are u a snake?

Psalm 58

Still remember what pastor khong said on sun? We by ourselves, are sinful and will do evil because of our selfish intentions. We lie to cover up our mistakes, backstab people so that we can climb up the ladder faster, gossip about people to satisfy ourselves, put people down or speak with an intention to make ourselves look good. Without God, we are sinful.

Just like the snake in psalm 58, use venom to inflict harm on its prey, attack people.. Snake gives people the feeling of being sly and evil. But under the control of the enchanter, the snake will actually listen to the music and flow in movement.

The Holy Spirit is like the enchanter, we like the snake. He will direct our lives and help keep us from doing evil. But we must open our ears to listen to Him.

No doubt about it, God will judge the people, even if He seems not doing anything now. He will. The question is, after reading, learning and knowing about God's justice, where do we stand? Are we the righteous standing before Him, to whom He says, "You will be justified. Come enjoy your rewards." Or are we the ones who ignore God, to whom God says, "You will be judged. Come face your punishments."

"Lord Lord, show me today, that i can be evil and sinful, without You. Let me humbly come before You, recognising this fact. Help me to be the righteous, not one who ignore You. Amen."

in quietness and in confident trust

Psalm 57

David wrote this psalm, and by now we know that David faced many adversaries in life, being chased by saul and then his son absalom. There were people who betray him, hurt him...

We may just be like david. In life, we may face people who gossip about us, criticise us negatively and speak injustice against us. Words have power. These verbal cruelty can damage us as badly, or even worse than physical abuse. But the question is how are we responding to them? Fight back? use hateful words? an eye for an eye? Then... what makes us different from these people?

In contrast, verse 7 talks about david having a steadfast heart. It shows his firm and quiet faith in the Lord. There is no need for loud lying, or defense, or boasting. We just need to be quiet and praise God, realising that our confidence is in His love and faithfulness. (verse 10)

Are you in any suffering? Dont turn inward to self pity. Dont turn outward to revenge. Turn upward to God. He will offer us the best solution!

no man but God

Psalm 56

I like verse 3,4,11. The Lord is with me, what can man do to me? If God is with us, He will protect us and be with us, nothing can harm or hurt us, unless He allows it. But we also know when He allows it, He will provide the care, love and provision so that we can go through it. =)

What can man do to me? Maybe man can hurt our feelings, cause us suffering and pressures, maybe even physical pain or death. But no man has the ability to rob us of our souls and hope in eternal life. Even when people hurt or harm us, we can recover and be well again. The only thing that can destroy our hope in eternal life and rob us of our joy and souls, is when we reject God. Left empty and lost. (Mat 10:28)

And the very comforting thing is God says He cares alot for us. He collects our tears, count the number of our hairs (Mat 10:30) God sees every situation, hears every prayer, knows our heart and thoughts... He cares, He sees our tears. =)

"Lord, be with me!"

cast your cares on Him

Psalm 54

The people betrayed David and went to Saul to report where he was. But David continued to trust in God, even when man hurt and betray him. We can too, because God will save, vindicate and sustain us.

David usually pray to God, speaking truthfully about his feelings and needs, then he will go into praise. This is because when we praying and expressing ourselves to God, our spirits are lifted up because we have entrusted everything into God's hands!

Psalm 55

Sometimes, we have moments we want to escape from our problems and pressures around us. I have too. =) my greatest ambition... is to be... a... tabernacle attendant! just maintain and tabernacle, offer incense and sacrifices to God. How nice.. free from all the problems. But of course we cant. We can take delight though, that through all the problems, God will help us, and we will grow stronger in our faith and spiritual maturity.

Verse 12-14 talks about being hurt by friend. It's just like Jesus, who was betrayed by judas, his disciple. How does it feel to be betrayed by someone close to us? Usu the people who hurt us the most are the people we care and love. We cant do much about it i guess.. But we can go to God for comfort, because He is our real friend. Real friends stick by you in times of trouble and bring healing, love, acceptance and understanding. I hope i can grow to be a real friend for each of you too! learning la... =)

Then verse 17 talks about praying in the evening, morning and noon. Daniel did that (dan6:10), peter too (acts 10:9-10). It's really like u can come to God anytime to complain, to talk, to share happiness, sorrow.... And God says He will listen! And we need to keep praying, to keep our faith strong and to overcome the evil that is pulling us down everyday.

