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. =)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
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.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Not a vending machine, but a friend
Psalm 69
This psalm can also be referred to Jesus' life, how He was rejected by His own brothers, how He was scoffed at, insulted, humiliated, how He suffered and the soldiers gave Him vinegar to drink... Many things to learn from this psalm, from david's and Jesus' lives.
vs 1-4: David was so tired he felt like he was sinking into the ocean. He cried till his eyes were tired, called out till his voice was parched and his vision failed. He faced many enemies who hurt him greatly since many are his close friends or even son, and was wronged. Yet he trusted God to save him. We too can trust in God! The tears we cried will not be in vain, because God collects them, sees them...
God sees all our sins and deeds, we cant run away from Him. We can only pray that our deeds will glorify Him and that we will carry our crosses daily for Him. Look at David, he faced many problems, he was mocked at, insulted, humiliated and gossipped about. Jesus too, faced all these, and was betrayed by his close disciple and hurt by people He loved. Both of them still turned to God and God delivered them, honouring them in the end.
Similarly, we may face bad circumstances and are hopeless about certain things, we need to set our minds and hearts to trust God. He will glorify us. It is not easy, but God promises His lovingkindness and to deliver us, never to let us fall. He is the most faithful friend we can ever have, dont keep Him out.
vs 31 talks about our sacrifices. Very clearly, God is more please with our praises and thanksgiving than monetary or time sacrifices. He wants us to be humble, to know that we are nothing and can do nothing without Him. So we must seek Him first, then we will be glad and joyful. True joy does not come from money, success nor friends. True joy comes only from God.
Psalm 70
When people hurt or disappoint us, we feel empty or broken. That's when we need to beg God to come quickly to help us, to restore our security and joy. He can!
But we must not forget to praise God because praise helps us remember who God is. Dont take God for granted and treat Him like a vending machine, to request for all the provisions, healings, blessings.... He is your friend.
This psalm can also be referred to Jesus' life, how He was rejected by His own brothers, how He was scoffed at, insulted, humiliated, how He suffered and the soldiers gave Him vinegar to drink... Many things to learn from this psalm, from david's and Jesus' lives.
vs 1-4: David was so tired he felt like he was sinking into the ocean. He cried till his eyes were tired, called out till his voice was parched and his vision failed. He faced many enemies who hurt him greatly since many are his close friends or even son, and was wronged. Yet he trusted God to save him. We too can trust in God! The tears we cried will not be in vain, because God collects them, sees them...
God sees all our sins and deeds, we cant run away from Him. We can only pray that our deeds will glorify Him and that we will carry our crosses daily for Him. Look at David, he faced many problems, he was mocked at, insulted, humiliated and gossipped about. Jesus too, faced all these, and was betrayed by his close disciple and hurt by people He loved. Both of them still turned to God and God delivered them, honouring them in the end.
Similarly, we may face bad circumstances and are hopeless about certain things, we need to set our minds and hearts to trust God. He will glorify us. It is not easy, but God promises His lovingkindness and to deliver us, never to let us fall. He is the most faithful friend we can ever have, dont keep Him out.
vs 31 talks about our sacrifices. Very clearly, God is more please with our praises and thanksgiving than monetary or time sacrifices. He wants us to be humble, to know that we are nothing and can do nothing without Him. So we must seek Him first, then we will be glad and joyful. True joy does not come from money, success nor friends. True joy comes only from God.
Psalm 70
When people hurt or disappoint us, we feel empty or broken. That's when we need to beg God to come quickly to help us, to restore our security and joy. He can!
But we must not forget to praise God because praise helps us remember who God is. Dont take God for granted and treat Him like a vending machine, to request for all the provisions, healings, blessings.... He is your friend.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
praise to the awesome God
More to go....
Psalm 66
Have we praised God today?
Verse 5-7 reminds us of the great deeds of God. He dried the sea so that the Israelites can be delivered from slavery. He can perform such miracles in real life and for us even now, not just in the past.
Fire refines silver such that it comes out shiny and pure. Similarly, God puts us through the trials in life to refine us, so that we will be wiser, purer and come out more like Him. Life is a gift from God, we shouldnt take it for granted. Thus in life, we should continually confess our sins, check ourselves and live according to God's plans. God will remember his promises for us. =)
Psalm 67
A psalm that speaks about the joy of sharing the gospel. We need to pray that God's grace be with us and bless us, and let us radiate with His glory. The people will see and know God through us and be saved. They will praise Him for the good news, for what He has done for us, and be glad that we have a righteous judge who will guide us.
