psalm 53

Psalm 53

1 The fool says in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
there is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.

3 Everyone has turned away,
they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

4 Will the evildoers never learn—
those who devour my people as men eat bread
and who do not call on God?

5 There they were, overwhelmed with dread,
where there was nothing to dread.
God scattered the bones of those who attacked you;
you put them to shame, for God despised them.

6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

WAH! God, what u wanna tell me ar? Don't understand the psalm at all leh... bu ming bai lo! So I googled it to find information. wahahahaha.. thn I came upon Darlene Zschech's reflection on this psalm. Here are some excerpts of it:

"...this Psalm sings of man's afflictions. ....there were many in my own world who continually denied the existence of God, denied His power, His grace, and most importantly, His love. We were never designed to live life without Christ. The fallen race of man, left to his own energy, will always end up in the midst of some sort of battle. To fight this battle without any eternal perspective, or any understanding of God's love and devotion toward you, is such a hard way to live… foolish to say the least.

Verses 4, 5 and 6 go on to talk about how God Himself will defend His righteous ones… even when it feels like God is somehow silent on your behalf, for He who knows all and rules all, will overwhelm those who attack His people.

The psalmist here paints a vivid contrast between the lives of the just and the unjust… but as you can see, his heart desperately longs for the salvation of Israel, and closes the Psalm with the thought that the most calloused heart, when aroused by the spirit of God, can find life, and life in all its fullness."

http://www.sloppynoodle.com/darlene_zschech/pages/86.html

Still kinda bu ming bai leh. Budden at least now I know about the "God Himself will defend His righteous ones" phrase through verse 5 "There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread. God scattered the bones of those who attacked you; you put them to shame, for God despised them." orh................................

To me, it basically means God blesses the righteous.

psalm 51

Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts [a] ;
you teach [b] me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

I've been talking to God recently about why cant life be simply to worship and praise u. Nth to do with world, but everything to do with God. Since I received Christ, I've always been looking forward to service because it is then that I really feel closer to God. It is not suppose to be like this leh. I wanna be a Monday christian as well. But its difficult, because once I got home or outta church, everything and ppl around me are all very worldly. Luckily I still have the crazy at ARC.

Anyway, for me, there are alot of distractions. Msn, surfing the net, music, TV, and just pure slacking. It feels like the presence of God has not followed me outta church leh, as if I left God at hall 10 lidat. Crap lo.. Verse 11 "Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me" spoke to me in this way so that I need to always remember God's words and to give thanks for every little things and situations that I am in. Let's be a fundamental christian, remembering God in bad and good circumstances.


10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. I am super in need for the encouragement from this verse cos i really need a steadfast spirit. Fasting and praying proved to be quite a challenge. The fasting of meals quite ok budden praying for an hr a day is quite woohooooooo... I always do it at night and I'll be tired by then. I pray that I'll persevere, especially when I start practicum next week when I have to wake up crazily, groggily, eye-bagly and small eyely at 5.30pm! God, I really need strength to carry on the 40 days.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Love this verse cos it brought me back to the times when I'm still under baohui and when I first know God. The closeness with God and the fire that I had was indescribable! woohooooo... Every service pia to the front during worship leh.. wah! Lord I pray u'll indeed restore to me the joy of your salvation once again, and to sustain me throughout the practicum and the tiring days!

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" ~ Colossians 3:2

psalm 39 and 45

found this online. Quite nice eh!

Psalm 39

1 I said, "I will watch my ways

and keep my tongue from sin;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

as long as the wicked are in my presence."

2 But when I was silent and still,

not even saying anything good,

my anguish increased.

3 My heart grew hot within me,

and as I meditated, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end

and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting is my life.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;

the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Each man's life is but a breath.

Selah

6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:

He bustles about, but only in vain;

he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

7 "But now, Lord, what do I look for?

My hope is in you.

8 Save me from all my transgressions;

do not make me the scorn of fools.

9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,

for you are the one who has done this.

10 Remove your scourge from me;

I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

11 You rebuke and discipline men for their sin;

you consume their wealth like a moth—

each man is but a breath.

Selah

12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD,

listen to my cry for help;

be not deaf to my weeping.