Finally, i like verse 22. Cast all your cares on the Lord, be it your studies, CCA, issues at home, with friends, negative feelings, pressures, stress.... tell God and let Him carry it for u... dont hold on to them. Trust in God and He can sustain us. =)

are you an olive tree?

Psalm 52

This psalm was written by david, when doeg the Edomite betrayed him and Ahimelech, then killed God's priests. (1Sam 21:7, 22:9-23) Doeg boasted about his actions, thinking that he did well. But accomplishment may not necessary be good, like a skilled liar or someone who accomplishments were built on others' sufferings.

Similarly, we may do well in somethings, but it doesnt mean they are good. We need to check our actions and deed with God and His words, so that we do good, even if we dont achieve as much.

Vs 8, david contrasted himself with doeg, saying that himself is like an olive tree because he kept God's way and praise God. An olive tree is the longest-living tree and they flourishes. This shows God's eternal protection for His righteous versus the destruction of the wicked. I wanna be an olive tree!

a broken spirit and a contrite heart

Psalm 51

Back to David. =) This psalm was written by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba. Adultery and murder of Bathsheba's husband. (2 Sam 12:1-33)

When we sin, we hurt ourselves and the people around us. And we hurt God too, because we offend and sin against Him. Sin is in a way rebellion against God's way of living. And remember, sin is not limited to things like murder, thief, adultery.... but it includes gossiping, living our own lives, and disobeying God, putting ourselves first....

David was sorry that he sinned and knew that his actions hurt the people, Bathsheba and her husband. He repented and God forgave him, which is why we still know him as a man after God's heart. God does not condemn us for a single sin. No matter how terrible we think we are, God can and will forgive us!

There will be consequences for sins, just like David, whose first baby with Bathsheba died. We have to face the consequences of our sins one day. And there will be more if we don't confess. If we do, the consequence may come, but we can be glad, God will then bless us after that. Just like David, who had Solomon with Bathsheba.

In verse 5, David said that we are born sinners, probably so, since we have a greater tendency to want to please ourselves instead of God, and to live our own ways. That's why he said in verse 10, we need God to clean our hearts and spirits, to give us new thoughts so that we do not sin.

Sometimes we may not know what we are doing are sins. But God loves us, so He will reveal it to us. Sometimes, we hear it loud and clear from Him, others we may have some indicators. For example, when we feel that we are stagnanting, when we cannot draw near to God, when we cannot hear Him.... May be signs of sin, because sin separates us from God. That's when we need to identify our sins and confess them, and let God restore the joy of salvation, the joy of being set free!

I like verse 17. God is never please with our actions and deeds, if our inward heart attitude is not right. If we give hundreds of dollars to the church, if we look spiritual, and try to do many things for Him.... yes these are important, since God tells us to give to the church. But He looks at our heart. He wants a broken spirit and a contrite heart, a humble spirit, a remorseful and sorrowful heart because we know we have sinned, and we are genuine in repentance. That pleases the Lord. =)

"Lord, may You search deep into my life, heart and spirit today, and show me the sins in me. Break me, that i may come before You humbled and remorseful for my sins.

So that i will be genuine and humble in repentance."

great is the Lord

Haha, sorry that my internet was down last night, so couldnt update. Here's psalm 48 and 49.

Psalm 48

So amazed by God. Read the psalm in the morning, and the song, "Great is the Lord" came to my mind. Sang it. Then during worship in church, we sang the song again. And vanessa sang it so well, chill ran down my spine. HAHA. It's not like scared, but like oh gosh! And truly, Great is God!

The chorus goes "Lord we want to lift Your name on high." How do we lift God's name on high? By living as a testimony for Him, being a vessel for Him. You may not know it. But we carry the name of Jesus with us, because we are called Christians and most importantly, because we trust in Him. Call on the name, we have the power with it, to heal, to minister, to bless....

The psalm also includes a part on walking around Zion to check on the towers and citadels, this is for the people to see how God has protected them, and also they can check their defenses. We have seen so many times that it times of trials or battles, we cant trust God to protect and deliver us. And it is during trials, that we pray harder, seek Him more, read the bible....

