加尔文 / John Calvin
The wicked and the votaries of worldly pleasure often enjoy prosperity, while such as fear the Lord are exposed to affliction, and disposed to faint under the pressure of it. To moderate that pride which the one class is apt to feel in the midst of their success, and administer a check to the despondency of the other, the Psalmist shows what little reason we have to envy the supposed happiness of the ungodly, which, even when at its height, is vain and evanescent; and he teaches us that good men, however great their trials may be, are objects of the divine regard, and will be eventually delivered from their enemies.
恶人与世俗享乐的追随者往往享尽繁荣，而敬畏主的人却遭受苦难，几乎不支。为了遏制前者在顺境中易生的骄傲，并抑制后者的沮丧灰心，诗人指出我们实在没有理由羡慕不虔之人表面上的幸福——那幸福即使在最鼎盛之时，也不过是虚空易逝之物；他同时教导我们，善人无论经历何等苦难，都是上帝眷顾的对象，终必从仇敌手中得以拯救。
To the Chief musician, a psalm of the sons of Korah. 207
献给诗班长，可拉子孙的诗篇。
49:1-4
1. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: 2. Both ye sons of Adam, and ye sons of men, 209 rich and poor, together. 3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the
1．众民哪，你们都当听这话！世上的居民哪，无论高低贵贱，都当侧耳而听！2．亚当的子孙，和人的子孙，富足的与贫穷的，都当留心听。3．我口要说智慧的话；我心要想通达的理。4．我要侧耳听比喻，用琴显明我的谜语。
meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4. I will incline my ear to a parable: 210 I will open my enigma 211 upon the harp.
我心的默想，乃是通达的理。4．我要侧耳听比喻，用琴显明我的谜语。
1．众民哪，你们都当听这话。无论本诗的执笔者是谁，他所探讨的乃是属天哲学中最重要的原则之一。他以高亢的言辞开篇，呼唤并维系众人的注意，宣布自己要论述深重而紧要的事，这是十分恰当的。诚然，从表面看，这主题似乎平淡陈旧，无非是讲人生之短促、世人所倚赖之物的虚空。但本诗真正的用意，乃是教导上帝的子民在所受苦难中得到安慰——告诉他们当期望处境有一美好的转变，届时上帝将在祂自己的时间中介入，匡正现世的混乱。诗人传授更高一层的功课：因上帝治理世界的护理暂时不彰，我们必须操练忍耐，凭信心超越肉身感官的揣度，预见美好的结局。我们理当与苦难奋力抗争，无论苦难何等严酷，也不应将幸福寄托于世财、荣耀或世乐这些转瞬即逝之物，这些原则连异教哲学家也曾宣扬，但他们始终未能为我们展示真正的安慰之源。他们论幸福生活，无论辞藻何等华美，所论者不过是对美德的称颂，却未将那治理世界的上帝清晰地摆在我们眼前——只有向祂，我们才能在最绝望的处境中满有把握地投奔。因此，哲学的教导在这方面所能给予的，不过是微薄的安慰。圣灵在本诗中虽重新引入我们颇为熟悉的经验常识，却是要藉此将我们的心提升到更高的真理——上帝治理世界的真理，使我们确信：上帝高坐统治，无论不虔之人正在最得意之时，还是义人正被藐视践踏之时，终有一日祂必从仇敌手中夺去欢乐的杯盏，又藉拯救祂的百姓脱离最深的苦难而使他们心中喜乐。唯有这一考量，才能在苦难中给予我们真实的安慰。苦难本身固然可怕可畏，若非主向我们发出祂面光的光，它们足以淹没我们的灵魂。若我们不确知祂看顾我们的安全，便找不到出路，也没有可以投奔之处。以上所说或可解释受感动的作者为何以这样的方式引入本诗——恳求我们留意，宣告即将要论述的乃是非同寻常、高超而重要的主题。这节经文暗含两层意思：其一，他所要讲论的主题具有普世性；其二，我们需要被提醒与唤醒，方能有适度的思考。我将 yosh·vei te·vel 译作”世上的居民”，有人译作”时间的居民”，但这种表达颇为生硬，尽管与诗篇的旨意相符。他无差别地呼唤所有人，因为他要宣讲的真理与所有人息息相关。”亚当的子孙”可指卑微低下的人；”人的子孙”则指高贵显赫、在生活中占据某种地位的人。如此，他在开篇便表明自己的目的：无一例外地教导高低贵贱所有人，因为所要论述的主题关乎全人类，每一个人都需要被教导。3．我口要说智慧的话。先知以这些称颂之语来描述他即将传递的真道，是有充分理由的。他固然是以直接诉诸生活观察的方式来责备人的愚昧；但他的教导所依据的总体原则，绝非人类的通常理性所能轻易领悟，更何况他使用这些词语，目的不在于标榜主题的崇高，不过是要唤起众人的注意。他以一种独特的方式更有效地做到了这一点：他自居为一名要亲自投身领受教导的人，而非以劝诫者的姿态登场。他将自己呈现为一名谦卑的学子，一边扮演教师，一边着眼于自己的进益。凡上帝的仆人都当有这样的心志，视上帝为他们自己与众百姓共同的教师，首先自己接受他们向别人所传讲的那道。诗人还有另一层用意：他宣告自己无意贩售私见，只传在上帝学校中所学之道，以此为他的教导赢得更大的分量与尊重。这是当在教会中遵循的真正教导方式。担任教师职分的人，必须先使自己接受真理，方可传授于人，如此才能将上帝托付给他的真理，转递到他人手中。智慧非人类才智所能生发，必须从上面寻求；凡未曾先坐在主脚前受教的人，绝不可能以建立教会所必需的得体与知识来发言。就字句而言，有人将第三节读作：我心的默想要出口说通达的理。但说”心的默想出口说话”，是生硬不当的表达，故我采用较简洁的读法。4．我要侧耳听比喻。希伯来文 mashal 一词，我译作”比喻”，本义是”比喻”或”类比”，但也常用于任何深刻而有分量的语言，因为这类语言通常以比喻和隐语来修饰。紧随其后的名词 chidoth，我译作”谜语”，含义与此相近。在以西结书十七章2节，两个名词连同其动词同时出现，字面意思是：”用谜说谜，用比喻作比喻。”我知道这里所指的是寓言式的讲论，但我已说明为何在希伯来文中，任何卓越重要的语言都可被称为谜语或比喻。诗人补充说他要”显明”他的谜语，可见他决无使所论之事陷入令人困惑、错综复杂的晦涩之意。启示的真理虽高超过人的理解力，圣灵却也充分地将其调适于我们的领受能力，使整本圣经都有益于教导。无人可托词无知：最深奥最难解的真道，对最简单、目不识丁的人也是清晰明了的。若干注释家提出一个意见：诗人用琴，是为了以音乐之美使原本刺耳不悦的主题变得更为动人。我认为此说无甚说服力，他不过是遵循以琴伴诗的惯例。
49:5-9
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil? the iniquity of my heel shall compass me about. 6. They trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. 7. The brother shall not be able to redeem, [literally, shall not redeem by redeeming;] none shall give to God the price of his redemption. 8. And the redemption of their soul shall be precious, and their continuance for ever. 9. That he should still live for ever, and not see the grave.
