Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Moses is speaking...
Psalm 90
Woohoo! we are at book 4 of the psalms le. And this psalm was written by Moses! How old. HAHA. It's talking about the eternal nature of God and the temporary life of ours here on earth. In verse 4, thousands of years are like one day to God. He is really eternal. And in verse 10 and 12, we recognise how how our lives are, at most 80 plus? So what do we want to do with our lives? What do you want to see before you die? Hopefully, we will live our lives effectively and wisely for God.
And verse 8 caught my attention alot. Our secret sins, God knows. There is no need to hide before Him, and He loves us and forgives us. Reminds me of sanctification day 1. God wants us to remove the veil that covers our face. We do not have to act good, holy. We do not have to cover our sins. When we learn this, we recognise that our security is in the Lord, not on how people see us. Then we will reflect the glory of God.
Verse 14, come to God and receive His love which is new every morning, and you will have joy throughout the day. What happened yesterday is over, today you are loved again. =)
Woohoo! we are at book 4 of the psalms le. And this psalm was written by Moses! How old. HAHA. It's talking about the eternal nature of God and the temporary life of ours here on earth. In verse 4, thousands of years are like one day to God. He is really eternal. And in verse 10 and 12, we recognise how how our lives are, at most 80 plus? So what do we want to do with our lives? What do you want to see before you die? Hopefully, we will live our lives effectively and wisely for God.
And verse 8 caught my attention alot. Our secret sins, God knows. There is no need to hide before Him, and He loves us and forgives us. Reminds me of sanctification day 1. God wants us to remove the veil that covers our face. We do not have to act good, holy. We do not have to cover our sins. When we learn this, we recognise that our security is in the Lord, not on how people see us. Then we will reflect the glory of God.
Verse 14, come to God and receive His love which is new every morning, and you will have joy throughout the day. What happened yesterday is over, today you are loved again. =)
more psalms....
Havent been updating, cos busy with school work and weekend were burned with activities, but i hope we have been doing our psalmy days... and growing closer to the Lord even through sanctification and spending time with Him. Here's just a quick summary of the psalms.
Psalm 76
Vs 1-3 referred to God, His name, tabernacle, dwelling place etc... But vs 4-1 referred to God as You. Seems like Asaph was first praising God, then moving closer to have a dialogue with God, addressing Him as You. Perhaps this is something we need to do too.. we can praise God for who He is, but learn to draw nearer so that we have talk to Him as our friend/Father.
Psalm 77
Here Asaph started with crying out to the Lord to bring his requests before Him. vs 1-10 was all his cries, "I-s". Then vs 11-12, he was reminded of what God has done, and from vs 13 on, his focus was shifted to God, to worshipping Him, "You-s". Similarly, when we pray, there is a tendency for us to focus on ourselves, God i need this. God, help me. God, see my situation and deliver me. God, answer my prayers. But as we pray, He will shift our focus to Him, His power, His deeds... and we can have faith in Him.
Psalm 78
Familiar story of God's glory. He delivered the people from slavery, parted the red sea, provided food for the people, guided them through the desert. Yet the people rebelled and were not faithful to Him. The kept making demands, testing God, turning away from Him, didnt follow God with their hearts. In the end, God did not bring them into the promised land. They wandered 40 years in the desert. Only the later generation entered.
Are we like the stubborn and rebellious people? God has been blessing us, guiding and providing for us. Are we faithful, obedient and listening to His word? Let this story of the Israelites remind us not to be unfaithful towards God who gave us so many miracles.
Psalm 79
In times of difficulties, cry out to God. Dont be angry with God, He never plan to harm us, only to bless us. If we continue to trust in him, we will see that in the end, He will turn things around. We must learn to go through time of trials so that our characters are built in the Lord.
Psalm 80
A prayer for revival and restoration after destruction. God is our only hope for salvation. Well, we need to be in the constant process of humbling ourselves and repenting from our sins, then receiving His forgiveness and find ourselves being restored.
Psalm 81
HAHA. It is recorded that this is a holiday psalm. But i guess it means for us to remember God's goodness. Just like how Israel remembers how God delivered them while they were unfaithful, we should remember what God has done during Christmas, Good friday and Ester.
Psalm 82
God judges.
Psalm 83
A prayer for God to show Himself to all the nations. All may know that God alone is the Lord!
Psalm 84
I like this psalm. =) "How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!" "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You. Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elesewhere"
God's presence is the best place to be, there is great joy and peace, and we will grow in strength, grace and glory.
