Psalms & Me

Season 1 Episode 51 

Dear friends.

This is a lament. The most desperate thing is not life and death, but entirely losing all the favor of both men and God. This is also a Messianic psalm because it is what Jesus experienced on the cross. It was supposed to be our punishment, death, and despair; losing the favor of God. From the aspect of despair, Jesus brought the gospel to our despair by being forsaken by God. We, as human beings often felt neglected, and we thought of ourselves often that we are totally neglected. However, life told us that even at those moments, we still have people whom we ourselves neglected to care for us. It is never entirely true to say that we are neglected either you are a Christian or not. 

Psalmist cried out to the Lord, Will you wait until I die, then you will show favor to me? This is a desperate cry. When he suffered from rejection and denial, he spoke to God that death is better than life. What were his thoughts? Was he complaining of his life lacking favor of God? Was he holding onto his faith on resurrection therefore this is a faithful cry instead of an angry complaint? 

Spurgeon commented on Psalm 88:1. Lord. My salvation explains well that psalmist feeble prayer is like a small flame of fire. This faithful fire is growing into the burning fire while he prays. This is a psalm especially for Christians from today's perspective. WHY? It is indeed especially when our situation is worse than unbelieving people. How should we pray when we do not have favor/ the blessing when God is showing common grace to the wicked? How shall I be content to praise that "Salvation belongs to God."? How can we suffer from the wicked and love them even when it means "he must increase, I must decrease"? 

It is so true suffering is not what distinguishes Christians and non-Christians. Sometimes, Christians suffer worse. The only distinction is whether the faith is rooted in the suffering savior Jesus Christ. Will I be pleased to suffer from the wicked, suffer with the wicked, even suffer for the wicked? Praise the Lord that Jesus is the only truth, way, and life. No one comes to the Father except through him. This is a special provision for believers. Praise the Lord for the provision of his comforting word. 

Music Credit to Badminton Road

~ You are the God who saves me~

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Season 1 Episode 50 

Psalm 89(1) 

Forever I will sing. 

God's divine government and his eternal fatherly love are invisible to all the earth. All we enjoy in life is from him and through him. Sometimes, biblical poetry is sandwiched with historical narratives, like stories from Genesis, Exodus, Chronicles, etc. In Psalm 89, this is the same case, from this part of the psalm, we do not really know who the story develops and ends. However, the psalmist began with the praises of God's steadfast love. 

How do you describe God? How do we praise God in his own names? It is not always easy especially when he is the sum total of all the good things to us, and especially in difficult situations perhaps. However, as his children, his eternal fatherly love is everlasting. It can not increase anymore because this is the greatest love shown in his son Jesus Christ. It can never reduce because God never changes. 

Everything about God is what we need for our salvation and everyone about him never changes. The psalmist praised God for his simplicity and uniqueness in his subduing power of creation, in his unfolding of the world, and in his keeping the covenant in his son Jesus Christ. 

God alone, in three persons, can create, sustain, keep the covenant, and call the nations to salvation, build his church, making miracles. He is the center of the universe, the eternal father, and the only true God. 

Spurgeon once commented on psalm 89:1, the cry of the saints is characteristic of Christian worship. Did you hear that? Singing, praying, crying out to the Lord is characteristic of Christian worship. 

We need all of God's characters and attributes to be saved. There is only one God in this world. None like him. 

Music credits to Rick Moldlin

Psalm 89: Forever I will sing. 

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Podcast: All rights reserved to Yaping Li.

Season 1 Episode 49 Psalm 86（2）

"Show me a sign of your favor."

What are you most afraid of? We often say that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." However, we often fear the wrong person, the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. We fear those people and things that do not give life. We also fear the disease that can only kill the body, not the soul. Do you know what I am most afraid of? I am afraid, sometimes, that God doesn't show his favor on me. When I was all alone and facing difficult situations, people, things, I was afraid that what if even God is not on my side. What if I suffer alone. I understand the heart of the prayer that may God show me a sign of favor that I may survive this suffering. I needed a sign. 

God is merciful and gracious. He is slow to anger and abundant in steadfast love and faithfulness. Yes. I, at the same time, will worry about the assurance of God's favor. David has a pure faith. He prayed that God will show him a sign. Will God show him? Does God have to? He did anyways by saving him through the malicious pursue of his only son. His prayer was urgent. Lord, please deliver me from the Sheol. This Psalm is inspired for all of God's people to pray when we face difficult situations, people, and things and we are afraid of tomorrow, we can pray just like this. Just like God wanted us. 

