In the Beginning was the Word

Psalm 25

2007-05-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Caveat Again: Alas, i am still behind, as per SiowLon's schedule, but i thought i would keep posting so that we can keep this blog real, acknowledging our inadequacies but still striving towards discipline.

I would like to ask for your responses after reading this psalm. (it may have been a while back, i know, but hey, it's good to revisit and refresh your memories, right?)

I felt a deep sense of comfort and awe and a fear at the same time, if that is at all possible. Firstly, i was deeply comforted by verse 10 which says
'All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his
covenant and his decrees.' (NRSV)
My own interpretation of this verse was a reassurance that, if we keep his covenant and his decrees, then God, will deal with us only through steadfast love and faithfulness, a mightily reassuring thought.

Then of course, i realised the conditional nature of this promise. Although it is a little pessimistic to focus on the condition rather than the promise, i had to realise that the promise only held '...for those who keep his covenant and his decrees'. And it was easy to see how, for someone like myself who struggles to fulfill that condition on a daily basis, the promise seemed just out of reach.

And yet David is like us as well, consistently asking God to forgive his sins in the psalm (v.7, v.11, v.18). So it seems to suggest that meeting the condition is not impossible.

I was lastly struck by David's request in v.21, where he asks God to provide him with integrity and uprightness, and it dawned on me that if we lived our lives with integrity and uprightness, even in the small day to day things that we often ignore, then we will be completely keeping his covenant and his decrees.

So, i would like to ask you to think about these questions and perhaps respond if you feel inclined to:

What does it mean to 'keep his covenant'?
What do think is involved in living with integrity and uprightness?

Psalm 10,11,12,13

2007-04-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

Caveat: This entry deals with Psalms that were covered a while back, according to the schedule. However, in case anyone else is falling behind the schedule (like me), then this might still be fresh in your minds.

It is amazing to realise that the world in which the psalmists lived in is not very different to ours. Theirs is also filled with people who seem to have renounced God, and yet seem to have prospered abundantly as a result. There are people who claim "There is no God" (Ps 10), people whose faith has disppeared (Ps 12). There are those who wait to "shoot in the dark at the upright in heart" (Ps 11) and those who "lurk that they may seize the poor" (Ps 10).

These references remind me so much of how we see many people living their lives today as well. AND, let's be honest here, we are tempted continually to give up our own faith and join those who have prospered or seem to be having a better time than us, because they believe "God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it" (Ps10).

But David goes to great pains to remind us that God is aware of all these happenings, in David's time as well as ours, and He still "loves righteous deed" (Ps 11) and only the "upright shall behold his face" (Ps 11). David also reminds us that as we trust in God's steadfast love and live according to his Word, God will deal "bountifully" with us, which I take to mean that he will not only deliver us from those who 'oppress' us (as is the common theme of the abovementioned psalms) but He will also bless us beyond our need, as the word "bountifully" suggests.

Schedule till end of April

2007-04-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you Ravi for encouraging us not to throw in the towel. This is God's word and may His own word speak to us when we read it. Amen.

15 April (Sunday): Psalms 23 & 24
16 April: Psalm 25
17 April: Psalms 26 & 27
18 April: Psalms 28 - 29
19 April: Psalm 30
20 April: Psalm 31
21 April: Psalm 32
22 Apirl: Psalm 33
23 April: Psalm 34
24 April: Psalm 35
25 April: Psalm 36
26 April: Psalm 37
27 April: Psalm 38
28 April: Psalm 39
29 April: Psalms 40 & 41
30 April: Psalms 42 & 43

David & Psalm 8

2007-04-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Share with you what I feel about me reading the bible. I'm sure God's word is living, active and piercing (Hebrews 4: 12-13)...but my heart just seems so hardened most of the time that it seems like all the good stuff is lost on me. It's like having rich cuisine on the table but I can't appreciate it. For e.g., in Psalm 8, David can barely contain his awe & joy as he explodes into praise at the start and end of the Psalm - "how majestic is your name in all the earth!" But I'm still like a frozen fish.

Weiling and I have been struggling to keep up with Psalm thus far. This morning, I did 4 chapters (5,6,7 & 8). Not ideal I think because I think they require more meditation than just a quick read. So far, one impression David's Psalms have left on me is: this is a man/king who knows his place. He is incredibly dependent on God. Just extracting some of the many verses that expresses his dependence.

Psalm 3 - "To the LORD I cry aloud..."
Psalm 4 - "Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer"
Psalm 5 - "Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God..."
Psalm 6 - "Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love."
Psalm 7 - " O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me"

Some discoveries on Psalm 8
If you read the link (i.e. "Overview of Psalm") under "Resources" of this blog, you would have read about hebrew poetry and one mechanism of hebrew poetry is parallelism. Think there's at least one in Psalm 8: 4 -6

"What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
"You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory & honor.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet"

So when God is mindful of you and me...its not that he happens to remember us. When God is mindful of you and me, it has overtones of compassion and love. He cares for us, you and me. May this be the best thing you hear today.

