Closer Day By Day

How is your chinese new year reunion dinner preparations coming along?  Or have you just finished a great lunar new year feast and am now settling down for the countdown to the year of the Ox?

In any case, man does not live by bread alone and indeed, while we feast on the new year goodies, it is important to feast spiritually as well.

Yesterday’s sermon by Pr Simon Chin, taken from Proverbs 14:4, was a very good sermon linked to the year of the Ox.  He reminded and encouraged us that we should be useful ox - who will serve and worhip the Lord even in the midst of the world of turmoil we are in now.

Indeed, even as we face uncertain times and it is easy to let our heads drop and our hearts waver, we must perserve in our faith.

Today’s reading starts off with a psalm by David - who is in the midst of grave trouble.

Bible Passage:  Psalm 9 - 11

The interesting thing about reading the psalms is that we get to know the psalmist on a very intimate level … and from his words, we know what kind of person he is.

In Psalm 9 - the psalmist was in great trouble.

But see how he starts off… he begins with a statement of praise!  Note the four “I will” lines.

When you are in trouble can you say what David says?

I will worship whole-heartedly.

I will tell others of God’s work.

I will be glad.

I will praise God.

The praise of God not only causes us to forget our troubles but it deepens our confidence in God. When we find ourselves concerned with evil in this world these verses are a great place for people of faith to begin their cry to God!

One more thing…

Did you notice that ‘LORD’ is in all capitals?  Did you ever wonder why? What does it mean to see God’s name - LORD?

Whenever we see LORD presented in this way, it is because the original Hebrew text says “YHWH”.  These four letters are known as the Tetragrammation (I know… very cheem word) and they signify the personal name of God.

Now YHWH has no vowels so we do not know how the name of God is pronounced.  More often than not, we use Yahweh or Jehovah.  But no matter how it is actually said, what is more important is that this wonderful name reflects the character of God.

YHWH means He is the existing one - the “I AM”.

It means… “I WILL ALWAYS BEE WHO I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN”.

Er…. did you get that?  Let me try again…

“I WILL FOREVER BE WHO I AM NOW”

God never changes.

As faithful and loving God was yesterday, He will also be today.  And tomorrow.  And the day after.  And the day after the day after… and will continue to be for eternity.

That is why God is so worthy of our praise.

It is because we are so certain He will help us with the same love, faith and power as He had done in the past to all those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Therefore, as you start the new year, whenever you see LORD in all its capital glory in the Bible, pause for a moment to give Him the praise that He deserves.

I am reminded of the words of Prophet Jeremiah…

Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD
(You are great, and Your name is great in might)
Jeremiah 10:6

Indeed….

There is none like You
No one else can touch my heart like You do
I could search for all eternity long
And find there is none like You

These are words to one of my favourite choruses.  Tell me if you like it.

Wait!  There is more!

I just stumbled onto a powerful video that paraphrases Psalm 10 very well.  Read through Psalm 10 first and then watch this video.

Does this make the Psalm more real?

There is nothing more to read now but if you want to, I have a confession to make.

As I was preparing this posting, I was angry.

Because this was the 2nd time I was doing it.  The first time when I finished preparing it and I click the ‘Publish’ button, I was distracted and did not do it properly and I lost my entire work.

I was frustrated and a bit angry.  If you have ever lost your work on a computer before, I am sure you know how I felt.

But as I typed away the 2nd time, my anger subsided.

How can I continue to be angry when I am reading and writing about praising God?  How can I still feel blue when there is a righteous God that sees everything?

And I discovered that the 2nd time round, the reading was even better.  And the 2nd reading also led me to discover the 2nd video that helped me appreciate Psalm 11 even more.

Indeed, there is none like you Jesus - who know what we need and forgives us for our weaknesses.

Praise the Lord!