Psalm 119 - "Save Me, I'm Your's"

Your word, oh Lord
     Brings life to my heart
And Your faithfulness
    It sets You apart
And I would have died
    Had I forgotten You

The world is Yours
     And by You it stands
But perfection is lost
    Outside of Your commands
And how could I
    Ever forget You

Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours
    Help me want(love was a mistake) no other
Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours

(Repeated chorus for your listening pleasure)

Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours
    Help me want (corrected :)  ) no other
Save me, I'm Yours
    Oh God my Father
Save me, I'm Yours

Psalm 24 - The Earth is the Lord's

Psalm 24 is all about the sovereignty of God. As we read through Genesis this week, the theme of God’s sovereignty has definitely been prevalent in all my thoughts. Psalm 24 is a wonderful condensing of what I've learned over the past week.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

-            The LORD created everything, therefore, everything is His.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

-          Those who seek God are saved by His righteousness… His righteousness. He is the measure of righteousness. People read the Bible and see the way the LORD has judged the world for His sin; they've read about the war and the carnage against the unrighteous, while He blesses the nation He chose. They say He’s unjust, unrighteous, unworthy of worship. The problem? They’re not the judge of righteousness, He is. I’m not the judge of righteousness, He is.

-          When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became “like God”. They set themselves as judges over their own actions. In so doing, they created the need to justify themselves before their Creator. In His righteousness and love, He sacrificed His Son so that those who believe in Him would be judged righteous.

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

-     Who is this God? He is the King of glory. Lift up your heads, Israel! Open up your heart! Let the King of glory come in! Let the One who is mighty in battle, the One who is strong and mighty, the One who has a great army; let Him come in!

This week has been full the gut wrenching realization that I fail to see Him for who He really is. I fail to see Him in the fullness of His glory. And yet, I’m loved by Him. In the words of A.W. Towzer in ‘The Pursuit of God’, “All the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand.”

What a wonderful relief it is to know that, while I’m on this quest (this battle against my own flesh and the powers of darkness) to see who He really is, He already knows who I am, is holding me in His hand and it is HE that is doing this work in me. PRAISE GOD!

Psalm 73 - "The Sanctuary of the Lord"

As I was reading through Psalm 73 today, there were two sections that caught my eye. There's 16-17 and 23-26. The first speaks about how the author couldn't understand why the wicked were allowed to prosper, while those who are righteous seemed to suffer. The author then describes how he was confused about this until he entered into the Sanctuary of the Lord and there he found the answer. 

In the second section the author repeats this theme by speaking of God's guidance and counsel. 

The reason I was so struck by this was remembering all of the times I've been confused and thinking about something for a long period of time, allowing it to consume my thoughts. I then realized that every time I've been in that situation, God always finds a way to remind me to return to Him. As soon as I come to Him, He speaks truth to my heart. Usually it's frustrating because it seems to have nothing to do with my problem. But through this truth, God reveals the bigger problem -- my inner problem. 

I think think this says a lot about God's character. For me personally, God corrects me internally which then allows me to look at things from His perspective. His desire is that I'm bettered. His desire is for me to know Him more intimately and, because of that, see the world from His eyes. 

So in the end: God desires true relationship. Out of this relationship, we can learn how to properly relate to the world. Out of our proper relation to the world, we point others back to God. He's just cool like that. 

Psalm 146-150 "Praise the Lord"

This weeks Psalm project is a culminative work of the last 5 Psalms, 146-150. These Psalms are very themed and centered around praising God. Knowing that, my project will make sense to you...

It's been almost 4 months I've been here in Taiwan. I've studied all but one book of the New Testament (Matthew). Until now, I can honestly say that I'd never read a book of the Bible all the way through before, at least I don't remember it. God, in all His goodness has given me so much during this time. He's shown that He is provider in so many different ways than financially. Through this time, I'm learning to lean on Him for everything. When I don't feel like I have any strength left, He's showing me an area I'm not relying on Him. I've learned that in order to keep moving forward, I must keep moving deeper. God has shown over and over again that He loves me too much to let my heart stay in the state it's in. I used to think that as I got closer and closer to Him, I'd feel higher and higher, more on top of the world, happy all of the time and never having any problems. I realize, now, how wrong that is. Of course, with a deeper relationship with Him comes so much security, joy and peace. But getting closer to God is becoming more like Christ. Christ suffered for the sake of the world's salvation. We can expect that as we grow closer to God, and become more like Christ, we'll suffer like He did. History is filled with those who have had such relationships with God. They're the ones we talk about, the ones we want to be like. As I push forward in this life, I'm resigned and joyful to suffer for the cause of Christ.

This is how I will praise Him. I will praise Him with my life.