Our prayer will be that we will be the one who praise Him and share the gospel so that the harvest will be abundant and all the earth will fear Him!
Psalm 68
Psalm 66 and 67's authors were unknown. But psalm 68 was written by David, when he was bringing the ark into Mount Zion. There was great joy among the people, the righteous, fatherless, widows, lonely and prsoners can rejoice and be hopeful in the Lord. We too can find joy in loving and praising God!
But how can we find that joy? When we see God in His majesty and for who He is, we will have no choice but to praise Him. vs 19-21, God is our salvation. He died to set us free from our sins and death. But those who refuse to accept God will be trapped by the sin they love and be destroyed by the death they fear.
As Christians, we know Jesus poured out all His blood and life, suffered all humiliations, betray and pain for us. When we think about all these thatGod has done for us, we would be overwhelmed with awe and thanksgiving. His unlimtied power and unspeakable majesty will leave us breathless in His presence. He holds the earth in His hands! We will praise Him!
Psalm 66
Have we praised God today?
Verse 5-7 reminds us of the great deeds of God. He dried the sea so that the Israelites can be delivered from slavery. He can perform such miracles in real life and for us even now, not just in the past.
Fire refines silver such that it comes out shiny and pure. Similarly, God puts us through the trials in life to refine us, so that we will be wiser, purer and come out more like Him. Life is a gift from God, we shouldnt take it for granted. Thus in life, we should continually confess our sins, check ourselves and live according to God's plans. God will remember his promises for us. =)
Psalm 67
A psalm that speaks about the joy of sharing the gospel. We need to pray that God's grace be with us and bless us, and let us radiate with His glory. The people will see and know God through us and be saved. They will praise Him for the good news, for what He has done for us, and be glad that we have a righteous judge who will guide us.
Our prayer will be that we will be the one who praise Him and share the gospel so that the harvest will be abundant and all the earth will fear Him!
Psalm 68
Psalm 66 and 67's authors were unknown. But psalm 68 was written by David, when he was bringing the ark into Mount Zion. There was great joy among the people, the righteous, fatherless, widows, lonely and prsoners can rejoice and be hopeful in the Lord. We too can find joy in loving and praising God!
But how can we find that joy? When we see God in His majesty and for who He is, we will have no choice but to praise Him. vs 19-21, God is our salvation. He died to set us free from our sins and death. But those who refuse to accept God will be trapped by the sin they love and be destroyed by the death they fear.
As Christians, we know Jesus poured out all His blood and life, suffered all humiliations, betray and pain for us. When we think about all these thatGod has done for us, we would be overwhelmed with awe and thanksgiving. His unlimtied power and unspeakable majesty will leave us breathless in His presence. He holds the earth in His hands! We will praise Him!
Monday, March 10, 2008
security, friend, lover
oops... here's moe updates.but feels like i'm talking to myself. HAHA.
Psalm 63
We are created with a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts, so without God, we would feel lonely, empty and that life is meaningless. If that's how we are feeling, lonely or thirsty for something lasting in our lives, like David in verse 1-5, we can call out to God. Only He can satisfy out deepest longings.
I like verse 63, that we should meditate and reflect on what God has done for us at night. That will bring us peace and comfort, and helps us to rest well at night. What is more comforting, assuring and able to give us security to sleep in peace, than God? When we hide under the shelter of His wings, we can be at rest because His wings will shelter us from all the stones thrown at us. He will deliver us and vindicate us.
Psalm 64
Sometimes we may feel that God only wants to hear the right things from us, prayers, confessions of sins, praises, worships.... Yes, God desires and wants all these, but He is also willing to hear our complaints and grumblings. Because He is our friend! He wants us to talk to Him like we would talk to a friend.
And we have read so many times that God will deliver us. Even when people say the wrong things about us, even backstab us, we do not need to fear if these accusations are untrue. Because God will return these wickedness such that those against us will fall and everyone who sees will know that God delivered us. See, He will deliver us, for His glory!
But we must remember, that is if we are wronged. But if what people say about us are true, time to check ourselves and make corrections. God is a just God. Then we can be at rest, because we know we do the right things, and that we trust in God to deliver us.
Psalm 65
Other times, we may feel horrible or negative about ourselves because of our sins or wrong doings. Not sure if you have felt this before.... but i do. Feeling that i have let God down, frustrated that i sinned, guilty, unworthy.