But does that mean that we need to be in church everyday to be in God's presence? I'm learning that God's presence is always around, because He is everywhere. He is with you in class, at home or even on the bus. Entering into His presence is to recognise that He is with you, and you can talk to Him, hear from Him and fellowship with Him, everywhere!
Psalm 85
God can be angry with us. especially when we sin and refuse to obey Him. But there will be a fear because we know that God will deal with us, that reverence will turn us to God and seek Him. When we seek and obey Him, He will forgive us, and restore us with His love.
Psalm 86
I like this too. =) I guess the whole psalm is summarise by 2 verses. "Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours" Praise God!
"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."
Psalm 87
The city of God, Zion, where all believers will one day gather. Will you be there?
Psalm 88
Written by Heman, a son of korah. When there is no relief in sight, everything is bad and getting worse, and you are so low in life that you are depressed and upset, you can tell God. This is a psalm you can use. And it is one of the few psalms that gives no answer or expression of hope. hopeless. But it's ok, you may not be cheerful and positive always, depression and hurts take time to heal. Just talk to God...
Psalm 89
This psalm records God's promise to preserve David's descendants. But we see that Jerusalem was eventually destroyed and there was no kings from David's line. But this can actually be talking about Jesus' reign... His kingdom, glorious and established forever.
Psalm 76
Vs 1-3 referred to God, His name, tabernacle, dwelling place etc... But vs 4-1 referred to God as You. Seems like Asaph was first praising God, then moving closer to have a dialogue with God, addressing Him as You. Perhaps this is something we need to do too.. we can praise God for who He is, but learn to draw nearer so that we have talk to Him as our friend/Father.
Psalm 77
Here Asaph started with crying out to the Lord to bring his requests before Him. vs 1-10 was all his cries, "I-s". Then vs 11-12, he was reminded of what God has done, and from vs 13 on, his focus was shifted to God, to worshipping Him, "You-s". Similarly, when we pray, there is a tendency for us to focus on ourselves, God i need this. God, help me. God, see my situation and deliver me. God, answer my prayers. But as we pray, He will shift our focus to Him, His power, His deeds... and we can have faith in Him.
Psalm 78
Familiar story of God's glory. He delivered the people from slavery, parted the red sea, provided food for the people, guided them through the desert. Yet the people rebelled and were not faithful to Him. The kept making demands, testing God, turning away from Him, didnt follow God with their hearts. In the end, God did not bring them into the promised land. They wandered 40 years in the desert. Only the later generation entered.
Are we like the stubborn and rebellious people? God has been blessing us, guiding and providing for us. Are we faithful, obedient and listening to His word? Let this story of the Israelites remind us not to be unfaithful towards God who gave us so many miracles.
Psalm 79
In times of difficulties, cry out to God. Dont be angry with God, He never plan to harm us, only to bless us. If we continue to trust in him, we will see that in the end, He will turn things around. We must learn to go through time of trials so that our characters are built in the Lord.
Psalm 80
A prayer for revival and restoration after destruction. God is our only hope for salvation. Well, we need to be in the constant process of humbling ourselves and repenting from our sins, then receiving His forgiveness and find ourselves being restored.
Psalm 81
HAHA. It is recorded that this is a holiday psalm. But i guess it means for us to remember God's goodness. Just like how Israel remembers how God delivered them while they were unfaithful, we should remember what God has done during Christmas, Good friday and Ester.
Psalm 82
God judges.
Psalm 83
A prayer for God to show Himself to all the nations. All may know that God alone is the Lord!
Psalm 84
I like this psalm. =) "How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!" "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You. Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elesewhere"
God's presence is the best place to be, there is great joy and peace, and we will grow in strength, grace and glory.
But does that mean that we need to be in church everyday to be in God's presence? I'm learning that God's presence is always around, because He is everywhere. He is with you in class, at home or even on the bus. Entering into His presence is to recognise that He is with you, and you can talk to Him, hear from Him and fellowship with Him, everywhere!
Psalm 85
God can be angry with us. especially when we sin and refuse to obey Him. But there will be a fear because we know that God will deal with us, that reverence will turn us to God and seek Him. When we seek and obey Him, He will forgive us, and restore us with His love.
Psalm 86
I like this too. =) I guess the whole psalm is summarise by 2 verses. "Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours" Praise God!
"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."
Psalm 87
The city of God, Zion, where all believers will one day gather. Will you be there?
Psalm 88
Written by Heman, a son of korah. When there is no relief in sight, everything is bad and getting worse, and you are so low in life that you are depressed and upset, you can tell God. This is a psalm you can use. And it is one of the few psalms that gives no answer or expression of hope. hopeless. But it's ok, you may not be cheerful and positive always, depression and hurts take time to heal. Just talk to God...
