse is to the idle, the blessing is not to the active, but to the righteous. It is diligence in the service of God, under the Holy Spirit, which wins the reward of God.
3. A slothful man's way is not desirable: "A hedge of thorns."

• It is difficult in his own apprehension: a rough and thorny road, and he cannot have too little of it. He would sooner look at it a month than run in it an hour.
• It becomes really thorny ere long. His neglects hedge him up, involve him in difficulties, bring losses, and create hindrances.
• It becomes painful: he is poor, mistrusted, harshly dealt with by weary creditors, and at last without a livelihood.
• It becomes blocked up: he does not know where to turn; he cannot dig, and he tries begging. Laziness gets little pity, and charity itself repels it.

4. A righteous man's way is under a blessing.

• It becomes plain as he proceeds in it diligently.
• God makes it so.
• He makes it so himself.
• Other people become willing to aid him, or, at least, to trust him, employ him, and recommend him.

1. The spiritual sluggard.

• Takes the way of indifference, carelessness, indecision, and unbelief; and this, though it may seem easy, is as full of sorrow as a thorn-hedge is full of pricking points.
• He will have his own way; and self-will and obstinacy are briar hedges indeed: besides, his frowardness provokes others to oppose him, and the thorns thicken.
• He chooses the way of sin, and he soon finds it full of sorrows, difficulties, perplexities, entanglements, and snares.
• By his evil ways, and the inevitable consequences of his sins, he is shut out from God and heaven.

2. The righteous man.
His way is that of faith and obedience.

• It has its impediments: these are swept away.
• It is frequently mysterious; but it is cleared up.
• It is sometimes hilly; but it is the King's highway,
• Wherein we are right.
• Wherein we are protected.
• Wherein we are secured of a blessed end.
• Are you wonderfully easy in religion, taking things as they come, in a slovenly way? Then your way will soon become a hedge of thorns. Neglect is quite sufficient to produce an immense crop of thorns and briars.
• Do you seek to be righteous? Do you love holiness? Do you know Christ as your Way? Then go on without fear; for your way will be made plain, and your end will be peace (Ps. 37:37).

Confirmations
"The way of the slothful man," the course which the sluggard taketh in going about his affairs,"is as a hedge of thorns," is slow and hard; for he goeth creeping about his business, yea, his fears and griefs prick him and stay him like thorns and briars. "But the path of the righteous is as a paved causeway." The order which the godly man taketh is most plain and easy, who so readily and lustily runneth on in the works of his calling as if he walked on a paved causeway. — P. Muffet
Who can tell the pains which lazy people take? the muddles into which they bring themselves? They are driven to falsehood to excuse their sloth, and one lie leads on to more. Then they scheme and plot, and become dishonest. I knew one who fell out with hard work, and soon he fell in with drink and lost his position. Since then, to earn a scanty livelihood he has had to work ten times as much as was required of him in his better days, and he has hardly had a shoe to his foot. Meanwhile, a simple, plodding man has gone onward and upward, favored, as he confesses, by Providence; but, best of all, upheld by his integrity and industry; to him there has been success and happiness. He works hard, but his lot is ease itself compared with the portion of the sluggard.
Nobody rides to heaven on a feather-bed. Grace has made a road to heaven for sinners, but it does not suit sluggardS. Those who reach the Celestial City are pilgrims and not lie-a-beds. Neglect is a sure way to hell; but we must strive to enter in at the straight gate, and so run that we may obtain. If you let your farm alone it will be overrun with weeds, and if your heart be let alone it will be eaten up with sins. Nothing comes of sloth but rags and poverty here, and damnation hereafter. Let idlers in Zion note this.
It is wonderful how difficulties vanish from the path of the righteous! In traveling up the Rhine you appear to be landlocked, but as the steamer proceeds you perceive a clear passage; a sudden bend enables you to see the opening between the hills. The road of Israel seemed blocked at the Red Sea, and again at the Jordan; but as they were following the Divine Leader, he made a way for them through the waters. Old Roman roads are still visible which were thrown up along the sides of hills and across valleys; these were plain enough to be followed by the least familiar traveler: even so hath the Lord cast up the road-way of his people and they shall not miss it. "The way-faring man, though a fool, shall not err therein."
The spiritually negligent involve themselves in much sorrow. Neglecting prayer and other means of grace, they seek spiritual ease; but if they are God's children they do not find it, but sow for themselves abundant thorns of regret and depression. I know of a surety that the diligent Christian is the only happy Christian. True religion is above all other things a business which is not only worth doing but is worth doing well. High farming in the fields of the soul is the only farming which pays.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon

