Praising God helps us recall His goodness that never ends.

赞美上帝能提醒我们祂不变的美善。

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15

我们应当靠着耶稣，常常以颂赞为祭献给上帝，这就是那承认主名之人嘴唇的果子。-希伯来书13章15节

Even though my friend Mickey was losing his eyesight, he told me, “I’m going to keep praising God every day, because He’s done so much for me.”

我的朋友李奇虽然已经近乎失明，但他却说：“我仍要每天持续不断地赞美上帝，因祂为我成就许多美事。”

Jesus gave Mickey, and us, the ultimate reason for such never-ending praise. The twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew tells us about how Jesus shared the Passover meal with His disciples the night before He went to the cross. Verse 30 shows us how they concluded the meal: “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

耶稣不只给李奇，也给了我们不断赞美祂的理由。在马太福音26章，描述了耶稣上十字架前一晚和门徒共进逾越节晚餐的情景。根据第30节的记载，他们的晚餐是这么结束的：“他们唱了诗，就出来往橄榄山去。”

It wasn’t just any hymn they sang that night—it was a hymn of praise. For millennia, Jews have sung a group of Psalms called “The Hallel” at Passover (hallel is the Hebrew word for “praise”). The last of these prayers and songs of praise, found in Psalms 113–118, honors the God who has become our salvation (118:21). It refers to a rejected stone that became a cornerstone (v. 22) and one who comes in the name of the Lord (v. 26). They may very well have sung, “The  has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad” (v. 24).

那晚，他们唱的诗歌是赞美诗。几千年来，犹太人都会在逾越节吟唱“哈利路亚颂词”（Hallel，这个字希伯来文的意思为颂赞），就是记录在诗篇113-118篇的祷词和赞美诗歌。它最后的部分尊崇上帝成为我们的拯救（118篇21节） 、被人所弃的石头已成了房角的头块石头（22节） ，以及有一位将会奉耶和华的名而来（26节） 。所以他们高声欢唱：“这是耶和华所定的日子，我们在其中要高兴欢喜。”（24节）

As Jesus sang with His disciples on this Passover night, He was giving us the ultimate reason to lift our eyes above our immediate circumstances. He was leading us in praise of the never-ending love and faithfulness of our God.

当耶稣和门徒在逾越节同声赞美时，祂给了我们不看环境，只单单仰望祂的理由，祂也带领我们赞美上帝的信实与祂永不止息的爱。

You are always worthy of praise, Lord, even when I don’t feel like praising You! Help me to learn to praise You more and more.

主啊，即便当我不愿开口赞美祢时，

祢都永远配得我们的颂赞！
求祢帮助我，能学习常常赞美祢。

Matthew 26:17-30New International Version (NIV)

The Last Supper

17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a]covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

整理：于姊妹