Psalm 26 – Bribe

Some of you more observant one would notice that I’ve taken a retrospect step back, breaking the sequential counting order that is to be writing on Psalm 40 now because it follows Psalm 39. However, I was reading through what I wrote for each psalm a couple nights ago and realised that I didn’t touch on this psalm. So thus I would like to fill that gap at this juncture.

One particular word struck me in this Psalm, and if you have not guessed it from my title, this word is ‘bribe’.

⁹ Do not gather my soul with sinners,
         Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
¹⁰ In whose hands is a sinister scheme,
         And whose right hand is full of bribes. (NKJV)

Take note that it says a sinister scheme, that is singular and not plural. And to fulfil their sinister scheme, they would buy their way through, using whatever they have to achieve it, thus the bribe which is incidentally placed in their right hand.

Now you may think that I’m just nitpicking on a word. However, if you think about it, the right hand is often associated cross-culturally as the hand of power, the hand that does everything, the hand that gives, and the hand that receives. And to me, in this case a man who is in sin, attempts to buy his way through the world, to fulfil whatever scheme he has.

This scheme can be anything, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. Yes it does say sinister, and you may wonder what’s so sinister about giving millions and millions of dollars to charity for good. Well, because we cannot purchase our way into heaven. So unless you have God’s lovingkindess before your eyes, and walking in His truth, the sad truth is that you are a sinister and in your hands you possess your own scheme that you yourself are trying to achieve.

For me, it’s much easier. I’ve already been bought and purchased by Jesus Christ when He died on the cross. I don’t have to worry about accomplishing my own desires by my own strength. All that I have in my hand is the purpose that which God has given me, and in my right hand are the gifts and talents that I’ve been blessed with to accomplish what the sinner has to bribe for.

Filed under: Cogitations, God, Life, Psalm

Psalm 39 – Vanity

This Psalm has been a tough nut to crack, trying to find something to write about. I spent a good few hours racking my brain yesterday before I needed to get on with my day hence why I decided to delay it till today. Heck I even wrote two drafts on slightly different things, but I didn’t like what I wrote.

But something struck my fancy this morning, that is the word vanity. The psalmist sings that:

⁵Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. (KJV)

Vanity can pretty much be found in the King James Version only, it was translated as vapour and breath in the NKJV and NIV respectively, and it was leading me down the wrong track. I was thinking of the vapour as something good. But instead understanding the word as vanity, allows me to recognise that David is driving the point home at how transient our lives on earth is.

The Chinese bible goes one step further and uses the word 虚 幻 and is translated as unreal (according to babelfish). Our very image, our beauty is just a facade that is consumed away like a moth (v11). So really there isn’t any point in busying ourselves with the world.

⁶ Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
         Surely they busy themselves in vain;
         He heaps up riches,
         And does not know who will gather them. (NKJV)

No one cares who you are, as you are but a shadow. If you go about trying to get rich, even if you think it’s for yourself, you can’t even be secure about it, because ultimately our life is still hollow, mere vanity.

⁷ “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
         My hope is in You.

Filed under: Cogitations, God, Life, Psalm

Psalm 38 – Forsaken Not

I don’t like punishment, and I don’t think any normal person does too.

When I was young, when I did wrong,I would usually eat a few strokes of the cane across the hand. I remember once my mother used the hanger because she couldn’t find the cane (quite likely that it was because I hid the cane).

But man the cane is nothing like that which David received from God.

¹ O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
         Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
² For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
         And Your hand presses me down.
³ There is no soundness in my flesh
         Because of Your anger,
         Nor any health in my bones
         Because of my sin. (NKJV)

I googled this and apparently Psalm 38 was written after David murdered Uriah, and he was experiencing God’s punishment. And quite simply, David was trying to petition with God to take him out of it, because it was getting too much for David to bear.

However one thing about David is that, despite the heavy punishment dealt to him, he doesn’t run away. Rather he wants to get closer to God. I remember some of my punishments when I was a young child, I would plan of ways to run away from home. David doesn’t.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O LORD;
         O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me,
         O Lord, my salvation!

David pleads with God to not forsake him, but David himself did not forsake God despite the extenuating circumstances. When we fall into sin, how often do we try and runaway from God, spiraling into a vicious cycle? The fastest way out is not to forsake God and admit that you need His help.

I rather have God’s hand punish me than Him forsaking me.

Filed under: Cogitations, God, Life, Psalm

Psalm 37 – Eternal Riches

I was out with my friend Billy late last night, and we were musing about Christians being discouraged and losing faith because they look around and see God-less people doing much better off than them. I admit that I myself also get distracted by that, wondering where my material riches are, heck I don’t just compare myself with non-Christians, I even compare myself to those in the church!

I speculated last night with Billy that it could be because we lose the fear of God, hence we let such issues creep into our thinking because our focus is not on Him anymore. But this Psalm goes one steps further in suggesting that the best way to overcome our insecurities about this is to take on an eternal perspective.

⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
         Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
         Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
         Do not fret—it only causes harm. (NKJV)

This eternal perspective is to recognise that what we have here is merely temporal. It definitely is hard, especially when you see others that are significantly better off than you. But we got to maintain our focus on Him, ask yourself what do you place value in, for

¹⁶ A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
         But the LORD upholds the righteous. (NKJV)

I really would much prefer having my arms and enjoying my little, then to have all the riches but not any means to use it!

I am greatly encouraged by the fact that as long as I can wait patiently for God’s timing, He will give unto me what he deems fit for my inheritance, and I truly recognise that it quite possibly will not be money, gold, silver etc. but instead the ‘abundance of peace’ (v11). And that is the currency of our eternal riches.

Filed under: Cogitations, God, Life, Psalm

Psalm 36 – Ceased Wisdom

Wisdom is something I cherish a lot. The thing is, only God can grant you wisdom, but it is freely available to all who fear God.

¹ An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
² For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
         When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
³ The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
         He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
⁴ He devises wickedness on his bed;
         He sets himself in a way that is not good;
         He does not abhor evil. (NKJV, emphasis mine)

It seems to me from that line, that being wise is associated with doing good. They operate hand in hand. It also implies to me that wisdom is innate in all of us, and choosing to flatter ourselves before our own eyes (i.e. putting ourselves first instead of God) is not exercising wisdom. Not just being unwise, rather completely stop being wise.

And so for me the wise thing to do is really to fear God. Even if you want to cheapen God but comparing His rewards for those who fear him, it makes wise business sense to choose God. Look at this:

⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
         Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
⁸ They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
         And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
⁹ For with You is the fountain of life;
         In Your light we see light. (NKJV)

I’ll definitely cease to be wise if I choose to put myself first, especially with promises like that!

Filed under: Cogitations, God, Life, Psalm