55. 荊棘籬笆

「懶惰人的道像荊棘的籬笆，正直人的路是平坦的大道。」
——箴言 15:19
有人說，蘇格蘭民族的精明，源於他們普遍研讀《箴言》。這一點我無從判斷；但可以確定的是，若人仔細遵行所羅門的箴言，必能在今世獲得極高層次的實際智慧與謹慎。神要祂的百姓有智慧；即便心中有神的恩典，作個愚昧人也毫無榮耀可言。在我看來，既然我是主的僕人，就當盡力把自己塑造成最好的人；我不願世人以為我主的兒女都是缺乏見識的。在默想這節「對句式」的箴言時，我們將：

一、從今生實際層面來看這節經文

• 從對比可見，懶惰人正是義人的反面。的確如此。他滿了不作為的罪：
  他失信於人，使人煩惱；撒但為他預備各樣惡事；實際上，他隨時預備行出各樣惡言惡行。
• 僅有勤奮仍不夠，若沒有義；因為咒詛臨到懶惰人，但祝福並非給積極的人，而是給義人。唯有在聖靈引導下、為神而作的殷勤，才能得著神的賞賜。
• 懶惰人的道路不可羨慕——「像荊棘的籬笆」。
• 在他自己看來，這條路艱難難行：又粗糙又扎人，他巴不得能少走一步。他寧可看一個月，也不願跑一小時。
• 不久之後，這條路真的變成荊棘：他的疏忽把自己圍困起來，使他陷入困境、遭受損失、處處受阻。
• 這條路變得痛苦：他貧窮、被人不信任，被疲憊的債主苛刻對待，最終甚至失去生計。
• 最後，這條路完全堵死：他不知該往哪裡去；不會挖土，只好乞討。然而懶惰得不到同情，連施捨都會拒絕他。
• 義人的道路卻在祝福之下：
• 當他殷勤行走時，路就漸漸平坦。
• 神使這路平坦。
• 他自己也使道路變得順直。
• 別人也樂意幫助他，或至少願意信任他、僱用他、推薦他。

二、屬靈層面的應用

1. 屬靈上的懶惰人

. 他走的是冷淡、漫不經心、猶豫不決、不信的道路；這條路看似輕鬆，實際卻像荊棘籬笆一樣充滿痛苦。
. 他要行己意；而任性與固執本身就是滿是荊棘的籬笆。不僅如此，他的乖僻還激起他人反對，使荊棘越長越密。
. 他選擇罪惡之路，很快就發現那路滿是憂愁、困難、疑惑、纏累與網羅。
. 因他惡行及罪的必然後果，他被隔絕在神與天國之外。

2. 義人

他的道路是信心與順服之路。

• 這路有阻礙，但阻礙被清除。
• 有時顯得神祕，但終會明朗。
• 有時高低起伏，但它是君王的大道：
• 在其上我們站立得正；
• 在其上我們得蒙保護；
• 在其上我們確信有蒙福的終局。
• 你在信仰上是否過於輕鬆，隨隨便便、馬馬虎虎地過日子？那麼，你的道路很快就會變成荊棘籬笆。單是忽略，就足以長出滿地的荊棘與蒺藜。
• 你是否追求成為義人？是否愛慕聖潔？是否認識基督為你的道路？那麼，不必懼怕，繼續前行吧！你要細查那完全人(blamesless)，觀看那正直人(upright)；因為和平人有好結局(future await)。（詩 37:37）。

