November 2011 - Blessings of Divine Guidance

At work, we are running a Bible Study and a Praying Meeting alternately each week. In the Bible Study this week, the teacher was sharing from Ps. 8, one of my favourite psalms.

[Ps 8]

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The teacher correctly highlighted God’s majestic love through a number of comparisons:

1) Children / Infants VS Enemies / Foe / Avenger: children / infants are no match of enemies / foe / avenger

2) Man VS Heavens: man is no match of the Heavens

Yet His Majesty is mindful of us; care for us; crown us with glory & honour; made us ruler of His creation!

This week, our grandson Sebby turned 6 months old.

I witnessed his growth week by week from a tiny 6lbs + at birth to about 20lbs today. Indeed from the day Sebby was conceived in his mother’s womb, God the Creator has been at work.

[Ps 139:13-16]

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Like a seasoned craftsman, God’s handiwork continues after Sebby’s birth.

What touched me most about Ps 8 was the contrast of an infant with an enemy!

In New King James version, [Ps 8:2] reads:

"Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger."

A baby is vulnerable, totally helpless. He or she is defenseless in the face of an enemy. Yet, God protects him or her from harm!

From about 2 months, Sebby was not happy just lying down. He wanted to be held so that he could stand up.

At 3 months, he was already quite energetic.

At 4 months, he became more active, moving his arms like a young bird flapping the wings.

At 5 months, he enjoyed bouncing, when he was held standing up. When lying on his back, he could roll over by himself.

At 6 months, he became very agile, finding his feet with his hands and putting them in his mouth. :)

Yet, even at 6 months, he still could hardly sit up properly by himself!

Sebby enjoys singing, esp. praise songs, although he does it in his own way that babies do. But we can see that he is happy although he has not got the understanding of God yet.

Looking at Sebby, I can truly appreciate God’s amazing love towards man!

I claim God’s promises that He is mindful of us; He cares for us; He crowns us with glory & honour and He makes us ruler of His creation!

We are made for doing great things because that is God’s design intent for mankind, the crown of His Creation.

As I live each day with that expectation, I begin to see the promises coming true in my work, in my ministries, in every aspect of my life!

It is the right thing to do to sing praises to our great God. “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn? shout for joy before the LORD, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” [Ps 98:1-9 NIV]

Despite of the unfaithfulness of His people, God remains faithful. He patiently waits for us to repent. "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD. "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD- "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'" [Hos 2:14-23 NIV]

This is the good news of Jesus Christ. “……..We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” [Titus 3:1-8 NIV]

Justice and righteousness are the foundation of God’s throne; the foundation of His City where we will dwell for eternity one day. These are eternal values that God has established and they hold true even in the sinful world we live in. “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan…….By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down……An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad. The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern…… If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will always be secure……When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall…….The righteous detest the dishonest; the wicked detest the upright.” [Prov 29:2,4,6,7,14,16,27 NIV]