5．在患难的日子，我何必惧怕；奸恶之辈追踪我的脚跟，将我四面环绕。6．他们倚仗财货，以丰富自夸。7．一个人都不能赎自己的兄弟，也不能替他将赎价给上帝；8．他灵魂的赎价太昂贵了，必须永远停止。9．使他能永远存活，不见朽坏。
5．在患难的日子，我何必惧怕？诗人在此进入他所拟论述的要点：上帝的子民在最苦难的处境中，纵使仇敌似乎将他们四面围困，也不可陷入沮丧，必须确信上帝虽暂时隐忍，却看顾他们的处境，不过是在等待执行审判的最佳时机。这种以问句引入主题的方式，比直接声明他在逆境中保持心平气静的决心，要有力得多。在本节第二句，他特别指出一切苦难中最重、最痛苦的那种——义人眼见仇敌在罪恶中肆无忌惮地得胜时所经历的苦难。”当”这个时间副词必须加以理解——”当奸恶之辈追踪我脚跟……之时”。有些注释家给这话附上不同的含义：若我在患难的日子惧怕，像不信者那样过分忧虑，那么，当我的死期来临时，我的罪孽便要环绕我。他们将”脚跟”理解为生命的终结。但这解释极为牵强，当立即摒弃。另有一些人将此词指向思念，我也看不出有何依据，因为全部圣经中别处都找不到这样的比喻或类比。还有人将原文译作”埋伏者”，因为希伯来动词 akab 有”欺骗”之义；他们认为诗人是要说，即使狡猾奸诈的人为他设下陷阱，他也不会惧怕。依我之见，这里并无比喻意图；他的意思只是：纵使仇敌将他四面包围，在追逐他时几乎踩上他的脚跟，他也不惧怕。
The French have a similar expression, “Poursuyvre jusques aux talons.” 218 I agree with them, that he speaks of enemies, but it is of their wicked persecution as they press upon him in the height of their power, and with design to destroy him, keep themselves near him, and tread, so to speak, upon his very heel. 6. They trust in their wealth. We are now furnished with the reason why the suffering children of God should dismiss their apprehensions, and keep themselves from despondency, even when reduced to extremity by the violence and treachery of their enemies. Any boasted power which they possess is fleeting and evanescent. The Psalmist would convince us that the fear of man is unwarrantable; that it argues ignorance of what man is even at his best; and that it were as reasonable to startle at a shadow or a spectre. They boast themselves, he adds, in the multitude of their riches, and this is an error into which we are disposed to fall, forgetting that the condition of man in this world is fluctuating and transitory. It is not merely from the intrinsic insufficiency of wealth, honors, or pleasures, to confer true happiness, that the Psalmist proves the misery of worldly men, but from their manifest and total incapacity of forming a correct judgment of such possessions. Happiness is connected with the state of mind of that man who enjoys it, and none would call those happy who are sunk in stupidity and security, and are destitute of understanding. The Psalmist satisfactorily proves the infatuation of the wicked from the confidence which they place in their power and wealth, and their disposition to boast of them. It is a convincing sign of folly when one cannot discern what is before his eyes. Not a day passes without forcing the plain fact upon their notice, that none can redeem the life of another; so that their conduct is nothing less than insanity. Some read, A man shall not be able to redeem his brother; which amounts to the same meaning, and the text admits of this translation. The Hebrew word , ach, which I have rendered brother, is by others translated one; but I do not approve, although I would not absolutely reject, this reading. The Psalmist adds, that none can give a price to God for the ransom of another, where he adverts to the truth that men’s lives are absolutely at the disposal of God, and that they never can be extended by any human arrangement one moment beyond the period which God has fixed. He enforces the same lesson in the verse which follows, where he states that the redemption of their soul is precious, an expression not to be understood as implying merely that it is an event of rare occurrence, but that it never can take place, as 1 Samuel 3:1, where the word of the Lord is said to have been precious under the priesthood of Eli, when it is evidently meant that it had ceased altogether. The Psalmist would assert that no man can hope to purchase an immortality either for himself or others in this world. I have rendered the close of verse 8, And their continuance for ever; but others, who construe the Hebrew word , chadal, as a verb, meaning to cease, read, And ceaseth for ever, as if the Psalmist meant that no price was sufficiently great to answer the purpose, and that it must therefore cease for ever, as what could never obtain the end desired. I consider that which I have given to be the real meaning of the word, having had occasion already to observe upon Psalm 39:5, that it signifies the fixed term of human life. The words in verse 9, That he should still live for ever, more fully express the truth, that it is not merely impossible to redeem the life of men when they are dead, but impossible while they are yet living, to extend the term of their existence. A definite limit has been assigned to every man’s life. This he cannot pass over, and the Psalmist would impress the fact upon us as one which stamps folly upon the conduct of the wicked, who will cherish their unfounded confidence even at the moment when they are upon the brink of the grave. In all this, it may strike the reader that he has not announced any thing which merits being called a dark saying, and has rather been treating a popular subject in a very plain style of language; but if he consider that David here condemns, as by a voice issuing from the awful judgment-seat of God, the stupidity of such as forget that they are men, he will not be disposed to reckon the expression inapplicable. Again, we have seen that he has opened his dark saying, it being the divine will that instruction should be delivered in a form adapted to the meanest capacity.