We are reminded that after trials, we need to remember what God has done and praise Him. Not go and celebrate, or enjoy life, forgetting about God. And it's also in times like these that we pray less, seek Him less and maybe not read the bible because we have no needs. But on the contrary, the bible teaches us that in such times, we need to check our defenses, to build our faith in Him, to read the bible and to pray. So that our defenses will be strong and ready for battles in life.

Psalm 49

Psalm 49 teaches us that we cannot trust in wealth or worldly possessions to redeem us from our sins or bondages. When we die, all these possessions are left for our children, we cant bring them with us into the grave. And even if we have alot of possessions or talents, can we escape from the grave?

We cant. Only God can redeem us and take us to Himself. So why are we still investing in worldly things that will be gone, and have no use eventually? Isnt it better to invest our time and energy into things that will last? Like our faith in the Lord, our characters, obedience to Him and to use what we have for His work...

time to repent, time to return

Psalm 50

God looks at our hearts, not our deeds. He desires sincere thanks, trust and praise from us. He doesnt want us to be superficially religious people.. (vs 1-15) People used to offer sacrifices to God for forgiveness of sins or thanksgiving. But God doesnt need these sacrifices, He created them. What He desires are heart of obedience and faith in His unfailing love and mercy as the people offered sacrifices.

In today's context, our sacrifices are in the form of tithes, attendance in church and serving and giving to Him. I'm not saying that these things are not important, they are. But God wants us not to go through them like habits or just going through the motion. God wants us to do them with a heart of obedience. Like in verse 14, God desires true thanksgiving and faithfulness from us.

God will also judge the wisked and hard hearted people for their evil or immoral lives. (vs 16-22) In psalm 1, we learnt that wicked are not only those who do wrong, but includes those who know the right things and not doing them. It is also a sin when we only want God's blessings but not want to obey Him. Maybe there are some areas in our lives we refuse to let God take charge. Maybe we want good lives, but in our own ways and ask God to bless us.

God may seems to be silent, and we may seem to get away with our sins, or living our lives the way we want. But God does not condone our sins. He is withholding punishment, giving us time to repent. (2 Pet 3:9, Eze 33:11)

God is love, that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. God is love, that He disciplines us. God is love that He doesnt want us to perish, thus He is patient and forgiving. He is waiting for us to repent, to come to Him. Let's not take Him for granted, lest we regret when He really comes.

hams to be

Psalm 47

Can you see God sitting on His throne, with the angels and people around Him, praising and shouting joy unto Him?

God is called the God of Abraham. Because He remembered Hsi promises to abraham, that He will make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the beach. And God is still the same God, the God of abraham, we can have the Abrahamic covenant. The blessings of the three generations, the calling to be mothers of nations.

And i wonder, why would God want to name Himself the God of Abraham, why does He want to be associated with him? Can you imagine, such an awesome and powerful God, naming Himself together with a man?

But He did. Why? maybe to remember His promises and for future generations to remember it too. But there must be something about Abraham that God doesnt mind being associated with him. Because he was a man of God, faithful to the point of believing God with all he had, even his son. Obedient to follow all His commands, even if he had to leave everything he had and go for something unseen and uncertain. Blessed because God blessed him, that those who blessed him will be bless, those who cursed him will be cursed. Wow. I want to be charisham.

"Lord, i may not have the faith of Abraham, but i pray that i will grow towards it."

Want peace, joy or love?

Psalm 46

The psalmist teaches us that we can have great faith and assurance in the Lord, even if the earth should end, God is always our refuge and strength. He is always present if we call on Him.

Historically, there is no river in Jerusalem, but God was there to sustain them. but when the people abandoned God, Jerusalem fell. He cant help us if we choose not to let Him, but to leave Him.

If we link the two points, we see... God can stop all wars, stop our fall and destruction. He can also stop the wars within in us, be it spiritual or emotional. He is always present and willing to help, if we ask of Him.

I like verse 10. And in the NASB version, it says "Cease striving and know that I am God." We dont have to strive! How great! Dont have to strive for achievements, for attention, for approval, for love, for care, for success, for wealth, for power, for anything... Because God can give us everything, He can bless us with success and achievements, wealth and power, most importantly, He approves of us, loves and cares for us, and we have His 100% attention! We just need to be still, dont need to strive and let Him work.