We know the assurance of God's favor for us. Don't we? Jesus was born and suffered unto death for us. The third day he resurrected from death. God loved us so and gave us his only son for us. Luke 11:29-30, Jesus himself said: “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation." 

The son of man is the greatest sign of God's favor on us. Jesus Christ is precisely our most extraordinary sign of favor. God has promised all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will be saved through judgment of eternal death. Will be saved from today's evil age. If ever, we do not have immediate favor shown to us, it is because God reserved the right to make a bigger plan without our consent. He has all the right to do so for our good, does he? 

Thank you for subscribing and listening. My friend. God is with us until the end of the earth. Rest assured of his favor upon us. 

Music credit Matt Redman

10,000 Reasons Bless the Lord O My Soul

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Season 1 Episode 48 Psalm 87

Children who are born in the city of God are children who born again through Jesus Christ. 

God's greatest love is his love for his church. The Reformers all agreed that the church is the chief work of God. The church is not found on sources, culture, power, abilities but on the forever-living Jesus Christ. Indeed. Jesus Christ is the only foundation of the church. The church is the very special object of God's tender love even for the nation who hated and persecuted Jesus Christ. Even the nations will be numbered by God and all nations will come to worship him. 

My friend YanYan asked me yesterday: There are many kinds of churches. Which one is the real church? The answer is in the Psalm. One way to tell is the church is solid is to listen to the preaching of God's word; whether it preaches Christ-centered gospel; whether it preaches Jesus Christ as the only foundation of the church. On the contrary, if it preaches the grandiose of the building, glory of the tradition, but doesn't preach Jesus Christ as one foundation of the church, you can decide that it is not a real church. 

Jesus loves his church and died for her. The Bible often compares the church as the bride of Jesus Christ. She has once betrayed him and abandoned the covenant but Jesus came down for her from heaven to seek her and died for her. She was died in sin but now purchased with the precious blood of her bridegroom. He died and resurrected for her. He decorated her with love so that she is now pure and blameless. God's greatest love is his love for his church. No love is greater than Jesus' love. Every born-again Christians are part of the church because Jesus died for every single member of the church out of love. 

This love is given to everyone who is in the city of God and everyone who is born-again through Jesus Christ. But those who are out of the church does not have a single share. Only the church found on the only foundation of Jesus Christ has the greatest share of God's love and forgiveness. 

Music credit to Journey songs by Samuel S. Wesley & Samuel J. Stone. 

The Church's One Foundation.

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All that is in God is everything we can not lose. 

Dear friends. The psalmist began with "you", "you", "you" when he praised God. This could be used as a perfect opening to cooperate prayer. God's favor is not only in history but also at present because of his love in Jesus Christ to us. God withdrew his anger so that we can live. His righteous anger is pure, eternal, characteristic, of him. His anger is simple and holy, but our anger is selfish and complicated. I know Jesus who is eternal righteousness took on flesh and absorbed all the wrath God should have shown to his mortal enemies, us. It still takes a good systematic theological reading to articulate this wonderful story well. We know it is true. It is true and wonderful. 

We have shared everything Jesus shared with us through his incarnation and resurrection except enduring the pain of having God being angry with us.  This is worthy of a good and continuous reflection.

Music credit to Selah Service

Psalm 85

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"Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy." 

We probably do not talk with people like this, like we talk to God. Why is it that we can talk with God in the most intimate way that surpasses all conversations we had with human beings. I am encouraged always by David's prayer because there is not a thin wall distance between him and God. 

He prayed because God is the only one who can deliver him. He prays with all his heart, his mind, his soul, and his strength to a God who knows him best. His boldness is based on how good God is. God knows me best. We all have problems that only God can help us with. Addition, depression, social injustice, or better yet, the source of all evil. We all have life problems that only God can solve, like a parent that is hard to communicate,  a boss that is difficult, a broken marriage, a suffering single life, a disobedient child, a harsh neighbor... life can only be solved by God alone. 

My problem only God can solve. Did you realize this today? My friends. I love you and pray for you. I am encouraged to trust God with my life because he alone can solve my problems. 

Music Credit to Senior Class of 2016 

Come Thou Foundation of Every Blessing.

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Dear friends. Have you been sick before? If you have, you will know if someone else had the same sickness at the same time, it is an understanding between you two beyond words. You feel like you need not speak no more. 

