Collected or prepared by Pastor Wilfred Chung

October 19 - October 25, 2008

OCTOBER 19, 2008 - Godly Contentment

Meditation on Psalm 131

God used King David's experience to teach all of us a lesson of contentment. All worshipers should learn to sing songs of contentment like those in ancient Israel. Is there any hymn or chorus or spiritual song today that teaches us contentment during worship?

David described his attitude and desire to be like a weaned child with his mother. He was therefore serene, calm and comforted within his soul. (v. 2) He was not looking for thing greater than himself nor getting himself into things he did not understand. He was not proud nor giving others a proud look. He was happy where he was and trusting in God at all times. He encouraged other believers to do so.

The apostle Paul said "...I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content" (Philippians 4:11 NKJV)

In contentment, "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) In contentment we can also reduce stress, rush and worry in our modern day life.

OCTOBER 20, 2008 - King Jesus, The Son Of David

Meditation on Psalm 132

Matthew 1:1 points out a tremendously important link of Jesus to the Old Testament; it says, "The book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." (NKJV) Jesus is in the line of King David to be the King in Zion one day thus fulfilling God's promise in His covenant with David portrayed in Psalm 132 and other passages in the Old Testament.

This is a psalm that recalls King David's passion to build the house of God and God has chosen Zion to be His dwelling place. As a result of David's longing to worship God in the house he wanted to build for God, God had promised him that his descendant will sit upon David's throne forever. Indeed this is a Messianic psalm prophesying the rule of Jesus in the future Jerusalem that will come from heaven. (Revelation 21:2-3)

Jesus Christ has already conquered death. God has highly exalted Him and has given Him the name that is above every name and that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. (Philippians 2:9-11) He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has already been ruling in the hearts of those who genuinely trusted in Him. He has granted us the authority to overcome demonic enemies also. (v. 18)

OCTOBER 21, 2008 - The Blessings Of Unity

Meditation on Psalm 133

By composing this psalm, King David was teaching his people the importance of unity. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (v. 1 NKJV) It will bring great delight and pleasure.

First of all, it is like the precious oil running down from the head of the high priest when he was anointed. This is a symbol of the Holy Spirit coming down upon God's people. (1 John 2:20, 27) The unity of God's people will facilitate the filling of the Spirit to do His Work with joy.

Secondly, it is like the dew of Mt. Hermon from the North descending upon the mountains of Zion. That will cause growth for the flowers, vegetables and crops. Unity of the church brings fruits and spiritual progress.

And from the growth of the church, eternal life will be given to many to enter God's kingdom. (v. 3b)

Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. (Ephesians 4:1-2)

OCTOBER 22, 2008 - Bless The Lord At Night

Meditation on Psalm 134

This is the last song of ascents in a group of 15 psalms from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. Traditionally, it is considered as the last psalm the people of Israel sang before they left the sanctuary as the sun went down. The congregation sang verse one and two and the conducting priest sang verse three.

The priests in the night shift were exhorted to praise the LORD and pray to the LORD at night. And the worshipers will be blessed by the creator from Zion.

Today, all Christians belong to the priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9) All of us are servants of God who indwells among His people. We have the obligation to pray and praise the LORD even at night. Also we need to lift our hands for one another before we go to bed remembering others' need and safety in the night.

OCTOBER 23, 2008 - How To Praise The Lord

Meditation on Psalm 135

In answer to the request from the previous psalm, Psalm 135 showed us how the priest praised the LORD. Since all Christians are priests and servants of God in the New Testaments, we can all learn from this psalm the way of praising God. Let us follow the progression of this psalm to highlight the content as follows:

At the beginning, one should praise the name of the LORD. And we should stand in the court of the Lord when we praise Him.

We praise the goodness of the LORD and sing to Him because He has chosen us to belong to Him.

We praise Him because He is great and we know Him. He is above all and is absolutely sovereign.

He controls the weather. He has destroyed and defeated His enemies. He gave inheritance to His people.

He is eternal and will be glorified by His people continuously.

Men's idols are but made by men to be like men.

Yet our LORD is to be praised in succession by those who have been chosen by Him to revere Him in His church.

OCTOBER 24, 2008 - God's Lovingkindness Continues Forever

Meditation on Psalm 136

This psalm is similar to the previous one in content except that there is an antiphonal refrain for every verse, "For His mercy endures forever." The Living Bible translates that as "For His lovingkindness continues forever." Both meanings of God's mercy and lovingkindness combined would convey the ideas of this psalm.

This psalm calls for all of us to give thanks to God because of His wise creation, His powerful deliverance, His wonderful care, His mighty protection, His endowment of land and compassion.

Thank God that He continues to watch over all, especially His servants!

OCTOBER 25, 2008 - When Not To Sing

Meditation on Psalm 137

We can detect intense emotion in this psalm. The writer was in exiled by the river of Euphrates. He longed for his home land, Zion so much that he wept. He and his fellow prisoners were asked by the captors to sing a country song of their own. They refused to oblige. Instead they prayed for God's vengeance upon those who showed nothing but hatred toward them. And God touched the psalmist to prophesy the total destruction of Babylon.

As believers, we love to sing and praise God for our church. But we cannot sing when our song are used as a tool for mocking our faith. Songs of worship should be presented to our living God and not to other objects, persons, or false deity. Therefore we should be careful in the occasion and implication of our Christian singing.

Verse nine of this psalm presents difficulty for our application. It says, "Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!" (NKJV) Even though it was a prophecy for the destruction of Babylon, does that imply that Christians should pray like that? I believe the answer is no. We are in the New Testament era now. Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified and ridiculed Him on the cross. Stephen also prayed for those who stoned him. We should today follow the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48.

But do we sing for our mocking enemy? I think not!