Psalms & Me

Psalms & Me

By Yaping LiArtsBooks
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Psalms & Me episodes

  • Ps. 78 (1)

    Friends.

    Psalm 78 is filled with gentle but patient wisdom.
    I said so because it began with a prayer to encourage the reader/singer to tell God's wonderous deeds to their little children and their chlidren to their children. God's steadfast love is from generation to generation. It never ceases.
    Whats more interesting here is that the psamist said the purpose of doing so is that they will not be like their fathers. The word of God divides generations. It is never age, or technologies or whatever it is changing, but the WORD itself divide generations, sheep and goats, good soil and bad soil, faithful servants or rebellious teenagers.
    WOW! This is true a gentle and patient wisdom to learn for today. Be blessed my friends.

    13 min
  • Ps. 77

    Dear friends.

    If you have a rough day that you couldn't sleep, and what you will do?

    That's the same problem we are all facing. The psalmist was too exhausted and too weak to pray at night. It is as if shame overwhelmed him as well because as a Christian prayer is essential to his life, as it is to ours. Do you listen to a song to soothe your soul?  For the psalmist, he chose to sing. However, the melody doesn't always seem right to him. He is trying hard to recall. The psalmist asked questions like will God forget his steadfastness? Then he turned from self-pity and start a "diligent research" on God's attributes and wondrous deeds. God's steadfastness is his comfort. God is Almighty as to change the world with his speech. He can certainly change our hearts. Do you still expect him to change your heart, and hearts of others? God will and his word is changing the world.

    8 min
  • Ps.76

    Friends.

    Is God for you or against you? We know from the scripture that there are wars. Wars are never neutral. We need to choose sides, and our God has forgiven us because we have chosen the wrong side. What about our enemies now?
    Remember God has created the world out of nothing by his speech. Everything is subject to his commands, even the armies of his enemies. Image we were all his enemies and his election and love has determinedly won us over.

    Who can stand before you?

    "There he broke the flashing arrows,
    the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. "
    As for those who he saves and humbles, his love is never separate from them. Romans. 8:34 "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? "

    Praise the Lord! He is to be feared, loved and obeyed. 

    9 min
  • Ps.75

    Dear friends.

    Today we read Psalm 75 to praise a righteous God who judges with equity and who loves with his broken body.

    Have you ever had to use Drano, a type of heavy corrodent, in order to clean the dregs in your drain? I have tried it earlier this year. I had to be very careful not to drain to little or too much. Or to have any skin contact with it. Because It know it is impossible to not get hurt from the liquid corrodent.

    I was amazed again at the word of God! How it is transcultural and how it has an everlasting impact to our mind and heart. God reveals and his revelation precedes and transcends historical experience. He knows us very well. Doesn't he?

    Psalm 75:8 shows us God God will likewise drain the dregs of the earth according to their wicked deed with the cup of foaming wine. Does this strike you that Jesus has drank the cup for us, for all the dregs in the world?

    He is pure, but treated like dregs. He is righteous but destroyed in our place. How could we not tremble at the thought of judgment we were supposed to endure? How could we not likewise tell his wondrous deeds?
    I understand the psalmist's heart better now only in the person and works of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    It has been great to read psalm with you! Be blessed. God' beloved.

    11 min
  • Ps. 74（2）
    Dear friends. Jumping into my car to record our daily devotional is a sweet thing to do even after a three hours handwriting Old Testament final exam at night in the pandemic. I love our communication and I love reading regularly for you and together with you!!!
    The first half of this psalm is the darkest of all, even darker than real life. We already established how extremely honest, faithful, and compassionate God is with revealing to us the situation churches might face. He put words into our mouth knowing we will probably too stunned to pray in face of extreme trial as such. The second half of the psalm from 12-23, same length, 11 verses in total is a true worshipper's song sang from the heart. The psalmist is think after his heart and mind: How Great a God he knew! How powerful a king he is! How faithful he is always! He remembers his covenant! The temple is the shadow of Jesus Christ's resurrection and his spirit indwelling in us. Church is where the centre of the worship lies. It is heart-piercing to have temple destroyed. How closely Jesus is with us. He lives in us. He is the king who has claim a reigning place in our whole body and heart.  When it is dark outside, our God is even more faithful than our shadows. Sing to the King.
     "Yours is the day, yours also the night!!"
    14 min
  • Psalm 74(1)

    Psalm 74(1)

    Friends. We read Ps. 74:1-11 today. The darkest lament I have ever read and the first part of this Psalm is purely lamentation. It just reminded me of a recent incident happened in XiaMen, China, and a friend translated a song based on that incident. Surprisingly, the canonical psalm itself is darker. What will happen that God does not foresee. I am deeply deeply encouraged by simply reading the first half of Psalm 74. Therefore, I name this episode: the darkness at the dawn.