Have you ever enjoyed the joy, peace or love of the Lord?

Glorious, can u see?

Psalm 45

This psalm talks about Jesus, the King. He is beautiful, graceful in speech, blessed. He holds a sward in His hands, victorious and majestic. His throne will last forever and His scepter will bring about justice. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness. He is anointed by God. His garments are fragrant and He is praised.

Daughters of the king - that is us. We will be honoured and glorified and can enter His Kingdom with gladness and joy, if we listen to the Lord. He tells us to forget our people and our family. HUH? God wants us to do that?? Yes, luke 14:25-27 says, we should hate our father and mother. HUH? Sure? yes. But God does not mean it literally. He means we should learn to deny ourselves, to put aside our own desires and wants, to carry our crosses and follow Him. Not that we should really forget our family and hate them, God's command is to honour them. That's why He said, "He who had ears, let him hear." May God speaks to you... =)

Can you see Jesus standing glorious before u? Verse 1, the psalmist said his heart is full of joy to write about Jesus and he was all ready to write. He had so many things to write about Jesus! Are our hearts full of joy when we think about Jesus? Do we have many things to say about Him?

"God, please show more of Yourself to us, and for us to learn more about You.

Let me hear! Let me see!"

God's light in the storm

Psalm 43

The psalmist was lamenting about the trials and sufferings he was going through, but he came to to the most important point, which is to ask God for guidance and to help him dwell in His presence. In His presence, we can find joy amidst the sufferings, we can have hope because He is with us. Who can be against us? And God reminds us again, in the storms, if we ask of Him, He will shine His light through the darkness, and we can see it and follow the light.

Psalm 44

verse 1-3: Remember the things God did for His people in the past? He brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery, won battles for them, chased out the nations before them and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. God says, He can do all things, if we are obedient and do His will. (remember what pastor said on sun? When God's will is our will, He will make all things happen for us.)

verse 9-22: The psalmist could not understand why the peopl were defeated despite their faith and obedience to God. I couldnt too, until i read Rom 8:36. Paul quoted this psalm to show that we may suffer for the sake of Christ. But even so, we will be able to conquer them eventually because God loves us. (Rom8:36-39)

Sometimes, it seems that He is asleep or have left us, but actually God is always with us and ready to help, but He wished first to build our faith in us. Be patient, be faithful!

God is faithful, God is love

Psalm 41

Verse 1: God's heart is always for the weak and poor. He will also reward those who care for these weak and poor. There are many poor people around us, in finance, emotion, spirit... let's be a blessing to them, bringing God's touch and love to them.

verses 7-9 talks about our enemies going against us, and sometimes, even our best friends betray us. Man can fail us. But God reminds us again, He is faithful. =)

Psalm 42

If you remember what pastor melvyn preached during the first sermon of the year, the book of psalms can be divided into 5 books. We have completed the 1st book! Now we are entering into the second,with slavery and bondages as theme, it is like exodus.

Psalm 42-49 were not written by david. haha. They were written by sons of Korah. If you are interested, you can read up on the history. (Num 16:1-35, 1 Chron 6:31-38, 2 Chron 20:18-19)

Verses 1 and 2 might be familiar to us, because of the song, As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after thee.... But let's ask ourselves, how much do we thirst for God? Like we thirst for water? Crave for our favorite food? How much is our desire for Him? God says, He desires us, crazy about us....

And as i read this psalm, it seems like the psalmist was feeling very downcast and was mourning. But at the end, he said, we are to put our hopes in the Lord. When we focus on God's ability to help us rather than on our inability to help ourselves, we can have hope and not be depressed. Most importantly, we can have hope... but God loves you!

waiting...

Psalm 40

Do you like to wait? I dont really like waiting. It seems to be a waste of time, and i'll get pretty bored. if my mood is good, i'm still ok, but if i'm not feeling good, i can get quite frustrated. Waiting for God's answer and will for our lives can be quite difficult too. Like i don't know God's will for my life, uncertainty, painful.