印證與補充

「懶惰人的道路」，也就是懶漢處理事務的方式，「好像荊棘籬笆」——遲緩而艱難；因他做事拖拖拉拉，恐懼與憂愁像荊棘一樣刺痛並攔阻他。
「義人的路卻像鋪好的大道」，他按著秩序、迅速而有力地履行呼召，好像行走在平坦的官道上。
——P. Muffet
誰能說清懶惰人付出的「辛苦」？他們把自己弄得一團亂，為掩飾懶惰而說謊，一個謊言引出更多謊言；接著他們開始算計、圖謀，甚至變得不誠實。我認識一個人厭惡辛勞，不久便染上酗酒，失去職位；此後為了糊口，他所付出的勞力比從前多十倍，卻仍衣衫襤褸。與此同時，一位踏實勤奮的人卻一步步向前，蒙神眷顧，更重要的是，他被誠實與勤勞托住，享有成功與喜樂。與懶漢相比，他的辛勞反而成了安逸。
**沒有人躺在羽毛床上進天國。**恩典為罪人開了一條天路，但不適合懶漢。到達天城的人是朝聖者，不是賴床者。忽略是通往地獄的捷徑；我們卻要努力進窄門，奔跑得獎賞。田地若放任不管，必長滿雜草；心若放任不管，必被罪吞噬。懶惰只結出貧窮與破敗，今生如此，來世更甚。錫安中的懶人，當留心此事！
義人的道路上，困難往往奇妙地消失！就像溯萊茵河而上，看似被群山封鎖，船行轉彎後卻豁然開朗。以色列人在紅海與約旦河前似乎無路可走，但跟隨神的引領，水中便開出道路。古羅馬的大道橫跨山谷、沿山而建，連最陌生的旅人也不致迷失；同樣，主已為祂的百姓修築大道，「行路的人，雖愚拙，也不至失迷」。
屬靈上疏忽的人，必自招許多憂愁。忽略禱告與恩典的管道，以為能得輕省；但若他真是神的兒女，反而會收割悔恨與低沉。我確知：**殷勤的基督徒，才是喜樂的基督徒。**真正的信仰是一門值得投入、而且值得全力以赴的事業；靈田若不精耕細作，決不結果。
查爾斯．哈登．司布真（Charles Haddon Spurgeon）

56. Things Are Not What They Seem
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits. Proverbs 16:2
OCCASIONALLY in seasons of collapse and disaster great discoveries are made concerning those who appeared to be commercially sound but turn out to be rotten. Then the whole machinery of financing is laid bare, and things which directors and managers
have thought to be right have been seen to be utter robbery. All looked solid and substantial until the inevitable crash came, and then no man felt that he could trust his neighbor. No doubt these schemers thought their ways "clean;' but the event discovered their dirty hands.
Spiritual failures of like kind occur in the church. Great reputations explode, high professions dissolve. Men readily cajole themselves into the belief that they are right, and are doing right. They misapply Scripture, misinterpret providence, and in general turn things upside down, but the inexorable judgment overtakes them. A weighing time comes, and their professions are exposed. Niagara is at the end of the fatal rapid of self-deception: the self-satisfied pretender descends with a plunge to sure destruction.
Let us practically consider some of the "ways" which appear to be "clean;" but are not so, when the Lord comes to weigh the spirits.

I. THE WAYS OF THE OPENLY WICKED. Many of these are "clean" in their own eyes.
To effect this self-deception:

• They give pretty names to sin.
• They think ill of others, making them out to be much worse than themselves, and finding in this an excuse for themselves,
• They claim to have many admirable qualities, and fine points.
• They urge that if imperfect they cannot help it.
• They also seriously resolve to amend; but never do so. Men do with themselves as financiers do with companies:
• They put down doubtful assets as certain property.
• They reckon expectations as receipts.
• They tear out pages from the account-book.
• They conceal damaging facts, and ruinous entanglements.
• They cook the accounts in all sorts of ways, and make groundless promises.

The Lord's trial will be thorough and decisive. He weighs with accurate balances and weights; and he looks not only to the open way but to the inner spirit.

II. THE WAYS OF THE GODLESS.

• These often boast that they are better than the religious.
• They pretend that their superior intellects prevent their being believers: they must doubt because they are clever.
• They extol regard to the second table of the Law as being far more important than any service rendered to God himself.
• They will not be held accountable for their creed, or be judged for rejecting a few crabbed dogmas.