But God reminds us that He forgives ALL sins, no matter how big. Even when we feel unworthy or that God will never forgive us, God says again, "I forgive you. And i will always forgive you, because i love you."
Not only so, He promises He will take care of us and provide for our needs. just that He takes care of the nature, He would pour forth even more for us, because He is generous and because we are important to Him.
Psalm 63
We are created with a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts, so without God, we would feel lonely, empty and that life is meaningless. If that's how we are feeling, lonely or thirsty for something lasting in our lives, like David in verse 1-5, we can call out to God. Only He can satisfy out deepest longings.
I like verse 63, that we should meditate and reflect on what God has done for us at night. That will bring us peace and comfort, and helps us to rest well at night. What is more comforting, assuring and able to give us security to sleep in peace, than God? When we hide under the shelter of His wings, we can be at rest because His wings will shelter us from all the stones thrown at us. He will deliver us and vindicate us.
Psalm 64
Sometimes we may feel that God only wants to hear the right things from us, prayers, confessions of sins, praises, worships.... Yes, God desires and wants all these, but He is also willing to hear our complaints and grumblings. Because He is our friend! He wants us to talk to Him like we would talk to a friend.
And we have read so many times that God will deliver us. Even when people say the wrong things about us, even backstab us, we do not need to fear if these accusations are untrue. Because God will return these wickedness such that those against us will fall and everyone who sees will know that God delivered us. See, He will deliver us, for His glory!
But we must remember, that is if we are wronged. But if what people say about us are true, time to check ourselves and make corrections. God is a just God. Then we can be at rest, because we know we do the right things, and that we trust in God to deliver us.
Psalm 65
Other times, we may feel horrible or negative about ourselves because of our sins or wrong doings. Not sure if you have felt this before.... but i do. Feeling that i have let God down, frustrated that i sinned, guilty, unworthy.
But God reminds us that He forgives ALL sins, no matter how big. Even when we feel unworthy or that God will never forgive us, God says again, "I forgive you. And i will always forgive you, because i love you."
Not only so, He promises He will take care of us and provide for our needs. just that He takes care of the nature, He would pour forth even more for us, because He is generous and because we are important to Him.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
From the ends of the earth, i will praise You
yo! Anyone miss me? Sorry havent been posting because have been really tied down with school work. anyways, here's some update, more will come soon since it's school hols next week ;)
Psalm 61
Verse 1-2 are very nice and comforting. From the ends of the earth, i call to You. David may be chased out of his nation, away from the temple of God where he always went to. Which is why he said from the ends of the earth, far away from the place of God. But this is an assurance that not matter where we are, in church or not in church, God is with us and can hear us!
In verse 2, there is also a picture of God lifting us up to the rock with is higher than us. The rock is symbolic of God, stability, firm, never changing... We can find our security and stability when we stand upon the foundation of God. It is also a picture of Him lifting us up to where He is. When we are lifted to Him, we are also lifted from our problems! So cool right. One action, two purposes, to get away from our problems and to get nearer to God.
God promised us so many things and He will make them come true, because He is faithful. We ought to learn to be faithful too. Remember any promises you have made to God? For david, he promised to praise God everyday, something we should learn to do too. When we praise Gd, we can find our hearts lifted from distraction and growing deeper in love and faith in God!
Psalm 62
Prayers can release our tensions in times of emotional stress. Feeling tired, negative, emotional, stress? Pray!
If we trust in the Lord to be our Lord of all, the way we look and live our lives will change. We will have the stability in life. Doesnt mean that we wont face any problems, but it means when problems come, we can stand firm and not fall emotionally, physically or spiritually.
So, let's live our lives for God. The world says to live our lives to build our power, fame, wealth or honour. But will they last? Sadly no. Look at lydia shen, she has $200k? i think. cant rmb, but my mu was saying she left a huge fortune for her daughter. left... u cant bring ur fortune to eternity. And God says, these are not important. What is important to Him is our faithful work for Him, which will last!
Psalm 61
Verse 1-2 are very nice and comforting. From the ends of the earth, i call to You. David may be chased out of his nation, away from the temple of God where he always went to. Which is why he said from the ends of the earth, far away from the place of God. But this is an assurance that not matter where we are, in church or not in church, God is with us and can hear us!