Psalm 89
This psalm records God's promise to preserve David's descendants. But we see that Jerusalem was eventually destroyed and there was no kings from David's line. But this can actually be talking about Jesus' reign... His kingdom, glorious and established forever.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
sin, no sin
School has started. More things to do... but will still try my best to post. =)
Psalm 74
God was angry with Israel and rejected the people He loved. Huh? I thought God is loving and merciful? Is it possible for Him to be angry with us and reject me???
God is slow to anger and is merciful, always forgiving our sins. But His patience can also run out if we persist in our sins. His patience? He is always waiting for us to respond to Him. But are we taking Him for granted? Patience may run out, love never end, but judgement will still come.
vs 8: People who hate God want to remove everything about God. But God is so powerful, He is God, no one can ever remove His presence. He is real. No matter where we hide, how we ignore Him, we can never leave His sight. He is always looking at you.
Sometimes we may feel that God is not there, but He is.... no one removes His presence remember. And we need to remember what He has done for us in the past, then we can be alive spiritually and continue trusting Him.
Psalm 75
vs 2: It is God who selected the appointed time and who judge with equity. He will act when His time comes. But we often cannot understand God's timing, always wanting things now. But God will do what needs to be done, not what we want Him to do. Wait for Him, dont take matters into our hands. Because when we do things in our own time, we may miss His perfect timing and the results may not be what He wants or we want. Often people fall and fail to receive God's blessings because of this.
vs 8: the cup represents God's judgement. The wicked will be judged, like drinking down to the dregs, which symbolises being punished completely. It's like drinking medicine, hopefully, with bits of it, we will recover and no longer need it. But if we keep on sinning, we will be spiritually sick. So we will need to drink the medicine, accept the punishments.
Psalm 74
God was angry with Israel and rejected the people He loved. Huh? I thought God is loving and merciful? Is it possible for Him to be angry with us and reject me???
God is slow to anger and is merciful, always forgiving our sins. But His patience can also run out if we persist in our sins. His patience? He is always waiting for us to respond to Him. But are we taking Him for granted? Patience may run out, love never end, but judgement will still come.
vs 8: People who hate God want to remove everything about God. But God is so powerful, He is God, no one can ever remove His presence. He is real. No matter where we hide, how we ignore Him, we can never leave His sight. He is always looking at you.
Sometimes we may feel that God is not there, but He is.... no one removes His presence remember. And we need to remember what He has done for us in the past, then we can be alive spiritually and continue trusting Him.
Psalm 75
vs 2: It is God who selected the appointed time and who judge with equity. He will act when His time comes. But we often cannot understand God's timing, always wanting things now. But God will do what needs to be done, not what we want Him to do. Wait for Him, dont take matters into our hands. Because when we do things in our own time, we may miss His perfect timing and the results may not be what He wants or we want. Often people fall and fail to receive God's blessings because of this.
vs 8: the cup represents God's judgement. The wicked will be judged, like drinking down to the dregs, which symbolises being punished completely. It's like drinking medicine, hopefully, with bits of it, we will recover and no longer need it. But if we keep on sinning, we will be spiritually sick. So we will need to drink the medicine, accept the punishments.
Friday, March 14, 2008
In His Sanctuary
Psalm 73
Asaph, the author of the psalm, was expressing his confusion that wicked prospered and are carefree and arrogant. It seems like he has kept himself pure in vain. Sometimes we may be like him, seeing others prosper and doing well, and we wonder why are we still keeping the faith, when God seems like not blessing us. And we may feel frustrated, disturbed and lack of faith...
But in verse 1, Asaph praise God and said that he almost slipped because his focus was turned upon the people and his circumstances. vs1-3. When we turn our focus from God, and look at our circumstances, we often lose focus and start to envy others, start to lose our faith. Like peter... when Jesus called out to him, he looked to Jesus and started walking on water. But once he started looking around him and realised he was on water, he began to sink. Similarly, when we look at our circumstances, we begin to sink into our emotions, failures, negative feelings, lack of faith. We need to look to Jesus, who will keep us going because we can hope and have faith in Him.
Remember God is just, the wicked will not last forever. But we who remains faithful and work for the Lord will be rewarded for eternity. So what to do now? I guess the answer is in verse 27-28. To stay near to the Lord. When asaph came into God's sanctuary, he saw the truth, he realised that God will bless him. We need to come into God's sanctuary, to draw near to Him, so that we can see the truth, so that we will find our security and hope in Him.