But all these shall be weighed in the balances and found wanting.

III. THE WAYS OF THE OUTWARD RELIGIONIST. These seem "clean,"

• His observance of ceremonies.
• His regular attendance at worship.
• His open profession of religion.
• His generosity to the cause, and general interest in good things.

Thus ministers, deacons, members, etc., may boast, and yet when the Lord weighs their spirits they may be castaways.

IV. THE WAYS OF THE COVETOUS PROFESSOR. His ways are specially "clean."

• His greed keeps him from expensive sins, and therefore he gives himself credit for self-denial.
• He stints the cause of God and the poor.
• He oppresses his workmen in their wages.
• He makes hard bargains, drives debtors to extremes, takes undue advantage, and is a skinflint to all around him.

The Lord says of him, "covetousness which is idolatry."

V. THE WAYS Of THE WORLDLY PROFESSOR. He thinks himself "clean."
Let him honestly consider whether he is "clean"—

• In his secret life? In his private and hidden indulgences?
• In his pleasures and amusements?
• In his company and conversation?
• In his forsaken closet, forgotten Bible, lukewarm religion, etc.

What a revelation when the weighing of his spirit comes!

VI. THE WAYS OF THE SECURE BACKSLIDER. He dreams that his way is "clean;" when a little observation will show him many miry places:

• Decline in private prayer (Job 15:4).
• Sin gradually getting the upper hand (Jer. 14:10).
• Conversation scantily spiritual (Eph. 5:4)
• Scriptures little read (Hos. 8:12).
• Heart growing hard (Heb. 3:13).
• Religion almost destitute of life (Rev. 3:1).
• Pride cropping up in many directions (Deut. 8:14).

The Lord gives him a weighing in trial and temptation; then there follows an opening up of deceit and hypocrisy.

VII. THE WAYS Of THE DECEIVED MAN. He writes pleasant things for himself, and yet all the while he is a spiritual bankrupt.

• Failed in true faith in Jesus.
• Failed in real regeneration.
• Failed in heart-work and soul-service for the Lord.
• Failed for ever. Will our hearer do this?

Comparisons
How beautiful all things look when winter has bleached them! What a royal bed is to be seen in yonder corner! The coverlet is whiter than any fuller on earth could white it! Here might an angel take his rest, and rise as pure as when he reclined upon it. Pshaw! It is a dunghill, and nothing more.
All the ships that came into the harbor were claimed by one person in the city. He walked the quay with a right royal air, talked largely about owning a navy, and swaggered quite sufficiently had it been so. How came he to be so wealthy? Listen, he is a madman. He has persuaded himself into this folly, but in truth he has not a tub to call his own. What absurdity! Are not many the victims of even worse self-deception? They are rich and increased in goods according to their own notion; yet they are naked, and poor, and miserable.
"This must be the right way, see how smooth it is! How many feet have trodden it!" Alas, that is precisely the mark of the broad road which leadeth to destruction.
"But see how it winds about, and what a variety of directions it takes! It is no bigot's unbending line." Just so; therein it proves itself to be the wrong road; for truth is one, and unchanging.
"But I like it so much." This also is suspicious; for what an unrenewed man is so fond of is probably an evil thing. Hearts go after that which is like themselves, and graceless men love graceless ways
"Would you have me go that narrow and rough road?" Yes, we would; for it leadeth unto life; and though few there be that find it, yet those who do so declare that it is a way of pleasantness. It is better to follow a rough road to heaven than a smooth road to hell.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon

56. 事情並非表面所見

一、明顯邪惡之人的道路

這些人在自己眼中往往是「清潔的」。為了達成這種自我欺騙，他們：

• 給罪取好聽的名字；
• 對別人存惡念，把別人說得比自己更壞，藉此為自己辯解；
• 誇耀自己有許多可取的品格與優點；
• 辯稱若有缺點也是身不由己；
• 鄭重其事地立志悔改，卻從未真正改變。
• 人對待自己，正如金融家對待公司一樣：把可疑資產記作確實產業；
• 把期望當作實際收入；
• 撕掉帳簿中的某些頁；
• 隱瞞致命的事實與破產的糾葛；
• 用各樣方式做假帳，並作出毫無根據的承諾。