Peeling Psalms

2007-04-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. We began our long haul journey into the book of Psalms as of yesterday. The reading of Psalms will take us all the way into July. Anyone who struggled with John (we all did yah to some extent?), don't be dismayed. Here's a fresh start. I'll provide the reading schedule for Psalms on a bi-weekly basis. This is because on some days, we need to read 2 chapters at one go, some days a portion of verses (e.g. when we come to 119). Here it is:

April 1 - Chp 1 & 2
April 2 - Chp 3 & 4
April 3 - Chp 5 & 6
April 4 - Chp 7 & 8
April 5 - Chp 9
April 6 (Good Friday) - Chp 10
April 7 (YF visitations) - Chp 11 - 12
April 8 (Sunday) - Chp 13 - 14
April 9 - Chp 15 - 16
April 10 - Chp 17
April 11 - Chp 18
April 12 - Chp 19
April 13 - Chp 20 - 21
April 14 (YF Car Wash) - Chp 22
Apirl 15 (Sunday) - Chp 23 & 24

May this not just be a head thing...but it goes to the heart and hands as well.

John 20 (Friday)

2007-03-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks Esther for teaching me how to add people so that they can do a direct post. Thanks Kenji for wanting to teach me (and we welcome you to read the bible with us in the next round). I missed yesterday's reading so did 2 chapters this morning (19 & 20). I thought John's descriptive account of "the death of Jesus" was quite short and sharp (19: 28 - 30). Other gospel probably had more details...like the curtain torn from top to bottom into 2, the sky turning dark, the earthquake etc. It seemed as though John eagerly wanted to get on to the resurrection of Jesus Christ because that would be a huge signpost that points to the Lordship of Jesus as the Son of God. So he spends more time on the resurrection incidents, records Thomas' confession: "My Lord and my God" (20:28) and almost concludes this gospel with "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (20:31) How do I relate appropriately to who Jesus is? And here's a verse about us from what Jesus said so long ago: "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (20:29) That's you and me : )

John 13 (Friday)

2007-03-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Having read John 1 all the way up to this point, these verses have a greater impact than just reading them in isolation. Before his betrayal, crucifixion and glorification, these words of Jesus show me what is in his heart; what he values greatly - Love one another.

We are @ Chapter 10 (20th March)

2007-03-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Just thinking...should I create a totally new blog with a new account so that you guys can just post/blog directly. Means it will be a shared password and email. The current one is under my existing account. I just feel like you guys deserve more. Also, was thinking maybe on certain sundays/every sunday, we can get the 'group' (still dunno who exactly comprises this group at the moment. But shall find out) to read that day's chapter together. That will put 'faces' to this group (just more personal lah...than some cyperspace community) and we can encourage those who are lagging behind/have stopped/still going strong. Oso it can be a time of prayer for each other. Regarding Esther's suggestion to assign 1person per post per day, let me check out who's doing the readings at the moment and whether they are comfortable blogging.

Just a penny worth of thoughts to Eel's question/comment. I think being on this side of the cross, reading Jesus' words and the dialogue would feel/seem perplexing and cryptical sometimes. Maybe its bcus of the translation into english and we only have selected accounts to read by the gospel writer. I actually do think that Jesus could be understood most of the time by the people and he spoke without ambiguity about himself. But, the true problem lies with the hearers. Like what we read yesterday in chapter 9, there was spiritual blindness. The man who was cured believed in Jesus (within 2 sentences!) while the pharisees who engaged in so much intense conversations with Jesus never believed (see 8:43). Anyway, chapter 9 was easier to read...more straightforward than chapters 7 and 8.

In chapter 8, Weiling and I were confronted by the seriousness and 'harshness' (nevertheless the truth) of Jesus' words. Jesus said that those who hear what God says belong to God while those who don't...well, they are children of the devil. Firstly, we are grateful that we (and you as well) belong to God and not the devil. 2nd, it reminds us of those who still do not believe...who they really belong to. Pray with me (remind me to pray!) for this friend called Damian. He is a good fren from NS days. He is a long time catholic and I keep in touch with him by going for runs with him ard gardens (recently, he went for the recce trip with vernon and me). Yesterday, I attempted to talk some christianity after the run but I hit a wall. It's not knowledge that I lack but how to 'infiltrate' into his existing beliefs. I'm reminded by chapter 8 that he belongs to the devil if he does not hear/believe in the truth.

Another summarised main point from what we gathered so far from what Jesus testifies about Himself...Believing in Jesus is about LIVING/LIFE. He says he is Bread of Life/Living Bread, Living water, Light of the world (which makes life possible). Made me ask/wonder how come I experience so little of this LIFE (I asked Weiling whether she feels alive by knowing Jesus and she said "yes"). What do you guys think? Is it because as Romans says, this creation is groaning and I'm waiting for my liberation from bondage to decay? (Romans 8:20)

Reading Schedule for John (1 chapter a day)

2007-03-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

March 11 - John 1
March 18 - John 8
March 25 - John 15
March 31 - John 21
April 1 (Psalms...any objections any one?)

This is the blog to share your thoughts, reflections, questions

2007-03-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. By now, if you are on schedule, you should be reading John 5 today (thursday). Weiling and I have been reading John together at nite, but we missed it yesterday. So we have to do 2 chapters today. Anyone with ideas how we can improve this blog and our communication, please drop a comment.