Hope in the heart puts a smile on the face.

心中有盼望，脸上就有笑容。

The prospect of the righteous is joy. Proverbs 10:28

义人的盼望必得喜乐。-箴言10章28节

After my wife and I had the privilege of visiting the Louvre in Paris, I called our eleven-year-old granddaughter Addie on the phone. When I mentioned seeing da Vinci’s famous painting Mona Lisa, Addie asked, “Is she smiling?”

我和妻子参观了巴黎的罗浮宫之后，我拨电话给11岁的孙女爱蒂。当我告诉她我们看了达文西最有名的画作《蒙娜丽莎》时，她问我：“她在微笑吗？”

Isn’t that the big question surrounding this painting? More than 600 years after Leonardo captured this subject in oil, we still don’t know if the lady was smiling or not. Though enraptured by the painting’s beauty, we are unsure about Mona Lisa’s demeanor.

这不正是一直以来世人对这幅画最大的疑问吗？达文西于600多年前画下这幅油画，至今我们还是不知道，画中的女主角到底是不是在微笑？虽然我们欣赏这幅画朦胧的美，但始终无法确定她脸上的表情。

The “smile” is part of the intrigue of the painting. But how important is this anyway? Is smiling something the Bible mentions? In reality, the word appears less than five times in Scripture, and never as something we are told to do. However, the Bible does suggest for us an attitude that leads to smiles—and that is the word joy. Nearly 250 times we read about joy: “My heart leaps for joy,” David says as he thinks about the Lord (Ps. 28:7). We are to “sing joyfully to the ” (Ps. 33:1); God’s statutes are “the joy of [our] heart” (119:111); and we are “filled with joy” because “the  has done great things for us” (126:3).

这幅画吸引人之处或许就是“微笑”。但是，微笑很重要吗？圣经是否也提到微笑呢？事实上，“微笑”在中文圣经里不曾出现，圣经也没有教导我们要微笑。但圣经却教导我们一种可以带来微笑的态度，那就是喜乐。这个词在圣经中出现了127次，如大卫说：“凡投靠祢的，愿他们喜乐，时常欢呼，因为祢护庇他们”（诗篇5篇11节）；“祢已将我的哀哭变为跳舞，将我的麻衣脱去，给我披上喜乐”（30篇11节）；“我的心必因耶和华夸耀；谦卑人听见就要喜乐”（34篇2节）；“求祢叫我遵行你的命令，因为这是我所喜乐的”（119篇35节）。

Clearly, the joy God provides through everything He has done for us can bring a smile to our face.

显然地，上帝为我们成就的一切事足以令我们喜乐，也让我们的脸上带着微笑。

You are a good Father, dear God, and You do make us smile. You provide joy that is beyond what anything the world can offer. Help us show that joy to others by our countenance.

亲爱的上帝，祢是良善的天父，祢使我们微笑。
祢所赐的喜乐远胜过这世上的快乐。
求祢让我们藉着微笑，使人看见祢所赐的喜乐。

Psalm 28:6-9New International Version (NIV)

6 Praise be to the Lord,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
    a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
    be their shepherd and carry them forever.

诗篇 28:6-9Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

颂耶和华因允其求

6 耶和华是应当称颂的！因为他听了我恳求的声音。

7 耶和华是我的力量，是我的盾牌，我心里倚靠他，就得帮助。所以我心中欢乐，我必用诗歌颂赞他。
8 耶和华是他百姓的力量，又是他受膏者得救的保障。
9 求你拯救你的百姓，赐福给你的产业，牧养他们，扶持他们，直到永远。

整理：于姊妹