主的審判將是徹底而決定性的；祂用準確的天平與法碼衡量，不只看外在的行為，也察驗內在的靈。

二、不敬虔之人的道路

• 他們常誇口自己比敬虔的人更好。
• 他們聲稱因為自己聰明，所以不能信；必須懷疑，因為他們有才智；
• 他們高舉律法第二條（對人的責任），認為這比任何對神的事奉都重要；
• 他們拒絕為自己的信仰負責，也不願因拒絕某些「刻板的教義」而受審判。

然而，這一切都要放在天平上衡量，結果必顯出虧欠。

三、只有外表宗教的人之道路

這些看起來「清潔」：

• 他遵守儀式；
• 他固定參加聚會；
• 他公開承認自己是信徒；
• 他對事工慷慨，對善事普遍關心。

因此，牧師、執事、會友等都可能自誇；然而當主衡量他們的心靈時，卻可能成為被棄絕的人。

四、貪婪的自稱信徒之道路

他的道路特別顯得「清潔」。

• 他的貪心使他遠離花錢的罪，因此便自以為克己；
• 他在神的事工和窮人身上斤斤計較；
• 他在工價上欺壓工人；
• 他做苛刻的交易，把債務人逼到絕境，佔人便宜，對所有人都極其吝嗇。

主論到他說：「貪婪就是拜偶像。」

五、屬世的自稱信徒之道路

他自以為「清潔」。讓他誠實地省察自己是否清潔——

• 在隱密生活中？在私下、隱藏的放縱裡？
• 在他的娛樂與消遣上？
• 在他的交往與談話中？
• 在被荒廢的內室、被遺忘的聖經、冷淡的信仰中？

當衡量他靈魂的時刻來臨，將是何等的揭露！

六、自以為安全的退後者之道路

他夢想自己是「清潔的」；但稍加觀察就會發現滿地泥濘：

• 私下禱告衰退（伯 15:4）；
• 罪逐漸佔上風（耶 14:10）；
• 言談缺乏屬靈內容（弗 5:4）；
• 聖經少有閱讀（何 8:12）；
• 心漸漸剛硬（來 3:13）；
• 宗教幾乎沒有生命（啟 3:1）；
• 驕傲在多方面冒出來（申 8:14）。

主在試煉與誘惑中衡量他，接著虛假與假冒為善便被揭露。

七、被欺騙之人的道路

他為自己寫下甜美的評語，然而實際上卻是屬靈的破產者：

• 在對耶穌真實的信心上失敗；
• 在真正的重生上失敗；
• 在內心的工作與對主的服事上失敗；
• 永遠地失敗。

我們的聽眾是否願意認真面對這些事？

比喻與對照

冬天把一切漂白時，看起來是何等美麗！那邊角落裡似乎鋪著一張皇家臥榻！被單比世上任何漂布工漂出的都要白！天使似乎可以躺在上面休息，起來時仍舊純潔如初。哼！那不過是一堆糞土而已。
城裡有一個人宣稱港口裡所有進港的船都是他的。他在碼頭上神氣活現，大談自己擁有一支海軍，擺出十足的派頭。為何如此富有？聽聽吧——他是個瘋子。他說服了自己相信這個幻想，實際上卻連一個木桶都不屬於他。多麼荒謬！然而，有多少人陷入更嚴重的自我欺騙？他們自以為富足、樣樣都有；其實卻是赤身、貧窮、可憐。
「這一定是正路，看它多麼平坦！多少人走過！」
唉，這正是那引向滅亡的寬路的標記。
「可是它彎彎曲曲，方向多變！不像偏執者那樣筆直。」
正是如此，這正證明它是錯路；因為真理只有一個，且永不改變。
「但我很喜歡這條路。」
這同樣令人警惕；未重生的人所喜愛的，多半是邪惡的。心追隨與自己相似的事物，沒有恩典的人也愛沒有恩典的道路。
「你真要我走那又窄又難的路嗎？」
是的，我們要；因為那路引向生命。雖然找著的人少，但凡走過的人都見證，那是喜樂的道路。
走一條通往天堂的崎嶇路，遠勝過走一條通往地獄的平坦路。
——查爾斯・哈登・司布真（Charles Haddon Spurgeon）