In His sanctuary, we dwell in His presence and focus upon Him, so that no matter what life's circumstances are, we can have faith and hope.
Asaph, the author of the psalm, was expressing his confusion that wicked prospered and are carefree and arrogant. It seems like he has kept himself pure in vain. Sometimes we may be like him, seeing others prosper and doing well, and we wonder why are we still keeping the faith, when God seems like not blessing us. And we may feel frustrated, disturbed and lack of faith...
But in verse 1, Asaph praise God and said that he almost slipped because his focus was turned upon the people and his circumstances. vs1-3. When we turn our focus from God, and look at our circumstances, we often lose focus and start to envy others, start to lose our faith. Like peter... when Jesus called out to him, he looked to Jesus and started walking on water. But once he started looking around him and realised he was on water, he began to sink. Similarly, when we look at our circumstances, we begin to sink into our emotions, failures, negative feelings, lack of faith. We need to look to Jesus, who will keep us going because we can hope and have faith in Him.
Remember God is just, the wicked will not last forever. But we who remains faithful and work for the Lord will be rewarded for eternity. So what to do now? I guess the answer is in verse 27-28. To stay near to the Lord. When asaph came into God's sanctuary, he saw the truth, he realised that God will bless him. We need to come into God's sanctuary, to draw near to Him, so that we can see the truth, so that we will find our security and hope in Him.
In His sanctuary, we dwell in His presence and focus upon Him, so that no matter what life's circumstances are, we can have faith and hope.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Know Him
Psalm 71
This psalm seems to be an old man reflecting on what God has done for him and giving thanks for all. We too, need to find time to sit down and think about what God has done for us, then we will see the consistency of His grace, trust Him for the future and share with others the benefits of following Him.
This psalmist was thus able to keep his hope in the Lord, even when his enemies attacked him, or when circumstances were against him. Because he remembered God's grace and that it will be with him forever.
From an audio sermon i just listened to: When you don't have hope, you dont have faith. Without faith, you cant please God. And you will not see His power revealed in your life. Only when you believe it, then can you see it. Don't focus on your circumstances and what you cannot do, focus on God, and you will see His power coming through in your life.
Psalm 72
Leaders should rule with righteousness and justice. This psalm was written by solomon as a prayer for his son to be able to rule the nation justly and wisely. So this psalm was written about a perfect king whom solomon wanted his son to become. But we see that this psalm also describes Jesus, the perfect King. A King who will be feared by all, who nourishes His people so abundantly that they flourish. He rules all over the earth, all will bow down to Him and serve Him. His enemies will be defeated.
He cares for the needy, afflicted and weak because they are precious to Him. We too should love and help these people. Talking about becoming like Jesus ah...
This psalm gives a clear picture of God, vs 1-4: He is just and righteous. vs 5-10: He is glorious and blessed. vs 12-15: He is loving and compassionate. vs 16-19: He is everlasting God and wonderful savior. Question: How you experienced and know God in all these aspect? Ask of Him to show you more of Himself today, so that you will get to know Him better.
This psalm seems to be an old man reflecting on what God has done for him and giving thanks for all. We too, need to find time to sit down and think about what God has done for us, then we will see the consistency of His grace, trust Him for the future and share with others the benefits of following Him.
This psalmist was thus able to keep his hope in the Lord, even when his enemies attacked him, or when circumstances were against him. Because he remembered God's grace and that it will be with him forever.
From an audio sermon i just listened to: When you don't have hope, you dont have faith. Without faith, you cant please God. And you will not see His power revealed in your life. Only when you believe it, then can you see it. Don't focus on your circumstances and what you cannot do, focus on God, and you will see His power coming through in your life.
Psalm 72
Leaders should rule with righteousness and justice. This psalm was written by solomon as a prayer for his son to be able to rule the nation justly and wisely. So this psalm was written about a perfect king whom solomon wanted his son to become. But we see that this psalm also describes Jesus, the perfect King. A King who will be feared by all, who nourishes His people so abundantly that they flourish. He rules all over the earth, all will bow down to Him and serve Him. His enemies will be defeated.
He cares for the needy, afflicted and weak because they are precious to Him. We too should love and help these people. Talking about becoming like Jesus ah...
This psalm gives a clear picture of God, vs 1-4: He is just and righteous. vs 5-10: He is glorious and blessed. vs 12-15: He is loving and compassionate. vs 16-19: He is everlasting God and wonderful savior. Question: How you experienced and know God in all these aspect? Ask of Him to show you more of Himself today, so that you will get to know Him better.
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