God doesn't need anything because he is God. We are created with needs. And God can satisfy all our needs. Our food, water, sleep, family can all from him and through him and in him. It could be hard to believe sometimes but it is true. Psalm 85 remembers God's turning away from wrath and impute Jesus' righteousness to us. We always needed his righteousness to live more than we need food and water. It is one thing that we can not live without. God's wrath is not like ours which is temporal, complicated, and selfish. His righteous wrath is eternal, characteristic, personal, internal, and simple. God's righteousness and his wrath are always positive. In other words, it is good for us. Everything that is in God, we are desperately in need of. 

However, when we feel pain, we needed more than righteousness and food and water, what do we need then? 

We need to know the purpose of it, when does it stop. And it matters to us that we have company. We are not alone.  In the beginning, we shared with you that when I have migraines for a while, I got to know more friends who also are suffering from it. We instantly understand each other. I wish no one will experience it. But it is so wonderful to know that I am not alone when I feel painful. But comfort from each other doesn't cure pain per se, only God does. The understanding exists between human beings, less profound between that between Jesus and us. Why? Let think that Jesus had experienced the pain and death on the cross which of course belonged to us. The pain that matters most to us and to the world. The pain we experience humbles us to think how hard it must have been for Christ to suffer and love. It is hard to love. It is hard to understand. However, his understanding of us is BEYOND words. More profound than the understanding we shared with someone who had similar pain with us. But he took OUR pain. It was OURS. When we feel lonely, and we want to seek someone's understanding. His answer is always, "I know exactly. I know. My beloved. You do not need to tell me."

Yes. God created us and through Jesus, he has shared everything with us, except his wrath, the part Jesus took all on himself. 

Music credit to Selah Service

Psalm 85

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Dear friends.

We love the dwelling place of God and we desire God's presence. His presence is forever accessible to us. Did you ask how could people unholy like us dwelling with God? I still remembered the first time I went to church, I was so shy because the church is such a holy place. Back to the question. We are not holy. It is 100% guaranteed. None of us is holy but Jesus Christ gave his holiness to us. His holiness became ours. His holiness not only cleaned our sin and guilt but also brought us before God by tearing down the wall between holy and unholy, God, and his enemy. Because Jesus was crucified on the cross, we can have the church as our home. He is the only reason. He purchased the church for himself. The church is not a building but a home for people who Jesus loved too dearly to die for. Christ is the only foundation for this home. Christ alone gives life to the church so that she can shine the truth to the world. Martin Luther once said that church is lovely not by our passion but because of truth founded in Jesus Christ alone. 

Jesus has purchased real peace to his people at his home.

Dear friends.

Imagine we were on a long journey, we needed water, sunshine, food, and company. We had what we need and we finally climbed to the mountaintop. Now what? We are always on the way. Where do you stay? 

The church is the closest place to heaven. After almost three months, we finally came back to church, our home, to worship together. God is faithful, and the word of God transcends past, present, and future, staying faithful. We have never been understood as God has understood us. Now listening to this Psalm 84, we feel the peace and loveliness of God's dwelling place. The psalmist sang the joy of a sparrow who lays her young in the court of God because it is the most secure place for her. Our church is found in the solid rock of Jesus Christ. We probably will remember that Jesus himself doesn't have a place to lay his head. He was always on the move. He came and sojourned in the land with us and even died for us, so that we may have a place in heaven. 

Our place on earth and everywhere we live is a shadow of Jesus' room prepared for us in heaven. 

Church especially. 

In Remembrance of reopening church service at my church.

Music credit to Henry Haffner

Psalm 84. 

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Psalm 83 (2)  Season 1 Episode 45

We can not play the role of Judge. Instead, we need God to play our roles for us. The world needs Jesus to play its role for it. 

Dear friends. Have you been mistreated? I am sorry for you. I remembered one time or two I wanted to share with another person, a friend, what happened to me. I would like someone else to know. Maybe simply knowing it will make it better for me. What I have said to my friend, I was actually saying: "Listen. Listen." I needed someone to know. 

The Psalmist laments and calls God to listen. His great comfort is that God is never silent. There is only one ruler in this world and one justifier from eternity to eternity. We all desire he will listen to us. I can not play his role for him by acting out like riots. We can not play his rule as the judge because even we are not capable of making things right. Instead, what we really need is him, God, Jesus, justifier, ruler, to play our role. 

The world needs his righteousness to play its role. The world needs his righteous wrath, not ourselves. His righteous wrath leads to a heavenly kingdom and a new order while ours lead to destruction. We need a new world order. Only through Jesus, there can be a new world. Not a new law, or new war. 

It is the person, Jesus, and what he brings with him, a new kingdom through him and in him.

Background Music Copyright by the Senior class of 2016

Show us Christ

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