57. Pondering Hearts
The Lord pondereth the hearts. Proverbs 21:2
THE heart among the Hebrews is regarded as the source of wit, understanding, courage, grief, pleasure, and love. We generally confine it to the emotions, and especially the affections, and, indeed these are so important and influential that we may well call them the heart of a man's life. —
Now we cannot read the heart, much less ponder or weigh it. We can only judge our fellow men by their actions; but of motive, and actual condition before God, we cannot form a true estimate, nor need we do so. This, however, the Lord can do as easily as a goldsmith judges silver and gold by weight. He knows all things, but he is pleased to show us the strictness of his examination by the use of the metaphor of weighing. He takes nothing for granted, he is not swayed by public opinion, or moved by loud profession; he brings everything to the scale, as men do with precious things, or with articles in which they suspect deception. The Lord's tests are thorough and exact. The shekel of the sanctuary was double that which was used for common weighings, so at least the Rabbis tell us; those who profess to be saints are expected to do more than others. The sanctuary shekel was the standard to which all common weights ought to be conformed. The law of the Lord is the standard of morals. The balances of God are always in order, always true, and exact.

I. THE WEIGHING OF HEARTS.
1. God has already performed it. Every man's purpose, thought, word, and action is put upon the scale at the first moment of its existence. God is not at any instant deceived.
2. The law under which we live daily weighs us in public and in private, and by our disobedience discovers the short weight of our nature, the defect of our heart.
3. Trials form an important order of tests. Impatience, rebellion, despair, backsliding, apostasy, have followed upon severe affliction or persecution.
4. Prosperity, honor, ease, success, are scales in which many are found wanting. Praise arouses pride, riches create worldliness, and a man's deficiencies are found out (Prov. 27:21).
5. Great crises in our own lives, in families, in religious thought, in public affairs, etc., are weights and scales. A man's heart can hardly be guessed at when all goes on steadily.
6. Truth is ever heart-searching. Some left Jesus when he preached a certain doctrine. Hearts are weighed by their treatment of the truth. When they refuse God's word, that word condemns them.
7. The moment after death, and specially the general judgment, will be heart-weighing times.

II. THE HEARTS WHICH ARE WEIGHED.
They greatly vary, but they may be divided roughly into three classes, upon which we will dwell, hoping that our hearers will judge themselves.
1. Hearts which are found wanting at once.

• The natural heart. All who have been unchanged come under this; even "the good-hearted man at bottom."
• The double heart. Undecided, double-minded, false. "their heart is divided, now shall they be found faulty" (Hos. 10:2).
• The heartless heart. No decision, energy, or seriousness. He is "a silly dove without heart" (Hos. 7:7?).
• The perverse heart. Rebellious, willful, sinful.
• The unstable heart. Impressions forgotten, promises broken, etc.
• The proud heart. Self-righteous, confident, arrogant, defiant.
• The hard heart. Unaffected by love or terror. Obstinate. Resisting the

power of the Holy Ghost.
2. Hearts which turn out to be wanting on further weighing.

• "Another heart," such as Saul had. A new phase of feeling, but not a new nature.
• A humbled heart, like that of Ahab when Elijah had prophesied his ruin. Humbled, but not humble; turned, but not turned from iniquity.
• A deceived heart. Thinks itself good, but is not.

3. Hearts which are of good weight.

• The trembling heart: penitent, afraid of sin, etc.
• The tender heart: sensitive, affectionate, longing.
• The broken heart: mourning, pining, humble, lowly.
• The pure heart: loving only that which is good and clean, mourning sin in itself and others, sighing for holiness.
• The upright heart: true, just, sincere, etc.
• The perfect heart: earnest, honest, resolute, consecrated, intent, united, etc.
• The fixed heart: resting firmly, abiding steadfastly, etc.
• Is your heart ready for the weighing? Have you no fear of the final trial? Is this confidence well founded.
• Is Jesus enthroned therein by faith? If so, you need not fear any weighing.
• If not, what will you do when the King sets up the final scales?