In verse 2, there is also a picture of God lifting us up to the rock with is higher than us. The rock is symbolic of God, stability, firm, never changing... We can find our security and stability when we stand upon the foundation of God. It is also a picture of Him lifting us up to where He is. When we are lifted to Him, we are also lifted from our problems! So cool right. One action, two purposes, to get away from our problems and to get nearer to God.
God promised us so many things and He will make them come true, because He is faithful. We ought to learn to be faithful too. Remember any promises you have made to God? For david, he promised to praise God everyday, something we should learn to do too. When we praise Gd, we can find our hearts lifted from distraction and growing deeper in love and faith in God!
Psalm 62
Prayers can release our tensions in times of emotional stress. Feeling tired, negative, emotional, stress? Pray!
If we trust in the Lord to be our Lord of all, the way we look and live our lives will change. We will have the stability in life. Doesnt mean that we wont face any problems, but it means when problems come, we can stand firm and not fall emotionally, physically or spiritually.
So, let's live our lives for God. The world says to live our lives to build our power, fame, wealth or honour. But will they last? Sadly no. Look at lydia shen, she has $200k? i think. cant rmb, but my mu was saying she left a huge fortune for her daughter. left... u cant bring ur fortune to eternity. And God says, these are not important. What is important to Him is our faithful work for Him, which will last!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
David calls, God answers
Psalm 59
David wrote the psalm asking for deliverance as Saul sent men who watched the house in order to kill him. Which is why in verse 7-8, he wrote about evil men who curse God as if God cannot hear and will not react, men who do evil thinking that they wont be judge. But God laughs at such people, because He is just waiting patiently for the day of judgement, the perfect timing for Him. So for us, we must remember that God hears and sees all that we do. Dont do silly things.
Saul who someone who used to love David, but was overwhelmed by jealousy and so wanted to kill David. Absalom, David's son, wanted to ascend to the throne, so he planned to kill his own father. Poor david... and sometimes, we may face the same thing, people we love failing us. There is only one person who never fails. God. He is never-changing, everlasting God.
Psalm 60
Again, written by David. But he wasnt on the run this time. Different context. This time, israel was away at war with Aram in the north, and Edom invaded israel from the south. (2 sam 8)
Times of trial again for David, But God revealed in verse 1-3, He may allow times us to go through difficult times so that we can be broken. Which is true... who will be humbled and broken if he/she is always having a good life and success?
God says too, in verse 6-10, that all the cities and nations belong to Him. He owns them and knows the future of each nation. Wow.... in other words, He also owns us, and know our future. He is in control of everything.
But i guess the biggest lesson for me from ps 60 is that when we are drawing nearer to God, our enemies will attack us and try to bring us down. Mr S.A.Tan doesnt like it when we are walking in God's way. So... when we are facing many spiritual attacks, we can be glad and encouraged to press on, because it means we are going to right way! And we may be like David, oppressed from every side, north, south.... but we can trust that God will be our help.
David wrote the psalm asking for deliverance as Saul sent men who watched the house in order to kill him. Which is why in verse 7-8, he wrote about evil men who curse God as if God cannot hear and will not react, men who do evil thinking that they wont be judge. But God laughs at such people, because He is just waiting patiently for the day of judgement, the perfect timing for Him. So for us, we must remember that God hears and sees all that we do. Dont do silly things.
Saul who someone who used to love David, but was overwhelmed by jealousy and so wanted to kill David. Absalom, David's son, wanted to ascend to the throne, so he planned to kill his own father. Poor david... and sometimes, we may face the same thing, people we love failing us. There is only one person who never fails. God. He is never-changing, everlasting God.
Psalm 60
Again, written by David. But he wasnt on the run this time. Different context. This time, israel was away at war with Aram in the north, and Edom invaded israel from the south. (2 sam 8)
Times of trial again for David, But God revealed in verse 1-3, He may allow times us to go through difficult times so that we can be broken. Which is true... who will be humbled and broken if he/she is always having a good life and success?
God says too, in verse 6-10, that all the cities and nations belong to Him. He owns them and knows the future of each nation. Wow.... in other words, He also owns us, and know our future. He is in control of everything.
But i guess the biggest lesson for me from ps 60 is that when we are drawing nearer to God, our enemies will attack us and try to bring us down. Mr S.A.Tan doesnt like it when we are walking in God's way. So... when we are facing many spiritual attacks, we can be glad and encouraged to press on, because it means we are going to right way! And we may be like David, oppressed from every side, north, south.... but we can trust that God will be our help.
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