法语有类似的表达：”Poursuyvre jusques aux talons”（直追到脚跟）。我同意他们的看法，认为这里所指是仇敌，但具体说的是仇敌在势力最盛时、怀有毁灭之心、紧随其后、几乎踩上他脚跟时的恶意迫害。6．他们倚仗财货。如今我们得到了上帝受苦子民当打消忧虑、免于沮丧的理由，哪怕他们已被仇敌的暴力与奸诈逼到绝境。仇敌所自恃的一切权势，都是短暂易逝的。诗人要说服我们：惧怕人是无根据的，那说明我们不了解人即使在其最佳状态下也不过是什么；以同样的道理，对着影子或鬼魂大惊小怪也是同样荒唐。他接着说，他们以丰富自夸，而这正是我们容易陷入的错误，忘记了人在这世界上的处境是飘忽无常的。诗人证明世俗之人的可悲，不单单是从财富、荣耀或享乐本质上无法赋予真正幸福来论证，更是从他们对这些财物明显且完全无法作出正确判断来论证。幸福与享有它的人的心态密切相关，沉溺于愚昧与安逸、毫无见识的人，没有人会称他们为有福的。诗人从恶人将其权势与财富视为倚靠、喜爱自夸的态度上，令人信服地证明了他们的昏昧。无法辨别摆在眼前之物，乃是愚昧的确凿证据。每一天都将这显而易见的事实摆在他们面前：无人能赎赎别人的命；因此，他们的行为无异于精神错乱。有人读作”人不能赎赎自己的兄弟”，意思相同，原文也支持这种翻译。希伯来词 ach 我译作”兄弟”，另有人译作”他人”，我不赞成，虽也不完全排除。诗人接着说：无人能将赎价给上帝来赎另一人的灵魂，他藉此指出：人的生命完全在上帝的掌管之下，不能藉任何人的安排延长哪怕一刻，超过上帝所定的期限。他在下一节重申同样的道理，说灵魂的赎价”太昂贵”，这话不仅意味着这事极为罕见，更意味着这事根本不可能发生——正如撒母耳记上三章1节说耶利的祭司时期”耶和华的言语稀少”，显然是指那时已完全绝迹。诗人要说明：人既不能为自己，也不能为他人在这世界上买得长生不死。我将第八节末尾译作”必须永远停止”；但另有人将希伯来词 chadal 视为动词，意为”停止”，读作”永远停止”，仿佛诗人是说：没有任何价格足以达成目的，因此必须永远停止，因为这是永远无法实现的目标。我认为我的读法才是这词的真正含义，先前在诗篇三十九篇5节注释中，我已有机会指出这词表示人生的固定期限。第九节所说”使他能永远存活”，更充分表达了这一真理：不仅不可能在人死后赎回其命，甚至在他们尚存活时，也不可能延长他们生存的期限。上帝已为每个人的生命划定了确定的界限，谁也无法跨越，诗人要将这事实深印于我们心中，作为恶人行为之愚昧的印证——他们竟在距离坟墓只有一步之遥时，还坚持那毫无根据的自信。在此，读者或许会觉得诗人并未宣告任何堪称谜语的内容，所用的不过是相当平实的语言论述大众话题；但若他思量大卫在此如同从上帝可畏的审判台发出声音，斥责那些忘记自己不过是人的人的愚昧，他便不会觉得这种表达不当。我们又看到，他已显明了他的谜语，因为上帝的旨意是要以适合最低微之人领受的形式传递教导。
49:10-12
10. For he shall see that wise men die, the fool and the brutish person shall perish together, and shall leave their wealth to strangers. 11. Their inward thought is their houses for ever, 219 and their dwelling-places to all generations; they have called out their names upon the earth. 12. And man shall not abide in honour; he has become like the beasts: they perish.
10．他必见智慧人死，又见愚顽人和畜类人一同灭亡，将他们的财货留给别人。11．他们心里想他们的家室必永久存立，他们的居所必留传列代；他们以自己名字称自己的地。12．人在尊贵中，但不长久；他好像快要毙命的牲畜。
10 For he shall see that wise men die. I consider the ninth and tenth verses to be connected, and that it is the intention of the Psalmist to censure the folly of those who dream of spending an eternity in this world, and set themselves seriously to establish a permanent settlement in it, though they cannot but see their fellow-creatures cut down daily before their eyes by the stroke of death. It is a common proverb, that experience teaches fools, and they may be looked upon as something worse who will not lay to heart their mortality, when surrounded by so many convincing illustrations of it. This seems obviously to be the connection. These infatuated enemies of God, as if he had said, cannot fail to perceive that death is the universal lot of mankind, that the wise are equally liable to it with the foolish; and yet they persist in the imagination that they will remain here always, and will live as if they were never to quit with this world! They see what happens to others, that all, without exception or discrimination, are involved in the common mortality; and they must observe how often it happens that wealth passes into the hands of strangers The word , acherim, I translate strangers, rather than others; for although it may be extended to successors of any kind, yet I think that the Psalmist here supposes the case of wealth passing into the hands of those who are not our natural and lawful heirs, and cannot be considered in any sense as representing us. Many not only die, but die childless, and their name becomes extinct, which is an additional ingredient of bitterness in the cup of the worldling. And yet all these affecting lessons of experience are entirely lost upon them, and they still in their secret thoughts fondly cherish the idea of living here for ever. The Hebrew word , kereb, means the middle of anything; but it is taken metaphorically to signify the heart, or inward parts of the man. Here it denotes that their secret thoughts are occupied with an imaginary eternity which they hope to enjoy upon earth. Another and more ingenious interpretation has been suggested by some, that as the word occasionally means a tomb, the Psalmist may here be satirising those who think to perpetuate their memory after death by rearing expensive mausoleums. 220 This view of the words is strained and unnatural; and what immediately follows proves that the other is the most correct, when it is added, that worldly men call out their names upon the earth; that is, make every exertion in their power to win reputation amongst their fellow-creatures. Their desire should be to have their names written in the book of life, and to be blessed before God and his holy angels; but their ambition is of another kind — to be renowned and extolled upon earth. By the expression, calling out, it is insinuated that the fame of ungodly men is but an empty sound. Some interpreters prefer reading, They have called their lands by their own names, 221 that they might leave some monument of themselves to posterity. But what the Psalmist seems chiefly to insist upon is, that they are wholly bent upon earthly renown. 12 And man shall not abide in honor Having exposed the vain and delusory nature of the fancies entertained by the ungodly, he next shows that however fondly they may cherish them, they must experience the same fate with the beasts of the field. It is true that there is a great difference, so far as the soul is concerned, between man and the brute creation; but the Psalmist speaks of things as they appear in this world, and in this respect he was warranted to say of the ungodly that they die as the beasts. His subject does not lead him to speak of the world to come. He is reasoning with the children of this world, who have no respect to another, and no idea of a farther happiness than that which they enjoy here. He accordingly ridicules their folly in conceiving of themselves as privileged with exemption from the ordinary lot of humanity, and warns them that death will soon be near to humble their presumptuous thoughts, and put them on a level with the meanest of the lower creatures. This I prefer to the more ingenious interpretation which some would put upon the words, that they reduced themselves to the level of beasts by not recognising the true dignity of their nature, which consists in the possession of a never-dying soul. The Psalmist’s great aim is to show the vanity of the boasting of the wicked, from the nearness of death, which must join them in one common fate with the beasts of the field. The last word in the verse gives the reason why the ungodly may be compared to the beasts — they perish It matters little whether or not we consider the relative , asher, as understood, and read, that perish