But psalm 40 reminded me that there are blessings when we go through trials of waiting. 1) He will lift us out of our despair. 2) He will set our feet on a rock. 3) He gives us a firm place to stand. 4) He will put a new song of praise in us. Simply put it, God will bring us out of our pain and give us joy and security. He will change our spirits and mould our characters.

Psalm 40 also talked about the sacrifices and offerings God desires. In the old times, people sacrificed animals and bring offerings to God for forgiveness of sin, blessings etc. Now, we don't sacrifice animals nor practise some of the older rituals. But we have sacrifices and offerings to God, like going to church, partaking in holy communion, tithing, singing praises and worship to the Lord. But God reminds us again, that He doesn't want us to do them as duties, or for selfish reasons like wanting God's blessings or rewards. He wants us to do them out of obedience and submission to Him. (1 Sam 15:22)

Psalm 40 is also about us doing God's will, His work for us is to share His goodness and faithfulness. What is God's faithfulness then? Who are the people you can think of when we talk about faithfulness? Usually these people accept and love us even when we are unlovable. They keep their promises and are trustworthy. God? He has an absolute and perfect love for us, and accept us as who we are, because He created us! He will keep all His promises He has made, despite us being unfaithful.

"Oh Lord, You love me and accept me for who i am, and You have always and will always fulfill all Your promises toward me. Let me do Your work in obedience and submission in return.

Help me to wait patiently for Your promises and plans as i do Your will. Amen."

A short life preparing for eternity

Psalm 39

Life is short, what do you then hope in?

In verse 1-3, David was keeping quiet, trying no to sin, maybe by complaining, by grumbling... Then, what are we saying today? Are we complaining about people, situations or our problems? Are we grumbling about our sufferings? When we complain to others, others may think that our God cannot take care of us. It also looks as if we are blaming God. Oh dear... But then how, must we bottle up all our feelings and be oppressed? Vs 3 says, let's meditated and go to God, when we cannot contain our anger or negative feelings, pour out to God. He listens... =) Most importantly, He helps.. can our friends or parents help?

In the rest of this psalm, david expressed how short life is. How long can we live on earth? 70, 80,90 or even 100? that's long right. So we need to do planning so that we can enjoy our old age and are taken care of when we cant work. We study hard now, so that we can have a good career, earn money, have a good life.

We work so hard for that 50-80 more years that we are living for. What about the eternal life after death? Living forever in God's kingdom, how are we preparing for that? Yes, God will provide everything, food, money, provision, necessities for living. But what about our characters, fruits, work for the Lord... what will remain today, if God's consuming fire were to come and burn everything of us?

"Father, i know that You are a loving Father who disciplines us for our good. Forgive me for the times i complain and have not been a good testimony. Help me to prepare for eternity. Amen."

Psalm 37

3 things to take home from this psalm. 1) Delight in the Lord and He will delight in you. How do u feel when you are delighted? Happy, joyful, pleasant? We all know how it feels to be delight and take delight in someone, to take pleasure and joy with being with him/her. We would want to be with people we take delight in and these people are usually people we know well. So do you take delight in God, to want to be in His presence and get to know Him well? God wants to take delight in us! When we follow, obey and trust Him, He is delighted and will watch over and direct us.

2) Commit everything into His hands. This means we entrust everything to His control and guidance, trust in Him and be patient as He works out everything in our lives. In verse 8-9, God tells us not to be angry nor to fret/worry, because these feelings are very destructive. They arise when we dont have faith in Him, not committing everything into His hands.

When we focus on our problems, we often become angry or anxious. Why cant things happen the way we plan? Why cant the people understand us or be coorperative? What will be the result of all these things i have done? However, if we focus on how BIG God is and to focus on His love for us, assuring us that He WILL be with us, we can have peace.

3) Remember the poor. In verse 25, God reminds us that the righteous will not be forsaken. It means that God will always provide for us. But God also means that we need to remember and not forsaken His people, the poor. We often see the poor in our midst, maybe poor in finance, health, emotional, even spiritual. What are our response to these? They deserve what they are facing. Or this is a test for them, to be patient and trust in God. He will deliver them. Or, i will help. When we remember the poor, we must also remember, God's focus is us too.

Psalm 38

This psalm seems to be about sins and there are again three things about sins for us to recognise.