    In the end of this episode, I asked this friend if I can share their song. They have kindly gave me the right of using it for Psalm 74. Thank to Boaz Yang. In remembrance of the role of her bride in the kingdom of the light.

    Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near

    Word: J. Fawcett, 1782, Public Domain
    Chorus and Music: Connie Dever, 2017, Trans. Boaz Yang, 2018
    Copyright © 2018 Praise Factory Music / Sovereign Grace Music
    Vocal: Boaz Yang, Dorcas Wang; Piano: Boaz Yang
    Produced by Praise as One（声合为一）

    12 min
  • Ps. 73(2)

    Psalm 73(2)

    Dear friends. Have you thought of something incomprehensible until it became wearisome? The psalmist was thinking about the reason why God didnt punish the wicked right away. But he found no answer UNTIL he went to the sanctuary of God.

    I also thought of so many loss already happened in our life. Losing your daughter, getting cancer, chronic pain, pandemic, earthquake, calamities, murder, betrayal of friends, heart-broken by the loved one, hated by sinners, failure in ministry, slow conversion of a family member...

    We lament because we do not know the immediate answer to them.

    However, what is even more NO answer is that why a wretched like me not being punished. The more I meditate on the mystery, the deeper I realised, the answer is a person, the same God.

    There are mystery. Our salvation is one of them. NO greater mystery is greater than it. As we lament forward, we will probably never find answers to some mysteries of this life. But the answer to the eternal mystery comforts us as we lament forward in this life.

    Be blessed my friends. Love you and pray for you.

    *Music thanks to Sovereign Grace Music~

    *How Long Oh Lord. 

    11 min
  • Ps. 73(1)

    Ps. 73.

    This Psalm is full of confessional truth. If you look at the back of the Westminster Confession of Faith scripture index. We find confessions on Decalogue, assurance of faith and on the Lord's supper.
    It is confessional also because the psalmist confess what he see first and then profess his faith in the second part.
    Do you have a necklace? necklace is an accessory for women mostly. A decoration.
    But we all have decoration. Do we? Psalmist saw the wicked has PRIDE as his decoration. The Lord also promised us that our salvation and humility is our decoration in Ps. 149.
    What decorated you? You knowledge, beauty and your popularity?
    The Psalmist is grieving over the fact that the wicked is still out there not being punished. However, when I was mediated on this, I thought of me decorated the same as the wicked. My decoration is evident to God. But how can I escape my final judgment? I thought of our lord who was clothed with purple robe, and thorny throne for mockery. And then I understood which decoration is should wish people to see in me. It is decoration of Jesus Christ our Lord and his humility, love, and salvation for me. He is surely my escape, my refuge, my help and my portion forever.

    8 min
  • Ps. 72:15-20

    Ps. 72:15-20

    If you are at my age, you probably have experienced loss of a loved one in your family. Or maybe you are younger.
    When the psalmist sings: May you live forever. When we wish someone in our life to live forever, we also wish they will be respected and cherished forever.
    We live in a age we are not in charge of uncertainties. The King of the Great Britain may say" Long live the King" or "Long live the Queen" when their monarch shifts power. The United States is trying to find her next president. People quit voting because they do not have a satisfactory leaders available.

    However. When the psalmist say I wish you live forever, he was singing to the eternal king, the unique king, the living king who has the past, present, and future in his hands. Who is never lacking true worshippers. Let's enjoy this psalm.

    Ps.72 concludes the book two of the book of the Psalms. Thank you friends.

    6 min
  • Ps. 72:1-15

    Friends. May 12th is a day to remember the Sichuan Earthquake that has killed thousands in Sichuan and grieved many families across China, my own family included. The earthquake has taken away so many lives so we wanted to make this day a day of remembrance of their lives which is precious to us. Do you also know that their blood is precious to God? 

    Ps. 72 shows us a righteous king who defends the poor and helps the oppressed. As long as the sun rise, and moon shines, the Lord king reigns forever for his people. How did he become our king? Unless any tyrant who oppresses and threatens, he shed his own blood for his people so that they will never need to. Our king gave us righteousness and protection through his blood. I enjoy reading this Psalm. I invite you to read it with me. Be blessed. 

    8 min

About Psalms & Me

From the publisher's feed

This is a podcast for reading Psalms in light of the rich doctrinal truth in the person of Jesus Christ and to enable all people to come to the feet of the Lord during this season that God has made.…