10．他必见智慧人死。我以为第九节与第十节相连，诗人意在责备那些幻想在世上永驻、认真筹划在这地建立永久安置之所的人的愚昧，尽管他们每天亲眼看见同类被死亡之手击倒。有句常言道，经验才能教训愚昧人，而那些被那么多死亡的证明所包围，却仍不将自己的必死性放在心上的人，可以说比愚昧还不如。这看来显然就是上下文的连接。上帝这些昏迷的仇敌——他仿佛是说——无从回避地看见死亡是人类的共同命运，智慧人与愚昧人同样在所难逃；然而他们仍坚持幻想自己将永远留在这里，活得仿佛永远不会离开这世界！他们看见别人的遭遇，看见所有人无一例外地卷入共同的死亡；他们必然也注意到，财富往往多么频繁地落入陌生人之手。我将 acherim 译作”陌生人”，而非”别人”；因为虽然这词可以泛指任何继承人，但我认为诗人在此设想的是财富传入非自然合法继承人手中的情形，这些人绝无可能在任何意义上代表原来的主人。许多人不仅死去，更无子嗣而终，名字从此绝迹，这是世俗之人苦杯中另一层苦涩的成分。然而所有这些震撼人心的经验教训，对他们全然没有作用，他们心中仍暗暗珍爱着在这世上永远存活的幻想。希伯来词 kereb 本义是某物的中间；但比喻性地用以指心脏或人的内心。此处表示他们的内心秘思充满了他们希望在地上永久享有的虚幻永恒。另有人提出更为巧妙的解释：因为这个词偶尔意指坟墓，诗人或许是在讽刺那些以为通过修建奢华陵墓可以在死后传名的人。这种理解牵强不自然；紧接其后的话也证明另一种解释更为正确——他接着说，世俗之人”以自己名字称自己的地”，即竭力在同类中赢得声名。他们本应渴望自己的名字被记录在生命册上，在上帝与祂的圣天使面前蒙福；但他们的抱负截然不同——要在世上著名受誉。”称呼名字”这种表达暗示，不虔之人的声名不过是一个虚空的回响。有些注释家倾向于读作”他们以自己的名字称自己的田产”，为要给后代留下某种纪念。但诗人似乎最强调的是：他们完全以地上的声名为念。12．人在尊贵中，但不长久。诗人揭示不虔之人所持幻想的虚空与欺骗性质之后，接着指出：无论他们多么恋恋不舍地怀抱那些幻想，终必与田野中的走兽同一命运。诚然，就灵魂而言，人与牲畜之间有极大的差别；但诗人是就事物在这世界上所显现的来讲，在这方面，他有理由说不虔之人死如牲畜。他论述的主题不引导他谈论来世。他是在与此世的儿女讲理，这些人对另一个世界毫无顾念，也不知道有超越此世享乐的更高福乐。因此，他嘲笑他们愚昧地以为自己能豁免于人类的共同命运，警告他们死亡不久将要临到，挫折他们骄横自大的念头，使他们与最卑微的低等生物同等。我倾向于此解，胜于一些人所赋予这些话的更深刻的解释——说他们因不认识自己本性的真正尊贵（即拥有永不死灭的灵魂），便将自己降格为牲畜。诗人的主要目的是从死亡之近在咫尺来揭示恶人夸口的虚空，那死亡必将他们与田野中的牲畜共归一个命运。本节末尾所说的”毙命”，是解释不虔之人为何可与牲畜相比。
49:13-15
13. This their way is foolishness in them, 222 and their posterity will acquiesce in their sayings, [literally, in their mouth.] Selah. 14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their strength 223 shall wax old; the grave shall receive them 224 from their dwelling. 15. But God shall redeem my soul from the hand 225 of the grave; for he hath taken me up. Selah
13．他们行的这条路，本是他们的愚昧；但他们以后的人，还是喜爱他们的话语。（细拉）14．他们如同羊群被委派到阴间，死亡必牧养他们；到了早晨，正直人必管辖他们；他们的美容（原文作力量）必被阴间所消灭，各人离开他所住的地方。15．只是上帝必救赎我的灵魂，脱离阴间的权柄，因他必收纳我。（细拉）
have read , kaberam, their graves, instead of , kirbam, their inward part The text as it stands admits of a good sense. Some eminent critics, however, are disposed to think that the reading of the ancient versions is the true one.
他们的内部读作 kaberam（他们的坟墓），而非 kirbam（他们的内心）。原文如此也可通，然而若干重要的学者倾向于认为古代译本的读法才是正确的。
13 This their way is foolishness As this verse has been variously rendered, I shall briefly, before giving my own sense of it, state the views which have been taken by others. As the Hebrew word , kesel, which I have translated foolishness, occasionally means the kidneys, some refine upon the term, and consider it to be here taken for fat; as if this imagination of theirs were, so to speak, fat which stupified and rendered their senses obtuse. But this reading is too forced to bear examination. Others read, This their way is their folly; 226 that is, the reason why they pursue such a line of conduct is, that they are destitute of sound judgment; for, were they not utterly devoid of it, and did they possess one spark of intelligence, would they not reflect upon the end for which they were created, and direct their minds to higher objects? I rather conceive the Psalmist simply to mean, that the event proves them to be wholly destitute of wisdom, in placing their happiness upon earthly objects, and brands them, notwithstanding all the pretensions they make to foresight and shrewdness, with ridicule and contempt. And this he states, to show in a more aggravated light the madness of their posterity, who will not be instructed by the fate of their predecessors. The last clause of the verse has also been variously rendered, and I may state the views which have been taken of it by others. The Hebrew verb , ratsah, which I have translated to acquiesce, they render, to walk, and the noun , phi, translated mouth or sayings, they take to mean a measure, thus understanding the Psalmist to say, that the children walked by the same rule with their fathers; and they change the letter , beth, into , caph, the mark of similitude which is sufficiently common in the Hebrew language. This view of the passage comes near to the proper meaning of it. Some conceive that there is an allusion to the beasts of the field; but this is improbable. It seems best to understand with others that the word mouth denotes principles or sayings; and the verb , ratsah, may be taken in its more ordinary and most generally received sense, which implies consent or complacency. I have therefore translated it to acquiesce. The boasted confidence of the ungodly proving vain in the issue, and exposing them justly to ridicule, it argues a monstrous infatuation in their posterity, with this example before their eyes, to set their affections upon the same trifles, and to feel and express themselves exactly in the same manner as those who went before them. If men reflect at all upon the judgments which God executes in the world, we might expect that they would particularly consider his dealings with their immediate predecessors, and when, wholly insensible to the lessons which should be learned from their fate, they precipitate themselves into the same courses, this convincingly demonstrates their brutish folly. 