1) Sin can leads to health problem. Sure anot? If i lie, steal, disobey God, how can these affect my health? Looking at verse 1-8, david seems to be having some health problem. Not enough, read Acts 12:21-23, 1 Cor 11:30-32... When we sin, our health or physical condition can be affected. Which may be why some people suffer from many sicknesses, we also see many times when God stuck the people with diseases and plagues. But God causes this, not because He is a tyrant, or like want retribution, He doesnt. He just want to bring us back to repentance, back to Him (Heb 12:5-11)

2) Sin can affect our emotional lives. verse 9-14 Sin leads to separation between God and man. We may not be able to "feel" or experience God, cant seem to be able to talk to Him. Not only that, our relationships with other people will also be affected. I always remember one of the pastors said that how your spiritual life is, will affect your physical life. If your relationship with God is not too good, all other relationships will be affected. How? I'm not too sure. maybe maybe when you cannot relate well with God and find your security in Him, you become shaky when with man. But i have definitely experienced that before. Doesnt feel good...

3) Sin has to be brought before God and repented from. Verse 15-22. We saw that david turned back to God, to confess his sins. Similiarly, the only way to be free from the physical suffering, and emotional loneliness, is to come to God and ask Him for mercy.

Psalm fear for the Lord

Psalm 36

Remembering what pastor eugene shared on sun, that we need to have the fear of the Lord. Today's psalm showed a man who does not have the fear of the Lord, who became proud and full of him/herself and fall into sin because he/she thinks that nothing will happen. This person is not fearful of the Lord's punishment.

I guess it may be difficult for us to imagine how the fear of the Lord should be, maybe because we havent really experience God's punishment before. But like what pastor eugene shared, the fear of the Lord can be learnt, by turning away from evil, doing good, seeking peace and persevere in the race with God. We can all learn.

God also reminded me that we can grow in our fear of the Lord, when we experience Him and grow to know Him more. When we know how holy and righteous He is, how powerful and almighty He is, we will grow in our fear for Him. because of His holiness, no sin can come before Him, and in His power, He can destroy us and punish us seriously. It is not a fear like fearful... but it is a fear where we are respectful and honours Him more than ourselves.

Somethings i feel like my spiritual life is stagnanting, yearning for more of God's touch and revelation. And He spoke in this psalm, that He is the fountain of life, providing fresh and cleansing water to give life to the spiritually thirsty. It's not about the "wow" feeling or great breakthroughs or miracles that we need, it is the refreshment and relationship with the Lord, which will quench our thirst. Come and drink...

"Lord, help me thirst for You, so that i will yearn to spend time with You.

Help me to grow the the fear of You, by letting me grow to know You more. Amen."

After His heart

Psalm 35

Seems to me that psalm 35 is a call for God's justice, to deliver us from our enemies, and cause them to fall in their own traps. We can always call upon God to be our judge and His hands to be upon our enemies. Seems wrong for us to call God to go against our enemies, when we are suppose to love?

I found it abit confusing, but i guess there are times we can call on God for His justice, esp when we are wronged, when it's for the benefits of others... most importantly, we leave everything to God to do whatever He wants. We dont have to defend ourselves or seek revenge, God can fight for us.

And in verse 13, david had times when he felt that God wasnt answering his prayers and was sad. David was a man like us! We may feel like david is a holy man, so he could write all these psalms to the Lord... He is a man after God's own heart, he is good, he is a king, different from us. He can praise God and had such faith and love for God, i cant.

But here, we see david was just like us... he felt sad and lament about times when it seems that God is not answering his prayers. But we also see that he still trusted in God, that's when God came through for him. Remember, God hears every prayer, He answers them according to His timing and wisdom. Our part is to pray and trust. In times when we feel that our prayers are not answered, let's not be frustrated, anxious or angry. Let us learn to be like david, to trust in God and turn these times of waiting into times of deepening our faith in the Lord.

May us then be like david, real human with emotions and struggles, but transforming by times of deepening our faith and moulding by the Lord... we can become like david, woman after God's own heart!

" I want to be a woman after God's own heart. Lord, help me."

