阅读经文 

祷告是圣灵的恩赐，在我们悲伤时，祷告帮助我们抓紧神不放手。我们向神大声呼喊，因为我们知道，我们的帮助是从“造天地的耶和华而来”的。（参诗 121:1-2）如果我们倾听神子民献上的哀叹祷告，我们便看出他们确实是认识神的。

在今天的经文中，殉道圣徒的祷告，是基于他们深切而坚定地相信神是“至高无上的主。”地上的权势——政治、社会、经济——尽管有能力夺去他们的性命，然而这些圣徒知道，将来还有更多其他事情会发生；他们的死不是终结，他们仍然坚信神是至高无上的主；他们也知道，真神和其他的神灵不同，祂是圣洁和守约的神。

这些圣徒们更相信神会垂听和回应祂子民的呼求。神以“还要安息片时”来回答他们的呼喊“要等到几时呢？”圣经在彼得后书三章八到九节所说的，能帮助我们明白这个回应：“主看…… 千年如一日。主所应许的尚未成就，有人以为祂是耽延，其实不是耽延，乃是宽容……不愿有一人沉沦，乃愿人人都悔改。”

马丁路德金牧师深深明白，我们祈求神帮助时，祂为什么这样回应我们，祂说：“要等到几时呢？不会久了，因为宇宙道德之曲线虽长，但它还是朝向正义的一方。要等到几时呢？不会久了，因为‘我的眼睛已看见主降临的荣光……’”

Prayer is the Holy Spirit’s gift to help us hold on to God and not let go when we are hurting. We cry out to God because we know our help "comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:1-2). If we listen to the prayers of lament raised by God’s people, we can see that they really knew God.

The prayer of the martyred saints in our reading today is based on the deep conviction that God is the "Sovereign Lord." The powers of the world—political, social, economic—may have prevailed in ending their lives, but these saints know there is more. Their death was not the final word. They continue to confess that God is the Sovereign Lord. They also know that God is like no other. God is holy and true to his word.

These saints also know that God listens and responds to the cry of his people. And to their cry, "How long?" God answers, "Wait a little longer…" In 2 Peter 3:8-9 the Bible helps us understand this, saying, "With the Lord…a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient…not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., knew well this response to our prayers for help. He said, "How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. How long? Not long, because ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…’"