Sundry Helps
Heaven's Sovereign saves all beings, but himself,
That hideous sight, a naked human heart.— Young

In the reign of King Charles I. the goldsmiths of London had a custom of weighing several sorts of their precious metals before the Privy Council. On this occasion, they made use of scales, poised with such exquisite nicety, that the beam would turn, the master of the Company affirmed, at the two-hundredth part of a grain. Noy, the famous Attorney General, replied, "I shall be loath, then, to have all my actions weighed in these scales." "With whom I heartily concur," says the pious Hervey, "in relation to myself; and since the balances of the sanctuary, the balances in God's hand, are infinitely exact, oh what need have we of the merit and righteousness of Christ, to make us acceptable in his sight, and passable in his esteem."
My balances are just,
My laws are equal weight;
The beam is strong, and thou mayst trust
My steady hand to hold it straight.
Were thine heart equal to the world in sight,
Yet it were nothing worth, if it should prove too light.
But if thou art asham'd
To find thine heart so light,
And art afraid thou shalt be blam'd,
I'll teach thee how to set it right.
Add to my law my gospel, and there see
My merits thine, and then the scales will equal be.
— Christopher Harvey, "Schola Cordis"

In the mythology of the heathen, Momus, the god of fault-finding, is represented as blaming Vulcan, because in the human form, which he had made of clay, he had not placed a window in the breast, by which whatever was done or thought there might easily be brought to light. We do not agree with Momus, neither are we of his mind who desired to have a window in his breast that all men might see his heart. If we had such a window we should pray for shutters, and should keep them closed.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon

57. 省察人心

「耶和華衡量人心。」
——箴言 21:2 (人所行的，在自己眼中都看為正；惟有耶和華衡量人心。)
在希伯來人的觀念中，**「心」**被視為機智、悟性、勇氣、憂傷、喜樂與愛的泉源。我們通常把「心」限定在情感，特別是愛慕之情；而事實上，這些確實如此重要、如此有影響力，以致我們完全可以稱它們為一個人生命的核心。
然而，我們無法讀懂人心，更不用說去衡量或秤量它。我們只能根據人的行為來判斷同伴；至於動機，以及人在神面前真正的光景，我們既無法作出正確的估計，也不需要如此行。**但主卻能做到這一切，就像金匠用重量來判斷金銀一般容易。**祂知道萬事，卻樂意用「衡量」這個比喻來向我們顯明祂審察的嚴格。祂不憑假設行事，不受輿論左右，也不被高調的宣稱所感動；祂把一切都放在天平上，正如人對待貴重之物，或對懷疑有詐的物件一樣。
主的試驗是徹底而精確的。照拉比的說法，聖所的舍客勒比日常使用的重量要重一倍；那些自稱為聖徒的人，理當比別人有更高的要求。聖所的舍客勒，是一切常用重量應當符合的標準；同樣，耶和華的律法是道德的標準。神的天平始終正確、真實、毫無差錯。

一、衡量人心

• 神早已在進行這樣的衡量。
  每個人的目的、思想、言語與行為，在產生的第一瞬間，就已被放在天平上。神從不會在任何時刻被欺騙。
• 我們每天所活在其中的律法，也在公開與私下衡量我們。
  藉著我們的悖逆，它顯明了我們本性的分量不足，顯露了我們內心的缺陷。
• 試煉是一種重要的衡量方式。
  忍耐的缺乏、悖逆、絕望、退後、離道，常常緊隨著嚴厲的患難或逼迫而來。
• 順境、尊榮、安逸與成功，也是不少人被顯出虧欠的天平。
  讚美激發驕傲，財富催生屬世之心，人的不足便因此暴露出來（箴 27:21）。
• 人生中的重大關口——無論是個人、家庭、宗教思想，或公共事務上的危機——都是重量與天平。當一切平順時，人心幾乎無法被真正看透。
• 真理本身不斷地鑒察人心。
  有些人因耶穌講論某些真理而離開祂。人心如何對待真理，就在其中被衡量；當人拒絕神的話，那話本身就定了他的罪。
• 死亡之後的瞬間，尤其是最後的審判，都是衡量人心的時刻。