He is enough

Psalm 34

Pastor eugene did such a great job going through this psalm, i have benefited from his sharing, hope you all have to. =) (shuwen,you can watch it on webcast.) So i wont elaborate on what he has shared, but just adding on sth which i have learnt from the psalm.

I like the verse, "taste and see that the Lord is good." It's like, God is good, and He gives us a chance to experience His goodness in our lives, so that our lives will be good too! And of course, this psalm adds on the part of fearing God. Fearing God means to show deep respect and honor to Him, to obey Him in His ways. So we come before Him with humble attitude and genuine worship. Because when we obey God, we experience more of Him and His goodness everyday.

And the promise is that we will lack no good things. But it may not mean that we will get what we want right... i guess it's more like an assurance from God, that He knows what is best and will give them to us, so that we will not have anything lacking. And... God is really enough, we need to have a greater desire for Him, than for the other desires in our hearts.

yep... and share one last point which i learnt from the life application bible. It says we need to actively seek peace. We often pray for peace in our lives, hearts, families.... but peace doesnt come just like tt. We need to seek it. A person who wants peace cannot be argumentative and contentious. Because peaceful relationships come from our efforts at peacemaking. So real eh... how to have peace, when you yourself are making ugly comments, having negative thoughts and attitudes...

"Father, i really want to taste You and see Your goodness in my life.

Because i want my life to be good. So i will learn to fear You and obey You.

More than that Lord, i know that You are more than enough for me,

with You in my life, my life is good!"

Our God sits in Heaven

Psalm 33

When i read the psalm, it seems to bring me to focus on one person, His character, what He does, how He do things.. like seeing Him at work. yes, God is at work. =)

His words... are right and true, and He is faithful. He doesnt lie, forget, change His words or leave His promises unfulfilled. He is a holy, trustworthy and unchangable God. Is there sth God has promised you, or said He will do it? He will! I trust that He will bring me to a school where He planned for me to be in, and use me mightily to do His work and He will open up the way for me, and watches over me. =)

But sometimes, we cant trust in Him, because we cannot trust the people around us, or even ourselves. Well, remember God IS trustworthy, whether we can trust Him or not, He promised to give us good and perfect gifts. (jas1:17) Simply because you are His daughter and He loves you, so He will give you only the best.

His character... is all-powerful and loving. He can create the earth and makes all things work. He can also destroy man who turned against Him and cause everything to obey Him. What reverence we should have for such a mighty God? Yet, He is also a loving God. He watches over us from heaven everyday, to lead us and care for us. Imagine, every action, thought, word, feeling, He sees them ALL.

His work... is to bring us His best plan for us. We may still face death and famine, trials and crisis, pain and sorrow. God can deliver us if He wants, but sometimes, He choose to lead us THROUGH them and not from them, because it is His greatest plan for us.

"Lord, as You look down from heaven and see me,

may my actions, thoughts, speech and feelings be acceptable in Your sight,

so that i will not make You angry or sad.

I don't want Your punishment, i want Your blessings. Amen.. "

forgiveness of the Lord

Psalm 32

Didn't really understand the psalm when i first read in NIV version, only some verses that stood out, like vs 8, the Lord will guide us in our lives. Then when i read the NASB version with the study guide, things became clearer. Just to give you a background, this psalm was written by David, about the forgiveness of the Lord after he had sinned against God by committing adultery with bathsheba and murder uriah. (2 sam 11-12)

That's why he started in verse 1-2, expressing the forgiveness of the Lord. God wants to forgive us when we sin, because forgiveness has always been part of His loving nature. When He spoke to Moses (exo 34:7), to david, even to the world through Jesus Christ, He wants to forgive.

Sometimes we want to hide our sins from God and man, out of shame, pride, addiction, stubbornness... But when we keep silent about our sins, we are blocked from God and cannot experience true joy. God's hand will be upon us to convict us and bring light into darkness.

