罗二4　　还是你藐视祂丰富的恩慈、宽容与恒忍，不哓得神的恩慈是领你悔改？

　　林后六4，6，8“反倒在各样的事上，…以纯洁、…以无伪的爱…，证荐自己是神的执事…。”

　　“…洗巴对王说，还有约拿单的一个儿子，是两腿残废的。王说，他在哪里？洗巴对王说，他在罗底巴…。”（撒下九3~4。）“罗底巴”是希伯来字，意思是“没有草的地方”。今天的世界就是罗底巴。罗底巴永远不能叫人得着饱足，永远不能止人干渴，罗底巴不能满足你的心。弟兄姊妹们，你们知道不知道我们人是为着神造的，不是为着人自己造的。凡没有归回到神那里的，他就不能得着满足。…你也许曾有一个梦，想到你的将来是何等美丽，何等安息。但过了一时，世界所应许的，都是不能兑现的钞票，…不过叫你灰心失望；一次过一次，叫你感觉到不过是梦，不过是海市蜃楼，是一个干旱无草之地。…在神之外的生活，是永远得不着满足的。逃离大卫的米非波设，是住在无草之地；一个远离神的罪人，也是住在无草之地。（倪柝声文集第一辑第十八册，四九页。）

　　Rom. 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that God’s kindness is leading you to repentance?

　　2 Cor. 6:4, 6 But in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God,…in pureness,…in unfeigned love.

　　“…And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet. Then the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, He is just now… in Lo-debar” (2 Sam. 9:3-4). Lo-debar is a Hebrew word which means “a place without grass.” The world today is a “Lo-debar”; it can never fill up man’s hunger or quench man’s thirst. “Lo-debar” can never satisfy our heart. Brothers and sisters, do you know that we are created for God and not for ourselves? All those who have not turned back to God will never be satisfied. You may dream about how your future will be so beautiful and restful. But after a while, you will find that the promises of the world are all unusable currencies…. The world only brings you discouragement and disappointment. Time after time, the world puts you into a dream; everything is just a mirage and a dry place without grass…. A life outside of God can never be satisfying. Mephibosheth, who ran away from David, was living in a place without grass. A sinner far away from God is also living in a place without grass. (CWWN, vol. 18, pp. 281-282)

　　大卫听见米非波设住在无草之地就怎样作呢？感谢赞美神，“于是大卫王打发人去，从罗底巴亚米利的儿子玛吉家里把他接来。”（撒下九5。）“接”，在原文是“带来”。在罗马三章十一节说，“没有寻求神的。”在路加十九章十节说，“人子来，是要寻找拯救失丧的人。”有人想，像我们这样不好的人，自然要去寻求神；像我们这样一个堕落的人，自然要去寻求神。岂知不然！如果神要等到我们去寻找祂的时候，才救我们，恐怕我们永不能得救，因为我们是不会寻找祂的。…不是米非波设去找大卫，乃是大卫打发人去把米非波设接来；不是我们寻求神，乃是神差祂的儿子来寻找我们，把我们带到神面前来。

　　在米非波设这一方面，他不敢去见王，因他的祖父是王的仇敌；他不能去见王，因他的两腿是瘸的。我们想，或者那一天我作好些了，我再去寻求神，恳切地求祂赦免我的罪，那时也许我可以得救。但是…圣经说，是神要你，是神呼召你，是神打发人来告诉你说，祂要你。罗马十章六、七节…告诉我们，没有人能到天上去求主来替死；也没有人能到阴间去求主从死里复活。底下接着说，“‘这话与你相近，就在你口里，也在你心里。’…因为人心里信，就得着义；口里承认，就得救。”（8，10。）…今天在这里，若有一个人不得救，并非神不救他，乃是他拒绝神的恩典。

　　“扫罗的孙子，约拿单的儿子米非波设来见大卫，面伏于地叩拜。大卫说，米非波设。米非波设说，仆人在此。”（撒下九6。）哦，这里有顶好听的音乐！“米非波设！”大卫见了米非波设，没有说一句话，没有说，米非波设你来了，没有说扫罗的孙子米非波设，没有说约拿单的儿子米非波设，没有说你是谁。“米非波设！”你曾想到，大卫说这个名字的时候，心里有什么感觉呢？是用什么声音呢？哦，在这一句话的深处，有一个跳动的心，那个心是表明神的心是如何。“米非波设！”表明神没有恨你，神要你，神爱你。（倪柝声文集第一辑第十八册，四九至五一页。）

　　参读：倪柝声文集第一辑第十八册，四四至五一页。

　　What did David do when he heard that Mephibosheth was living in a place without grass? Thank and praise the Lord! “Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar” [KJV] (2 Sam. 9:5). Fetch in the original text is “bring.” Romans 3:11 says, “There is none who seeks out God.” Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Some people think that because we are so evil, we should surely seek after God. Since we are so fallen, surely we should seek after God. But this is not how things work! If God had to wait for us to seek Him before He saved us, we would probably never be saved because we would never seek after Him…. Mephibosheth did not seek after David, but David sent men to fetch Mephibosheth. We did not seek after God, but God sent His Son to seek us and bring us back to His presence.

　　On Mephibosheth’s side, he dared not seek the king because his grandfather was the king’s enemy. In addition, he was not able to seek the king because he was lame. We may think, “Perhaps someday I will become better, seek after God, and earnestly plead to Him to forgive my sins. Perhaps then I will be saved.” But…the Bible says God wants you, calls you, and sends men to tell you that He wants you. Romans 10:6 and 7…tell us that no man can go to heaven to ask the Lord to die for him and that no man can go to Hades to ask the Lord to resurrect from death. The following verses say, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart…; for with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation” (vv. 8, 10)…. If there is a man here who is not saved, it will not be because God does not save him but because he rejects God’s grace.

　　“Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Your servant is here” (2 Sam. 9:6). Here is the most pleasant music! “Mephibosheth.” David did not say anything more when he saw Mephibosheth. He did not say, “Mephibosheth you are here”; he did not say, “Saul’s grandson Mephibosheth”; he did not say, “Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth”; he did not say, “Who are you?” “Mephibosheth.” Have you ever considered, when David said, “Mephibosheth, “ what kind of feeling was in his heart, and what was the tone of his voice? Underneath this word was a beating heart, a heart that expressed God’s heart. “Mephibosheth” shows that God does not hate man, that He wants man, and that He loves man. (CWWN, vol. 18, pp. 282-283)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 18, pp. 279-283