For I dwell with you as an alien,

a stranger, as all my fathers were.

13 Look away from me, that I may rejoice again

before I depart and am no more."

From that day i read psalm 39 till now the first 2 phrase stucked in my head. Cos recently, i'm making effort to not gossip and not to speak bad about someone or anythg. Basically keeping my tongue from sinning. Quite successful, i would say.

But when i read the second verse, wah i was quite stun. cos i nvr had tot of replacing gossip with praising and speaking good. It was just shut up all the bad stuffs, tts all. It should be natural to praise and to speak gd, isn't it? WRONG! lets all reflect. Issit all so natural and easy to praise and speak gd about someone? Think abt today. Did u praise and speak gd more than u gossip or complained abt something? In actual fact, I think we gossip and complained more. Let's try to replace this behavior with praising and affirming the people around u. "Catch them being good" applies to the ppl ard u as well and not just kids! =)
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Psalm 45

1My heart is inditing a good matter:

I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:

my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

2Thou art fairer than the children of men:

grace is poured into thy lips:

therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

3Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,

O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

4And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth

and meekness and righteousness;

and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

5Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies;

whereby the people fall under thee.

6Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:

the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

7Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:

therefore God, thy God,

hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

8All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,

out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

9Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women:

upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

10Hearken, O daughter, and consider,

and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people,

and thy father's house;

11So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty:

for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

12And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;

even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

13The king's daughter is all glorious within:

her clothing is of wrought gold.

14She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework:

the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

15With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought:

they shall enter into the king's palace.

16Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,

whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

17I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:

therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

Found this pic online. Really like the 2 verses. Hmmm.. sometimes I feel that the bible always talked abt men and sons. Seldom there were women and daughters. So that's why i really like these verses. and oso because today is VALENTINE's DAY!!! woohoooooo.... like so timely lo.

Feel more like God's daughter rather than just someone who believed in him. Love kelly's sms today. ~As the world celebrates Vday and friendship day, remember the greatest friend and lover u have found - Jesus.~

So take time to think about his Love and Goodness in your life!

Psalm 34 (3/2/08)

Today at service the worship session was powerful. Really in awe of His goodness. In the first worship song, "Amazing", I was already in tears. Cos this song was written by the keyboardist in paradise band, who came for "Modern levites conference". Because of this conference and the keyboardist, I started to play my rotting piano again but these few weeks i definitely had neglected my piano. No time to worship the Lord at home with my piano at all. So when this song came, I knew how God had missed my songs to Him.

Then, the next song did it all. "How could I live without You" Both songs touched me alot and for more than half of this song I was too in awe and blown away by the Lord's presence that I did not sing but just teared and teared. Really could not sing leh, but to only look at the words and teared even more. All of the lyrics of this song really is what I felt at the moment. Its been super long since I cried this much during service.


Here's the lyrics of the song:

How could I live without You

How could I survive

Without Your love Without Your touch

You're the One that heals me

And cleanses my heart

And sets me free

Now i come right before You

With my hands lifted up

With my heart humbly bowed

At Your work on the cross

As You hang there and die

You were paying the price

For my life, For my life

For Your love is higher than the heavens

Deeper than the seas

And all I want is You in my life

No one else can satisfy my soul

Can make me feel this way

Only You Lord, only You

As for the psalm today, pastor eugene preached abt the fear of the Lord. So timely can!!! wahahahha... claim it man. REAL is the keyword here.

R - reflects the presence of God

E - experiences the provision of God

A - advances the purposes of God

L - lives out the promises of God

Some practical steps that Pastor said was:

• Keep my tongue from evil (means that I WILL speak with words of favour)
• Speak truth (lying is sin too, no matter whether its a small lie. SIN is an old achery term, meaning to miss the bull's eye. Anythg other than dead center is sin.)
• turn from evil
• Do good, be a blessing
• Seek peace
• pursue (do not give up but to continue pursuing it. PUSH - pray untill somethg happens)

These are all very difficult things to comply. Sometimes I might even do one of this unintentionally or without knowing it. I'm going to pause and reflect before saying or doing things that does not glorify God.

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In psalm 33, I really love the first 3 verse.
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

Cos its how I worship the Lord.
Through music.