我父,
在这变化不息的受造世界里,
惟独基督和祂的话永不摇动。
哦 让我撇下万物,
如石头被安放于根基上,
居住祂内,被祂托住!
因我的怜悯来自基督,
祂设计、买赎、应许和实现。
何等甜美啊,以圣洁情怀靠近神的羔羊!
当我得罪了你,错过你的旨意、爱与生命,
却在受造界找不到安慰。
我的罪并不是这些或那些具体的恶行,
而是与你的长期分离、不联合与隔绝,
而是我没有追求你的心。
但你却赐给我一件礼物,你的儿子耶稣,
作我们之间的中保,连接神与人的可靠中间人,
只有祂能跨越罪造成的鸿沟,满足神的公义。
愿我常抓紧这位中保,这位信靠的对象,
是祂用爱在鸿沟之上架起桥梁。
让我明白,祂藉着真道与我亲近;
使我与祂同在的,是祂的话语和我的信心;
对抗真道就是对抗我的主,
领受真道才是接纳我的主。
哦 所有人心都在掌握之中,
请塑造我的心
按照你的话语和你儿子的形像,
让真道基督成为我的安慰与力量。
CHRIST THE WORD
MY FATHER,
In a world of created changeable things,
Christ and his Word alone remain unshaken.
O to forsake all creatures,
to rest as a stone on him the foundation,
to abide in him, be borne up by him!
For all my mercies come through Christ,
who has designed, purchased, promised, effected them.
How sweet it is to be near him, the Lamb, filled with holy affections!
When I sin against thee I cross thy will, love, life,
and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.
My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,
but my continual separation, disunion, distance from thee,
and having a loose spirit towards thee.
But thou hast given me a present, Jesus thy Son, as Mediator between thyself and my soul,
as middle-man who in a pit
holds both him below and him above,
for only he can span the chasm breached by sin, and satisfy divine justice.
May I always lay hold upon this Mediator,
as a realized object of faith,
and alone worthy by his love to bridge the gulf.
Let me know that he is dear to me by his Word;
I am one with him by the Word on his part,
and by faith on mine;
If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord
when he is most near;
If I receive the Word I receive my Lord
wherein he is nigh.
O thou who hast the hearts of all men in thine hand,
form my heart according to the Word,
according to the image of thy Son,
So shall Christ the Word, and his Word, be my strength and comfort.