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed them 227 The figure is striking. They go down into the grave as sheep are gathered into the fold by the shepherd. The entire world might not seem vast enough for men of a haughty spirit. They are so swollen with their vain imaginations, that they would engross universal nature to themselves. But the Psalmist, finding the wicked spread as it were far and wide, in the boundless pride of their hearts, collects them together into the grave, and hands them over to death as their shepherd. He intimates, that whatever superiority they might affect over their fellow-creatures, they would feel, when too late, that their boasting was vain, and be forced to yield themselves up to the irresistible and humiliating stroke of death. In the second part of the verse, the Psalmist points out the very different fate which awaits the children of God, and thus anticipates an obvious objection. It might be said, “Thou tellest us that those who place their confidence in this world must die. But this is no new doctrine. And why convert into matter of reproach what must be considered as a law of nature, attaching to all mankind? Who gave thee a privilege to insult the children of mortality? Art thou not one of them thyself?” This objection he meets effectually, by granting that on the supposition of death being the destruction of the whole man, he would have advanced no new or important doctrine, but arguing that infidel worldlings reject a better life to come, and thus lay themselves justly open to this species of reprehension. For surely it is the height of folly in any man for a mere momentary happiness — a very dream — to abdicate the crown of heaven, and renounce his hopes for eternity. Here it must be apparent, as I already took occasion to observe, that the doctrine of this psalm is very different from that taught by the philosophers. I grant that they may have ridiculed worldly ambition with elegance and eloquence, exposed the other vices, and insisted upon the topics of our frailty and mortality; but they uniformly omitted to state the most important truth of all, that God governs the world by his providence, and that we may expect a happy issue out of our calamities, by coming to that everlasting inheritance which awaits us in heaven. It may be asked, what that dominion is which the upright shall eventually obtain? I would reply, that as the wicked must all be prostrated before the Lord Jesus Christ, and made his footstool, His members will share in the victory of their Head. It is indeed said, that he “will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father,” but he will not do this that he may put an end to his Church, but “that God may be all in all,” (1 Corinthians 15:24.) It is stated that this will be in the morning 228 — a beautiful and striking metaphor. Surrounded as we are by darkness, our life is here compared to the night, or to a sleep, an image which is specially applicable to the ungodly, who lie as it were in a deep slumber, but not inapplicable to the people of God, such being the dark mist which rests upon all things in this world, that even their minds (except in so far as they are illuminated from above) are partially enveloped in it. Here “we see only as through a glass darkly,” and the coining of the Lord will resemble the morning, when both the elect and reprobate will awake. The former will then cast aside their lethargy and sloth, and being freed from the darkness which rested upon them, will behold Christ the Sun of Righteousness face to face, and the full effulgence of life which resides in him. The others, who lie at present in
13．他们行的这条路，本是他们的愚昧。由于此节的解读颇为分歧，在给出我自己的理解之前，我将简述别人所持的观点。希伯来词 kesel，我译作”愚昧”，有时也指腰子，因此有人在这词上大做文章，以为它在此处是指”脂肪”——好像这种幻想是一种使他们感觉迟钝、神志昏沉的脂肪。但这种读法过于勉强，经不起推敲。另有人读作”这是他们的愚昧所致”，即：他们走这样的路，原因在于他们缺乏健全的判断；因为若他们不是完全丧失了理智，还有丝毫的明智，岂会不思想自己被造的目的，不将心思转向更高的事物？我认为诗人不过是直接地表达：结局本身证明他们在将幸福寄托于地上事物这件事上，完全没有智慧，尽管他们自我标榜有先见之明与聪明；这一事实使他们蒙羞受辱，一无是处。他如此说，是为了更鲜明地彰显后代的疯狂——他们竟不从先辈的命运受教。本节末句也有多种解读，我可陈述各家意见。希伯来动词 ratsah，我译作”悦纳”，另有人译作”行走”；名词 phi，我译作”话语”或”口中所说”，另有人取其”量度”之义，由此理解诗人是说后代子孙依循与先辈相同的规则行走；他们并将介词 beth 改作表示比较的 caph，这在希伯来文中颇为常见。这种观点与原意相近。有人以为这里有对田野牲畜的暗指，但这不大可能。以他人的理解为好——将”口”理解为原则或说法；动词 ratsah 取其最普通、最广为接受的含义，意为同意或认可。因此我译作”悦纳”。不虔之人自夸的把握最终落空，理应受到嘲弄，其后代在眼见此等先例之后，竟将心思放在同样的琐事上，感受与表达与前辈一般无二，这确实是一种骇人的昏迷。若人对上帝在世上所行的审判稍加思量，我们可以期望他们尤其会思考上帝对其直系先辈的对待；而当他们对应从其命运学到的功课全然漠然，仍奔向同样的道路，这清楚地证明了他们的愚昧痴顽。14．他们如同羊群被委派到阴间，死亡必牧养他们。这比喻何等震撼人心！他们下到坟墓，如同羊被牧人赶进羊圈。整个世界对骄傲自大的人或许显得不够宽广，他们在虚空的幻想中如此自我膨胀，恨不能将整个宇宙据为己有。但诗人发现恶人如此广泛地铺张开来，无边无际的骄傲充斥着他们的心，便将他们一并收拢到坟墓，将他们交给死亡作他们的牧人。他暗示：无论他们怎样在同类中标榜自己的优越，终必发现——虽然太迟——他们的自夸是徒然的，必须向死亡那不可抗拒、令人蒙羞的一击俯首认命。在本节的后半部分，诗人指出上帝子女所等待的截然不同的命运，藉此预防一个明显的异议。有人或许会说：”你告诉我们，凡将把握寄托于这世界的人都必死亡。但这并非什么新颖的道理，死亡既是自然规律，作用于所有人，你为什么要将其化为责难之词？谁赐给你权利来嘲弄必死之人的孩子？你自己不也是其中之一吗？”诗人对此异议给出有力的回答：他承认，倘若死亡是毁灭全人之物，他所传讲的便既非新颖也非重要；但他论证道，不信者拒绝承认来世更美好的生命，因此自然应受这种责备。确实，任何人为了一时的幸福——一场梦——而放弃天上的冠冕、断绝永恒的盼望，乃是愚昧之极。由此可以明显看出，正如我先前有机会指出的，这篇诗的教导与哲学家所教导的截然不同。我承认，他们可能以优雅的文辞嘲弄世俗的野心，揭露其他罪恶，并就我们的脆弱与必死性反复申论；但他们始终略去了最重要的真理：上帝以祂的护理治理世界，我们可以期盼从苦难中得到美好的结局，因为天上有永恒的产业在等候我们。或有人问，正直人终将得到的权柄是什么？我回答：既然恶人都必俯伏在主耶稣基督脚前，成为祂的脚凳，祂的肢体便将分享他们元首的得胜。诚然，他”要将国交给父上帝”，但他这样做，不是要终止祂的教会，乃是”要上帝成为万物之中的万物”（林前十五24）。这事被说明是在”早晨”——何等鲜明生动的比喻！我们被黑暗所笼罩，我们的生命在此被比作夜晚或睡眠，这比喻尤其适用于不虔之人，他们如同沉睡在深沉的迷梦中，但也不是不适用于上帝的子民，因为这世界上的一切都笼罩在如此浓密的迷雾中，以至于他们的心思（除非从上得到光照）也在一定程度上被迷雾所笼罩。在这里，”我们如今彷彿对着镜子观看”，主的降临将如同清晨，届时被选召的与遭拒绝的都要苏醒。前者将抖落困倦迟钝，从笼罩他们的黑暗中得释放，将面对面地看见公义的日头基督，以及居于祂里面那充足的生命光辉。后者则
Appendix to the Notes in Merrick’s version, No. 4, p. 304. This verb also signifies to feed upon in Isaiah 44:20, and Hosea 12:2. Fry’s translation is,
Appendix to the Notes in Merrick’s version, No. 4, p. 304. 这个动词在以赛亚书四十四章20节和何西阿书十二章2节也有”以……为食”的含义。Fry 的译法是：
“They are set apart like sheep for Hades;
“他们如同羊群被分拨归入阴间；
Death feedeth upon them, and they go down to them;”
死亡以他们为食，他们下到那里。”
and he thinks that the idea here is, that Death and Hades are the two monsters for whose consumption the flock is destined. This is a personification which we frequently meet with in the Latin poets. Cerberus is often represented by them as feasting on the bodies of men in the grave; Thus, notwithstanding the strong desires which worldly men have for immortality in this world, they shall become the victims of the grave, and the prey of death.
