申十七18~19 他登了国位，就要将祭司利未人面前的这律法书，为自己抄录一本，存在他那里；他一生的日子都要诵读，好学习敬畏耶和华他的神，谨守遵行这律法书上的一切言语和这些律例。

　　申命记十七章十四至二十节说到立王治理百姓。……〔神〕自己就是王；所以，祂的百姓想要一个王，意思就是他们想要一个人来顶替神。神是我们的王，不该也不能被顶替。……百姓想要一个王，虽然这是得罪神的（撒上八4~22）。因着他们的坚持，神就给他们一个王—扫罗。扫罗不是个好王，因为他不是合乎神心的王。以后，神拣选并兴起大卫来顶替扫罗。大卫作王，不是合乎神的偏爱，乃是合乎神的心（十三14）。在神眼中，大卫是最令神喜悦的王。

　　王要将祭司利未人面前的这律法书，为自己抄录一本（申十七18）。这里的律法是指摩西五经。王在他一生的日子都要诵读，好学习敬畏耶和华他的神，谨守遵行这律法书上的一切言语（19）。这指明在治理百姓的事上，王自己首先要受神的话规律。以色列人中间正确的王，乃是受神的话教导、管制、规律并支配的（申命记生命读经，一四二至一四三页）。

　　Deut. 17:18-19 And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write out for himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, in order that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them.

　　Deuteronomy 17:14-20 speaks regarding the setting of a king over the people….[God] Himself is the King; therefore, for His people to want a king means that they want someone to replace God. But God as our King should not be replaced and cannot be replaced….The people wanted a king, even though this was offensive to God (1 Sam. 8:4-22). Because of their insistence, God gave them a king—Saul. Saul was not a good king, for he was not a king who was according to God’s heart. Later God exercised His own choice and raised up David to replace Saul. David was a king not according to God’s preference but according to God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14). In the sight of God David was the most pleasant king.

　　The king was to write out for himself a copy of the law in a book, out of that which was before the Levitical priests (Deut. 17:18). The law here refers to the Pentateuch. The king was then to read in this copy of the law all the days of his life in order that he might learn to fear Jehovah his God by keeping all the words of the law (v. 19). This indicates that in ruling over the people, he first had to be ruled himself by the word of God. A proper king among the children of Israel was one who was instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 120-121)

　　今天对召会中的长老们来说，原则也是一样。长老若不读经，不受神话语的支配，就不能管理召会。长老们要管理、治理召会，就必须被神的圣言重新构成。结果，他们就在神的管理、神的规律和支配之下。这样，他们的决断自然会有神在其中，长老们就代表神治理召会的事务。这种治理乃是神治（申命记生命读经，一四三页）。

　　在神所选择的地方，以色列人在神面前吃并且欢乐（申十二7）。申命记没有任何一处说，神的百姓到祂所选择独一的地方，只是单单“敬拜”。当然，他们应当到主所选择的地方去敬拜，但不是照着他们自己的观念，而是要照着神的想法、观念来敬拜。按着人天然的观念，敬拜需要跪下、弯腰、俯伏在神面前。回教徒在回教寺就是这样的敬拜。有一次我去参观一座回教寺，正好是他们敬拜的时间。我注意到那些敬拜的人，都没有享受的感觉。因为他们缺少享受，许多敬拜的人看起来比他们实际的年龄都更老。十二章所讲的敬拜，并不是跪下、弯腰或俯伏在主前。根据这一章，敬拜是在主面前吃。神的百姓来到神所选择的地方，要在神面前吃那些上好的祭物。

　　你曾想到这是神所要的敬拜么？十二章没有提到唱诗或祷告。根据这段话，正确的敬拜是在神面前吃美地丰富的出产（李文集一九七九年第二册，三五九至三六○页）。

　　参读：申命记生命读经，第二十九篇；一的真正立场，第五章；主恢复中应有的认识，第十二至十三篇。

　　The principle should be the same with the elders in the churches today. If the elders do not read the Bible and are not controlled by the word of God, they cannot administrate the church. In order to administrate, to manage, the church, the elders must be reconstituted with the holy word of God. As a result, they will be under God’s government, under God’s rule and control. Then spontaneously God will be in their decisions, and the elders will represent God to manage the affairs of the church. This kind of management is theocracy. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 121)

　　In the place God had chosen, the children of Israel were to eat before the Lord and rejoice (Deut. 12:7). Nowhere in the book of Deuteronomy were God’s people told that they should go to the unique place to engage in mere “worship.” Of course, they were expected to worship the Lord in the place He had chosen but not to worship according to their concept of what worship is. Instead, they were to worship according to God’s thought, concept, of worship. According to the natural, human concept, to worship is to kneel, to bow down, or to prostrate ourselves before God. Even Muslims worship in such a way in their mosques. Once I visited a Muslim mosque at the time of worship. I noticed that among the worshippers there was no sense of enjoyment. On the contrary, due to the lack of enjoyment, many of those worshippers looked older than their years. The worship indicated in Deuteronomy 12 is not a matter of kneeling, bowing, or prostrating ourselves. According to this chapter, to worship is to eat before the Lord. When they came to the place God had chosen, God’s people were to eat the top portion of the offerings and sacrifices before God.

　　Have you ever thought that this is the kind of worship God desires? In Deuteronomy 12 there is no mention of singing or even of praying. According to this portion of the Word, proper worship is a matter of eating before God the rich produce of the good land. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 275-276)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 29; CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” ch. 5; CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” chs. 12-13