Psalming up confidence in the Lord

Psalm 11

What caught my attention is verse 1. "In the Lord i take refuge." And it goes on to say that people come to distract us, asking us to hide n run away from problems, trials and our enemies. These people may be even fearful of the circumstances thus asking us to flee and be fearful too. But realised that david stood firm in the Lord, knowing that God can and will still observe man's ways, even though He is in heaven. Similarly, we can be comforted and optimistic cos we know that God is greater than anything against us.

And in the life application bible, i like this line that says, "Nothing happens without God's knowledge and permission." Wow... Everything that is and has happened in your life, God knows and He allows it. Not sure why, but God does test the righteous n the wicked. When faced with all these dont run away, run to God! He will restore the goodness in His time.. Everything in life can either be a refining fire, to make us better, or a destruction. You choose. Run to Him! =)

Psalm 12

This psalm seems pretty straightforward to me. Talking about the tongue, how we lie, flatter, boast, gossip, speak evil with our tongues. Such a small organ on our body, what big impact does it has? Wow... u will be surprised. James 3:3-11 talks about our tongue, though small, it can cause great evil, problems and many cant tame their tongues. I know i struggle with this too... Only after you said something not nice, then u start to regret... After gossipping, then feel bad. After boasting, then feel humbled. I do..

but in constrast, God showed us in this psalm that our tongue can be used for good too! Look at God, His words are pure and true. Would you trust man's proud n lying words or would u trust God's pure and good words? And somehow, i felt God saying to me, that though i struggle so much with the tongue, it not necessarily be bad. It can be good. my tongue can be used by God to bring life, share the good news, to edify and strengthen, to bless and love. Maybe instead of focusing on the bad aspect of the tongues, i should learn to focus on using it for good! When u do good, u wont think about the evil right? HAHA.

But one more thing that caught my attention in this psalm. In verse 1. NASB version says that the godly cease to be, the faithful disappear. cease means stop being. So the godly stop being godly? faithful stop being faithful? Why? Cos of the triumph of the evil.. cos of the benefits of lying, boasting, sinning.. cos of life difficulties, trials, problems, causing us to lose our faith.. I dont know, but it does sound scary.

May i never cease to seek to be godly and faithful, but continuing to grow to be Christ-like, because God says in verse 5: "I will now arise... I will protect them." It's no longer the psalmist telling us about God's righteousness, faithfulness and deliverance. But God himself saying He will arise.. for us. For me.