他认为这里的意思是，死亡与阴间是这群羊所要供养的两只怪兽。这是一种拟人化的表现，在拉丁诗人中屡见不鲜。地狱三头犬 Cerberus 常被描绘为在坟墓中以人的身体为食。如此，尽管世俗之人对于永驻此世有多么强烈的渴望，他们终将成为坟墓的牺牲品，死亡口中的猎物。
a state of total darkness, will be aroused from their stupidity, and begin to discover a new life, of which they had previously no apprehension. We need to be reminded of this event, not only because corruption presses us downwards and obscures our faith, but because there are men who profanely argue against another life, from the continued course of things in the world, scoffing, as Peter foretold, (2 Peter 3:4,) at the promise of a resurrection, and pointing, in derision, to the unvarying regularity of nature throughout the lapse of ages. We may arm ourselves against their arguments by what the Psalmist here declares, that, sunk as the world is in darkness, there will dawn ere long a new morning, which will introduce us to a better and an eternal existence. It follows, that their strength, or their form, 229 (for the Hebrew word , tsurah, is susceptible of either meanings) shall wax old If we read strength, the words intimate, that though at present they are in possession of wealth and power, they shall speedily decline and fall; but I see no objection to the other meaning, which has more commonly been adopted. Paul tells us, (1 Corinthians 7:31,) that “the fashion of this world passes away,” a term expressive of the evanescent nature of our earthly condition; and the Psalmist may be considered as comparing their vain and unsubstantial glory to a shadow. The words at the close of the verse are obscure. Some read, The grave is their dwelling; and then they make , mem, the formative letter of a noun. But the other interpretation agrees better both with the words and scope of the psalm, that the grave awaits them from his dwelling, which is put for their dwelling; such a change of number being common in the Hebrew language. They reside at present in splendid mansions, where they rest in apparent security, but we are reminded that they must soon come out of them, and be received into the tomb. There may be a covert allusion to their goings abroad to places of public resort with gaiety and pomp. These, the Psalmist intimates, must give place to the sad procession by which they must be carried down to the grave. 15 But God will redeem my soul The Hebrew particle, , ach, may be also translated, surely, or certainly. The psalmist had made a general assertion of the great truth, that the righteous shall have dominion in the morning, and now he applies it to himself for the confirmation of his own faith. This verse may, therefore, be regarded as a kind of appendix to the former; in it he makes a personal application of what had been said of all the righteous. By the word, the hand, is to be understood the dominion and power, and not the stroke, of the grave, as some have rendered it. The prophet does not deny his liability to death; but he looks to God as He who would defend and redeem him from it. We have here a convincing proof of that faith in which the saints under the Law lived and died. It is evident that their views were directed to another and a higher life, to which the present was only preparatory. Had the prophet merely intended to intimate that he expected deliverance from some ordinary emergency, this would have been no more than what is frequently done by the children of the world, whom God often delivers from great dangers. But here it is evident that he hoped for a life beyond the grave, that he extended his glance beyond this sublunary sphere, and anticipated the morning which will introduce eternity. From this we may conclude, that the promises of the Law were spiritual, and that our fathers who embraced them were willing to confess themselves pilgrims upon earth, and sought an inheritance in heaven. It evinced gross stupidity in the Sadducees, educated as they were under the Law, to conceive of the soul as mortal.
目前处于全然黑暗之中的那些人，将从他们的愚昧中惊醒，开始发现一种他们之前毫无感知的新生命。我们需要被这一事件提醒，不仅因为腐败将我们向下牵引、遮蔽我们的信心，更因为有些人以世界运行的不变规律来悍然反驳来世的存在，正如彼得所预言（彼后三4），嘲笑复活的应许，并以多少世纪以来自然界不变的规律性来加以讥讽。我们可以用诗人在此所宣告的来武装自己：尽管世界沉溺于黑暗之中，一个新的早晨不久将要破晓，引领我们进入更美好的永恒存在。随后说”他们的力量（或形状——希伯来词 tsurah 二义皆可）必要消亡”——若读作”力量”，则这话表示尽管他们目前坐拥财富权势，他们将迅速衰落倾覆；但我认为另一种更为普遍采用的含义也无不可。保罗告诉我们（林前七31），”这世界的样子将要过去”，这词表达了我们属地处境的短暂性；诗人或许是在将他们虚幻无实的荣耀比作一片影子。本节末尾几字晦涩难解。有人读作”坟墓是他们的居所”，将 mem 作为名词的构词字母；但另一种解释更契合本诗的文字与旨意——坟墓”从他的居所”等候他们，这是用”他的居所”代替”他们的居所”，希伯来文中数的变化是常见的。他们目前居住在华丽的宅院中，在表面的安全中安然休憩；但诗人提醒我们，他们不久便要离开这一切，被接纳进入坟墓。这里或许还隐含着对他们身着盛装前往公共游乐场所的暗指，诗人暗示，这一切都必要让位于那将他们送入坟墓的悲伤行列。15．只是上帝必救赎我的灵魂。希伯来小品词 ach 也可译作”必定”或”确实”。诗人先前对这伟大真理作出了总体的断言——义人必在早晨得权柄——如今他将之应用于自己，以坚固自己的信心。因此，本节可以视为对前节的附记，他在其中将对所有义人所说的应用于自身。”手”这词当理解为坟墓的支配与权势，而非如某些人所译的坟墓的”打击”。先知并不否认自己必死；但他仰望上帝，视祂为将他从死亡中捍卫并救赎之者。我们在此得到一个令人信服的证明：律法时代的圣徒就是以这样的信心生活并离世的。显然，他们的目光指向另一个更高的生命，现世不过是通往那生命的预备阶段。若先知仅仅是想表达他期望从某种普通的紧急处境中得救，这与世俗之人所常有的无异——上帝常常也拯救世人脱离巨大的危险。但在此，显然他所盼望的是坟墓之后的生命，他的眼光延伸到这世界之外，预见那将引领人进入永恒的早晨。由此我们可以断言：律法的应许是属灵的，我们古代的父老们接受了这些应许，甘愿承认自己不过是地上的旅客，寻求天上的产业。撒都该人在律法的教育之下竟以为灵魂是必死的，实在是愚昧至极。
The man must be blind indeed who can find no mention of a future life in this passage. To what other interpretation can we wrest the preceding verse, when it speaks of a morning altogether new and peculiar? We are sufficiently accustomed to see the return of morning, but it points us to a day of an extraordinary kind, when God himself shall rise upon us as the sun, and surprise us with the discovery of his glory. When the Psalmist adds, Assuredly God will redeem my soul 230 from the power of the grave, does he not contemplate a special privilege, such as could not be shared by all other men? If deliverance from death, then, be a privilege peculiar to the children of God, it is evident that they are expectants of a better life. We must not overlook, (what I have already noticed,) that the sure method of profiting by the divine promises is, to apply to ourselves what God has offered generally to all without exception. This is done by the prophet, for how could he have arrived at an assured promise of the redemption of his soul, except by the general fact known to him of the future glory awaiting the children of God, and by concluding himself to be amongst their number? The last clause of the verse runs in the Hebrew literally, for he will take me up Some, however, resolve the causal particle , ki, which we render for, into the adverb of time when, and the verb , lakach, which we translate to receive or to take up, they translate to cut off, or take away from this world, giving to the passage this sense, When God shall have called my soul out of this world to himself, he will rescue it from the power of the grave. I am afraid that this is rather too strained an interpretation. Those seem to take a juster view of the words who consider that the future tense has been substituted for the perfect, and who retain the proper signification of the causal particle, reading, for he has taken me up The prophet did not consider that the ground of his hope for a better resurrection was to be found in himself, but in the gratuitous adoption of God who had taken him into his favor. There is no need, however, why we should suppose a change of tense, and not understand the Psalmist as meaning that God would redeem his soul from death, by undertaking the guardianship of it when he came to die. The despairing fears which so many entertain when descending to the grave spring from the fact of their not commending their spirit to the preserving care of God. They do not consider it in the light of a precious deposit which will be safe in his protecting hands. Let our faith be established in the great truth, that our soul, though it appears to evanish upon its separation from the body, is in reality only gathered to the bosom of God, there to be kept until the day of the resurrection.