二、被衡量的心

人心多有不同，但我們可以大略分為三類，盼望聽眾能自己審察自己。

1. 立刻被顯為虧欠的心

• 天然的心：一切未被更新的人，包括那位「本質上好心的人」。
• 兩樣的心：猶豫不定、三心二意、虛假不實。「他們心懷二意， 現今要定為有罪。」（何 10:2）。
• 無心的心：沒有決斷、沒有力量、沒有認真；「以法蓮好像鴿子愚蠢無知； 他們求告埃及，投奔亞述。」（何 7:11）。
• 悖逆的心：反叛、任性、犯罪。
• 不穩定的心：感動容易消失，承諾屢屢破裂。
• 驕傲的心：自義、自信、狂妄、抗拒。
• 剛硬的心：不被愛或恐懼所感動，頑固，抗拒聖靈的能力。

2. 經進一步衡量後顯為虧欠的心

• 「另一個心」，如掃羅所得的——情感有改變，性質卻未更新。
• 自卑卻不謙卑的心，如亞哈在以利亞宣告審判後的反應；被壓服，卻未離開罪。
• 被欺騙的心：自以為良善，其實並非如此。

3. 分量充足的心

• 戰兢的心：悔改、懼怕罪。
• 柔軟的心：敏銳、有愛、渴慕。
• 破碎的心：憂傷、謙卑、降服。
• 清潔的心：只愛良善與純潔，為自己與他人的罪哀痛，渴望聖潔。
• 正直的心：真誠、公義、無偽。
• 完全的心：認真、誠實、堅定、奉獻、專一。
• 堅定的心：安息、持守、不動搖。
• 你的心準備好被衡量了嗎？
• 你對最後的試驗毫無懼怕嗎？這樣的把握是否站得住腳？
• 耶穌是否因信而坐在你心中為王？若是如此，你不必懼怕任何衡量。
• 若不是——當君王設立最後的天平時，你將如何面對？

雜項助益（選譯）

「天上的君王拯救一切受造之物，惟獨不拯救那赤裸、可憎的人心。」——楊（Edward Young）

在查理一世統治期間，倫敦的金匠們有一項慣例：他們會在樞密院（Privy Council）面前秤量各類貴金屬。當時所使用的天平精巧到一個地步，據工會會長說，那橫梁能因二百分之一格令的重量而傾斜。著名的總檢察長諾伊（Noy）回應說：「那麼，我可不願意讓我一切的行為都放在這樣的天平上衡量。」 虔誠的赫維（Hervey）說：「在這一點上，我完全同意他；並且既然聖所的天平、也就是神手中的天平，是無限精確的，噢，我們何等需要基督的功勞與義，好使我們在神眼中蒙悅納，在祂的評價中被視為合格。」 我的天平公正， 我的律法分量相等； 橫梁堅固，你可以信靠， 我穩定的手必使它保持筆直。 縱然你的心在世人眼中重如全世界， 若實際一秤卻顯得太輕，仍然毫無價值。 但若你因發現自己心的分量不足而羞愧， 又因恐怕被責備而戰兢， 我必教你如何校正它： 在我的律法之外，加上我的福音； 在那裡你會看見——我的義成了你的義， 於是天平便得平衡。 ——克里斯多福．哈維 《心之學院》（Schola Cordis）

在異教的神話中，吹毛求疵之神莫摩斯（Momus）被描寫為責怪火神伏爾甘（Vulcan）：因為他用泥土造人時，沒有在人的胸膛上開一扇窗，使人所做、所想的一切都能輕易顯露出來。 我們並不同意莫摩斯；也不贊成那位希望在自己胸前開一扇窗、讓眾人都能看見他內心的人。若我們真有這樣一扇窗，我們恐怕會祈求裝上百葉窗，並且把它緊緊關上。
——查爾斯・哈登・司布真