Month of Thanksgiving - Day 22

116：12-19

¹² 我拿什麼報答耶和華向我所賜的一切厚恩？
¹³ 我要舉起救恩的杯，稱揚耶和華的名。
¹⁴ 我要在他眾民面前向耶和華還我的願。
¹⁵ 在耶和華眼中，看聖民之死極為寶貴。
¹⁶ 耶和華啊，我真是你的僕人；我是你的僕人，是你婢女的兒子，你已經解開我的綁索。
¹⁷ 我要以感謝為祭獻給你，又要求告耶和華的名。
¹⁸ 我要在他眾民面前，在耶和華殿的院內，在耶路撒冷當中，向耶和華還我的願。你們要讚美耶和華！

116：12-19

¹² What shall I render to the LordFor all His benefits toward me?
¹³ I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord.¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people.

¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.

¹⁶ O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.¹⁷ I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the Lord.

¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people,¹⁹ In the courts of the Lord’s house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

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What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?(V.12) in psalm 116 is a connection link between the previous verses and the following. The thanksgiving verses we read yesterday (v1-v11) described God's rich benefits toward us, and v13-v19 is the response of the author accordingly. Are you grateful and willing to give back to God for His benefits toward you? If so, what will you offer to Him? Dedicating your money? Sacrificing your time? Participating in fellowship? Sharing the gospel?

We'll be awed by the beauty of psalm 116 if we deeply meditate it. It gives us a glimpse of God's grace and man's response - beautiful as is, even the New Testament can hardly surpass what's written here. "What shall I render to the Lord......?" The gratitude of the author is a renewing of the mind (I will take up the cup of salvation), a surrender of the will (I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people), and a purification of the emotion (I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving). Everything we possess should be offered to God because it is from Him that we receive everything. So strictly speaking, anything we offer is far from a real "favor returned": it is like a son gives his dad one candy from the candy bag he gets from his dad - the son is not returning the favor.

At the same time, once we stop paying attention to our "self" and turn our eyes upon God, His spirit will be fully in charge of us. With the Spirit working within us, His life will reign in us, and as a result, we will be restored to who He first created us to be. Isn't this what is to truly return the favor? "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways". (Prov 23:26)

我拿什麼報答耶和華向我所賜的一切厚恩？（V.12）在詩篇116篇有著承上啟下的作用。昨天1-11節，描述了神向我們所賜的一切厚恩，而13-19節是一個回應的舉動。如果換做是你，你有顆知恩圖報的心嗎？如果有，那麼你會拿什麼報答耶和華所賜的一切厚恩呢？多奉獻金錢，多奉獻時間，多參加聚會，多傳福音...？

當我們反復仔細的閱讀詩篇116篇，你會發現真是太美了。因為它讓我們一窥神的恩典与人的回应；这样美好的陳述，连新约也难出其右。 “我怎样才能报答耶和华……？詩人在這裡提到的報恩是一種心思的更新（我要舉起救恩的杯），意志的降服（我要在眾民面前向耶和華還我的願），情感的煉凈（我要以感謝為祭獻給你）。我們所擁有的一切物質都是神給的，拿來給神，實屬理所當然，嚴格來說稱不上報恩（就好像一個孩子拿著父親給的一袋糖，給父親一顆，這不叫報恩）。

但是當我們願意不再專注于我們的“己”，而是神的時候，让神的灵在我們身上得到完全的权柄,让神的生命在我們里面毫无拦阻地作主，作王。重新恢復祂創造我們的目的和價值。這是對神的厚恩真正的報恩，不是嗎？ “我兒，要將你的心歸我，你的眼目也要喜悅我的道路”（箴23:26）。