真是瞎眼的人才会在这段经文中找不到来世生命的提示。当前节谈到一个全然崭新而特殊的早晨时，我们还能给它附上什么别的解释呢？清晨的来临我们已经再熟悉不过，但它指向一个非比寻常的日子，届时上帝本身将如日头照耀我们，使我们在祂荣耀的显现中惊喜不已。当诗人接着说”上帝必救赎我的灵魂，脱离阴间的权柄”，他是否在默想一种并非所有人都能分享的特别恩典？若脱离死亡确实是上帝儿女所特有的恩典，则他们明显是更美好生命的盼望者。我们不可忽视（我已提及的）这一点：从神圣应许中得益处的可靠方法，乃是将上帝对众人普遍所提供的应用于自身。先知正是这样做的，因为他若非凭着上帝已将荣耀赐给上帝儿女这一他所知晓的普遍事实，并由此推断自己也是其中之一，又怎能对自己灵魂的救赎得出一个确定的应许？本节末尾在希伯来文的字面意思是”因他必收纳我”。然而有些人将表示原因的小品词 ki（我们译作”因”）解作时间副词”当……的时候”，并将动词 lakach（我们译作”收纳”或”接走”）译作”将……从这世界带走”，给这段话这样的含义：当上帝将我的灵魂从这世界带到祂那里时，祂将救它脱离阴间的权柄。我担心这是一个过于勉强的解释。那些认为完成时已被将来时所取代的人，保留了表示原因的小品词的本义，读作”因他已收纳我”，在我看来把握了这些话更为正确的含义。先知并不认为他盼望更好复活的根据在于自己，乃在于上帝白白的收纳——上帝已接他进入祂的恩宠。然而，我们也不必假设时态有所转换，而只是理解诗人为：上帝将在他临死之时承担看顾他灵魂的责任，藉此救他的灵魂脱离死亡。许多人在下到坟墓时所怀的绝望惧怕，源于他们没有将自己的灵魂交托给上帝的保守之手。他们没有将其视为一笔珍贵的托付，在上帝保护的手中必然安全。愿我们的信心在这伟大的真理中得以坚立：我们的灵魂，虽在与身体分离时似乎消散不见，实际上乃是被聚拢到上帝的怀中，在那里被保守，直到复活的那日。
49:16-20
16. Be not thou afraid when one shall be made rich, when the glory of his house shall be increased; 17. For when he dieth he shall not carry all away: his glory shall not descend after him: 18. For he will bless his soul in his lifetime, and they shall praise thee when thou doest well to thyself. 231 19. He shall come but to the age of his fathers, and will not see the light even for ever. 20. Man is in honour, and will not understand: he is like the beasts: they shall perish.
16．人有财有势，你不要害怕；他家的荣耀加增的时候，也不要惧怕；17．因为他死的时候，什么都不能带去；他的荣耀不能随他下去。18．他活着的时候，虽然自夸为有福；你若为自己做好事，人必夸奖你。19．他必归到他历代的祖宗那里，直到永远不得见光。20．人在尊贵中而不醒悟，就如死亡的牲畜一样。
16 Be not thou afraid The Psalmist repeats, in the form of an exhortation, the same sentiment which he had formerly expressed, that the children of God have no reason to dread the wealth and power of their enemies, or to envy their evanescent prosperity; and as the best preservative against despondency, he would have them to direct their eyes habitually to the end of life. The effect of such a contemplation will be at once to check any impatience we might be apt to feel under our short-lived miseries, and to raise our minds in holy contempt above the boasted but delusory grandeur of the wicked. That this may not impose upon our minds, the prophet recalls us to the consideration of the subject of death — that event which is immediately at hand, and which no sooner arrives than it strips them of their false glory, and consigns them to the tomb. So much is implied in the words, He shall not carry away all these things when he dieth 232 Be their lives ever so illustrious in the eyes of their fellow-creatures, this glory is necessarily bounded by the present world. The same truth is further asserted in the succeeding clause of the verse, His glory shall not descend after him Infatuated men may strain every nerve, as if in defiance of the very laws of nature, to perpetuate their glory after death, but they never can escape the corruption and nakedness of the tomb; for, in the language of the poet Juvenal, - “Mots sola fatetur Quantula sint hominum corpuscula,” — “It is death which forces us to confess how worthless the bodies of men are.” 18 For he will bless his soul in his lifetime Various meanings have been attached to this verse. Some read, He ought to have blessed his soul during his life Others apply the first clause of the verse to the wicked, while they refer the second to believers, who are in the habit of praising God for all his benefits. Others understand the whole verse as descriptive of believers, but without sufficient ground. There can be little doubt that the reference is to the children of the world. In the first part of the verse it is said that they bless their own soul 233 so long as they live on earth, by which is meant, that they indulge and pamper themselves with earthly pleasures, giving way to the excesses of brutish intemperance, like the rich man, of whom Christ spoke in the parable, who said, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry,” — (Luke 12:19) or that they seek their happiness entirely from this world, without cherishing a desire for the life that is to come. Some translate the Hebrew verb, he will do good, and read thus, He will do good to his own soul in his lifetime. But I conceive the phrase to be synonymous in its import with that which is employed by Moses, “And it come to pass, that he bless himself in his heart;” (Deuteronomy 29:19,) that is, flatter himself as if he might despise God with impunity. The inspired penman here represents the stupidity of such as please themselves with a fallacious dream of happiness. In the latter part of the verse the person is changed, and the votary of pleasure is apostrophised; 234 the prophet insinuating, by the words he uses, that the preposterous pride with which the wicked are inflamed is in part the consequence of the delusive applause of the world, which pronounces them to be happy, and echoes their praises even when they gratify their most unlicensed passions. 19 He shall come to the age of his fathers He proceeds to show how false are the flatteries by which the wicked deceive themselves, and are deceived by others. Be they ever so intoxicated with the praises of the world, or with their own vain imaginations, yet they cannot live beyond the age of their fathers; and, granting their life to be extended to the longest term, it can never stretch into eternity. Others understand the expression as synonymous with their being gathered to the tomb along with their fathers who have gone before them; as in Scripture death is usually called “The way of all the earth.” The Psalmist, a little above, had spoken of their being gathered together in the grave as sheep in a fold. According to this view, the meaning of the passage is, that having never aspired after heaven, but having been sunk in the low grovelling pursuits of this world, they would come at last to the same fate with their fathers. When it is added, They shall not see the light even for ever, we are to understand their consignment to everlasting darkness. 235 In my opinion, both clauses of the verse combine to express the same truth, That however they may flatter and deceive themselves, they cannot prolong their life beyond the common term of mortality. As either interpretation, however, agrees with the general scope of the psalm, the reader may choose for himself. Should the latter be adopted, the words in the close of the verse are to be considered as asserting that the ungodly can only enjoy the light of life for a short period, as they have no hope of another existence beyond the grave. We are taught by the Psalmist, in the words which have been under our consideration, to beware of flattering ourselves in the possessions of this world, and to be principally anxious for the attainment of that happiness which is reserved for us in heaven. We are also warned not to allow ourselves to be carried away by the erring influence of worldly applause. Even heathen authors have taught us the same lesson. Thus the poet Persius says, — “Non si quid turbida Roma Elevet, accedas, examenve improbum in illa Castiges trutina: nec te quaesiveris extra,” — “If Rome, a city full of commotions, exalt or despise any thing, beware of being satisfied with its weight or balance; that is to say, of stopping at its judgment; and do not look to what others say of you, but enter into thyself, and examine what thou art.” 236 But the disposition to be deceived by flattery is one so strongly marked in our nature, as to require that we should attend to the weightier admonition of one who was inspired. 20 Man is in honor, and will not understand 237 Here the prophet, that he may not be understood as having represented the present life, which in itself is a singular blessing of God, as wholly contemptible, corrects himself as it were, or qualifies his former statements by a single word, importing that those whom he reprehends have reduced themselves to the level of the beasts that perish, by senselessly devouring the blessings which God has bestowed, and thus divesting themselves of that honor which God had put upon them. It is against the abuse of this world that the prophet has been directing his censures. They are aimed at those who riot in the bounties of God without any recognition of God himself, and who devote themselves in an infatuated manner to the passing glory of this world, instead of rising from it to the contemplation of the things which are above.
