「親愛的，有火煉的試驗臨到你們，為要試煉你們，不要以為奇怪，...倒要照著你們有分於基督苦難的多少而歡樂。」－彼得前書4:12-13
耶西的兒子大衛究竟經過了怎樣的預備，才使他誦詠的詩章流傳千古，無人能及呢？
是惡者的催逼，引領他尋求神的幫助；是對神的慈愛微弱的盼望，激動他歌頌神大能的救拔，與祂豐富的憐憫。
每段憂困的經歷都為大衛的琴繫上一條新弦；每一次神的拯救都增添了他讚美的題目。
只要免去一段憂患、失去一個祝福、躲避一次苦難，都會使大衛的詩少了一點讚美的力道，令憂傷的人們少了一點安慰的力量。
等候神，順服祂的旨意，才能有分於祂受苦的交通，以至於模成神兒子的形像。
所以，若器皿要能長成基督豐滿的身量，就不能避開使器皿擴大的苦楚。至終，我們將被製作成為滿了神聖安慰和憐憫的器皿，向人流露愛和生命。－施登
"Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you?you are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it" (1 Peter 4:12).Many a waiting hour was needful to enrich the harp of David, and many a waiting hour in the wilderness will gather for us a psalm of "thanksgiving, and the voice of melody," to cheer the hearts of fainting ones here below, and to make glad our Father's house on high.
What was the preparation of the son of Jesse for the songs like unto which none other have ever sounded on this earth?
The outrage of the wicked, which brought forth cries for God's help. Then the faint hope in God's goodness blossomed into a song of rejoicing for His mighty deliverances and manifold mercies. Every sorrow was another string to his harp; every deliverance another theme for praise.
One thrill of anguish spared, one blessing unmarked or unprized, one difficulty or danger evaded, how great would have been our loss in that thrilling Psalmody in which God's people today find the expression of their grief or praise!
To wait for God, and to suffer His will, is to know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. So now, if the vessel is to be enlarged for spiritual understanding, be not affrighted at the wider sphere of suffering that awaits you. The Divine capacity of sympathy will have a more extended sphere, for the breathing of the Holy Ghost in the new creation never made a stoic, but left the heart's affection tender and true. --Anna Shipton