I was reminded of how i used to hide one of my sins, actually the "biggest" sin in my life, because i was so ashamed of it. I didnt want people to know about it, for fear of how they would see me. I confessed my sin to God, burnt the sin list and stopped sinning. But there was still darkness, because i was fearful of people knowing it, i have not been set free. Until God convicted me, and MADE me confess it to ms seah. God is really good, though pastor laifun and ms seah know about them, they never judge me. And what's more important is, i am totally set free and feel so light, because the fear is gone. Now i can experience true joy. =D

But some people are stubborn and refuse to let God deal with their sins and lives. Well, God loves us, and He loves us so much that He must use discipline and punishment to keep them us. But God really desires to guide us with love and wisdom instead. Like the case above, i refuse to share and confess my sin to ms seah, so God had to sent pain and discomfort into both our lives. HAHA. poor ms seah... we were SOOOO uncomfortable, we had to talk, and i had to confess my sin. But after that obedience to share, the journey to cut off the sin and shame was much easier, as God led me with His love.

It was raining so heavily this afternoon, and when i was in the toilet, suddenly there was a very VERY loud thunder which cracked like near the window. I was shocked and suddenly fearful... The voice of the Lord shakes the earth! even louder and more powerful than this! I was suddenly very fearful of God's punishment, like... the scenes i heard from the audio bible last year, screaming,shouting as the Lord send down punishment and judgement.

"Oh Lord, let me not be the one to go through the punishment and judgement of You.

Show me Your ways, that i may repent and go in Your guidance.

Cause me to be obedient, so that You do not have to destroy me. Amen."

Into Your hands

Psalm 31

Who is God to you? David said God is His strength, His deliverer, His refuge.... What about you?

One verse that stood out alot to me is verse 5, "Into Your hand i commit my spirit." It shows great dependence on God, like putting all our bets on God. Jesus said this when He died on the cross(luke 23:46), Stephen said it when he was stoned to death(acts 7:59). It represents giving everything to the Lord and surrendering everything. Can we say to the Lord today, "Father, into Your hand i give up everything"?

If we can, God will definitely take charge of our lives and bestow great favor on us. But maybe some of us struggle... If we have idols in our lives, wealth, material possession, achievements, talents, people in our lives... we will not be able to commit our lives into God's hands and He will not be able to guide us, because we will be guided by our own desires. Can you give up the thing that is most important to you to the Lord?

Wah, christian life is so difficult ah? must give up everything, so many constrains, restrictions. But remember, while God wants us to obey His commands and commit ourselves to Him, He never meant for us to feel restrain. If fact, He gives us much freedom within His safety boundary. We can be free from all our sins and be relieved from all our pains. (verse 8)

How can we be sure that will be the case? verse 9-13 tells us about David's feelings of helplessness and hopelessness when he felt hated or rejected. Have you felt that people dislike you or reject you before? The distress, sorrow, eye wasted away by crying, sighing, feeling weak... david then gave a contrary in verse 14-18, if we recognise our true self and relationship with God, it will be easier to accept what people think or say of us. Because our security is in the Lord.

How can we know that we will be relieved? When we know that God loves and cares for us. We will be steady despite of circumstances, will not break down so easily and be upset. And we can trust in the Lord instead of going our own ways...

"into Your hands, i commit again, with all i am, for You Lord.

You hold my world, in the palms of Your hands, and i am Yours forever.

Jesus i believe in You, Jesus i belong to You,

You're the reason that i live, the reason that i sing, with all i am."

mourning into dancine

Psalm 30

Will God ever be angry? yes... Will He punish us? I guess so. But i thought God is all-loving and gracious, why would He be angry? God has feelings, and even human will anguish, pain and be angry when we see our loved ones doing wrong things or going against us. God will be angry and sometimes, i guess He will cause certain things to happen, no so much to punish us, but to warn us to turn away from our sins. It may be painful, but one thing we can be thankful for, His anger lasts only a while, the pain is momentary... His love and favor last forever. =)

In verse 6-7, David talked about himself feeling confident and secure, because of His wealth, power and fame. These caused him to feel self-reliant, self-secure and independent of God. We will too, depending on our own intelligence for exams? Satisfied with our finances since we get money from our parents... not thankful for the things we have? Achieving because of our own talents?

But maybe God punished david, and he wrote in verse 7, when God cover His face, David "was dismayed". Losing the security.. Just that we can become bankrupt one day, lose in competitions, fail tests? Earthly security is uncertain, we cant depend on money, power, or even relationship w people. The only security that we can be secure in, is the security in the Lord. He never fails.

"You have turned my mourning into dancing, You have turned my sorrow into joy!"