16．你不要害怕。诗人以劝勉的形式重申他先前所表达的同一情感：上帝的儿女没有理由惧怕仇敌的财富与权势，或羡慕他们转瞬即逝的繁荣；作为防止沮丧的最佳良方，他要他们习惯地将目光投向生命的终局。这样的默想，既能遏制我们可能对短暂苦难所产生的焦躁不安，也能使我们的心在圣洁的蔑视中超然于恶人那虚浮欺骗的荣华之上。为不让我们的心被其迷惑，先知将我们拉回到思想死亡这一主题——那随时将至的事件，一旦来临，便剥去他们的虚假荣耀，将他们打入坟墓。这正是所说的话语中所包含的意思：”他死的时候，什么都不能带去”。他们的一生无论在同类眼中多么显耀，这荣耀必然被此世所限制。同样的真理在随后这句中再次被肯定：”他的荣耀不能随他下去”。沉迷的人们或许会竭尽全力，仿佛要对抗自然规律，要在死后延续他们的荣耀，却永远无法逃脱坟墓的腐朽与赤裸；诗人尤维纳利斯语：”Mors sola fatetur / Quantula sint hominum corpuscula”——”只有死亡才迫使我们承认，人的身体是何等渺小。”18．他活着的时候，虽然自夸为有福。这节经文有多种解读。有人读作”他本应在世时祝福自己的灵魂”；另有人将本节前半句归于恶人，后半句归于信徒——他们素来以赞美上帝回应祂的一切恩惠。还有人认为全节都是描述信徒的，但依据不足。毋庸置疑，这里指的是世界的儿女。本节前半部分说他们”在世上活着的时候，祝福自己的灵魂”，意即他们以地上的享乐放纵自满，纵情于放荡的欢宴——正如基督在比喻中所说的那个财主，他说：”我的灵魂哪，你有许多财物积存……吃喝快乐吧”（路十二19）；或者说，他们完全从这世界寻求幸福，不怀丝毫对来世生命的渴慕。有人将希伯来动词译作”行好事”，读作”他在世时将为自己的灵魂行好事”。但我认为这短语与摩西所用的那个短语意思相当：”他心里自夸说……”（申二十九19），即：自我欺哄，仿佛可以不受惩罚地藐视上帝。受感动的笔者在此描绘那些以一场欺骗性的幸福美梦自我满足者的愚昧。本节后半部分人称发生转换，快乐的追随者被直接点名；先知藉所用的措辞暗示：恶人所充斥的那种乖谬的骄傲，部分原因在于世俗的虚妄称赞——世界宣称他们有福，甚至在他们放纵最无度的情欲时也将他们一味称颂。19．他必归到他历代的祖宗那里。先知继续揭示那些用以欺骗恶人自己、也被他人欺骗的奉承之词是何等虚假。无论世界对他们发出多少赞美，无论他们自己的虚空幻想如何令他们陶醉，他们却无法活过他们列祖的寿数；纵然生命延至最长的年限，也绝不能延伸至永远。另有人将这表达理解为他们被聚拢入坟墓，与先他们而去的列祖同在；正如圣经中死亡通常被称为”地上众人都必走的路”。诗人稍前已说他们像羊群被聚拢在坟墓中的羊圈里。按此理解，本段的意思是：他们既从未仰望天上，始终沉溺于地上的卑贱追求，终必与他们的列祖同归一命。当接下来说”必永远不得见光”，我们当理解为他们被委托于永恒的黑暗之中。依我之见，本节两句话合在一起，共同表达同一真理：无论他们如何奉承欺骗自己，都无法将生命延长超过人类通常的寿限。然而，两种解释都与本诗的总体旨意相符，读者可自行选择。若采用后者，则本节末尾的话当被理解为：不虔之人仅仅能短暂地享受生命之光，因他们没有对坟墓之外另一存在的盼望。诗人在我们刚刚研读的这些话中教导我们：当谨防在这世界的财物上自我欺哄，并当主要渴慕那为我们存留在天上的幸福。我们也被警诫：不要任自己被世俗奉承的错误影响所左右。就连异教作者也曾传授我们同样的功课。诗人珀西乌斯如是说：”Non si quid turbida Roma / Elevet, accedas, examenve improbum in illa / Castiges trutina: nec te quaesiveris extra”——”若动荡的罗马抬举或贬低什么，切勿以其倾斜的秤来称量，不要依赖他人的评价，当内省自察，看你自己实际上是什么。”然而，我们天性中贪图奉承的倾向是如此根深蒂固，以至于我们必须留心那受感动之人更有分量的告诫。20．人在尊贵中而不醒悟。先知在此，是为了不让人以为他将生命本身——作为上帝独特的赐福——视为全然可轻视的，于是以一言加以纠正或修饰他前面所说的话，意思是：他所责备的那些人，因愚昧地吞吃上帝所赐的恩惠，不认识赐恩的上帝，便将自己降格为消亡的牲畜，剥夺了上帝赐给他们的那份尊荣。先知对这个世界的滥用发出了他的责备。这责备是针对那些沉浸在上帝恩惠中却不认识上帝本身、以昏迷的方式将自己献给这世界过眼云烟的荣耀、而非从中提升到默想上面事物的人。
发布于 2026年4月28日 00:00
