Through the injustices and anger attack (Psalm 73 and 37)

In Psalm 73, we can read that Asaph was struggling with the feeling of being treated injustice. In Psalm 73:1, He stated his knowledge that God is good to those who are pure in heart. However, the injustice that he felt made him question many things, that in Psalm 73:13, he felt in vain in keeping his heart pure. In Psalm 73:16, he stated how difficult is for him to comprehend and understand the situation. Maybe, at this stage, he is thinking about how can this happen? Who's in charge? Is there anything that can change this? In Psalm 73:21-22, he stated how bitter he was and how his heart felt pierced within, which makes him like a brute beast. I can assume that he might have had an anger attack, in which his feeling was overwhelmed, his heart rate increased, his body was tense, and it was very difficult to control his emotion.

Anger is a natural reaction to feeling injustice, not only in humans [1, 2]. While our feeling might not be according to reality, if this feeling comes, we need to address it. We learned from Asaph that he found his peace not by trying to understand, but by entering the sanctuary of God (Psalm 73:17). In Psalm 73, God is not angry or disappointed with his angry reaction to injustice. God's response toward Asaph is assuring him that:

• God is always with him
• God holds his hand
• God guides him with His counsel
• God will take him into glory
• God is his strength
• God is his portion
• God is his refuge

This makes Asaph depends on God, desires God, wants to be near God, and tell His deeds.

From Psalm 37, we can learn how David face injustice:

• He trusts God
• He does good things
• Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture
• Take delight in the Lord
• Trust and hope that God will give the desires of your heart, will make us shine, will inherit the land
• Commit our way to the Lord
• Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him
• Refrain from anger

Jesus has died for our sin. That is unjust for Him, but He did it because He truly loves us.

1. https://youtu.be/meiU6TxysCg

2. https://youtu.be/6qTiGlCxrIA

Fear of the Lord

God Teaches Our Ways

Following my previous writing [1], I learned that God does things to make us acknowledge Him and humble. 

I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear Him. - Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NIV)

Then, this thought come to my mind: What can I do anyway if God decides anyway on what will happen. I can only trust Him. How do I know His plan and what to do? Then, God directs me to some bible verses:

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. - Psalm 25:9 (NIV)

Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. - Psalm 25:12 (NIV)

The LORD is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. - Psalm 25:14 (NLT)

God is not a mute God. He wants us to be humble and to fear Him. But, at the same time, He is ready to make us understand what we should understand to reach His vision in us.

In addition, God is Love (1 John 4:16), and there is no fear (of punishment or condemnation) in love (1 John 4:18). I believe, when God directs you to the ways that we should choose, He will do it in love.

1. http://ivannatimotius.blogspot.com/2021/12/fear-of-god.html

Is God Happy?

How do you imagine God’s personality is? Every person has his/her imagination, which is possibly different from each other. In many paintings of Jesus, Jesus is drawn with a peaceful and wise look. Some artworks about Jesus emphasize His suffering, His love, or His caring nature. Additionally, in the Bible, we can feel that He has bold character. Depend on where and when, he is sometimes angry, loving, patient, etc.

Lately, there is one personality that I forgot about Him, i.e. He is in some situations happy. Several Bible verses indicate this.

At that same time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit - Luke 10:21 (NLT)

For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. - Zep 3:17 (NLT)

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. - Luke 15:24 (NIV) 

God can give His genuine happiness to us, eg. as described in Psalm 126.

Dealing with Rejection

These days I am reading about social rejection. The more I read, the more I realize broad the theme is. Dealing with rejection is a huge topic to discuss. However, I think learning this is important as everybody had (on some level) experiences of being rejected as well as rejecting others. 

Rejection can take form as a dislike from a social media post, a negative answer from an idea/an application/a proposal, being bullied, being ignored, up to a relation rejection from the close social circle (such as family and friends), and physical persecutions.

The effect of rejection can be physical, financial, or psychological (such as the feeling of unbelonging, the feeling of unwanted, loneliness, low self-esteem, depression, aggression, emotional pain, social anxiety, antisocial behavior). Parenthetically, social rejection increases the ability to discriminate between genuine and fake smiles [1].

Being perfect does not free someone from being rejected. Neither doing God's exact calling does not free someone from being socially rejected. Jesus himself has been rejected by many people during his journey on earth [2] until now. Not all hate feelings have a clear reason (Psalm 38:19, John 15:25).

The reason of God to allow rejection in someone's life might vary from person to person. He might want to teach something. He might be preparing a different way/solution. In some cases, it is difficult to understand the reason behind it.

How to deal with rejection depend on how the rejection affects someone. Sometimes rejection affects the trust given and the only solution is to prove otherwise (if possible). Sometimes the key to deal with rejection is forgiveness. Occasionally, remembering our reward in heaven and try to rejoice is the solution (Matthew 5:12). In some cases, the best is to pray for those persecuting us (Matthew 5:44). Sometimes we just need to remember that God loves us and has paid a great price for our salvation. Sometimes we need to come to God's presence when we feel emotional pain/tiredness. Sometimes the best way to deal with rejection is just to remember that the world hates Jesus first (John 15:18). Professional help might be needed for handling traumatic rejection or rejection oversensitivity. 

Do not give up. Depend on God. Let the Holy Spirit teach you how to deal with your situation. I pray that God will work mightily in your difficult and (maybe unspoken) painful situation.

[1] Bernstein, M.J., "Adaptive responses to social exclusion: Social rejection improves detection of real and fake smiles," Psychological Science, 2008.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejection_of_Jesus

'Trust' in the book of Psalm

While reading the book of Psalm, I realize how often the word 'trust' appeared in this book. There are several Hebrew words translated to trust in English. One of that words is batach (בָּטח) appeared around 45 times in the book of Psalm.

The book of Psalm is filled with praises, worships, songs, and poems. Many of them sound as they are written in difficult times. Still, the word 'trust' is mentioned during that difficult times and many of them are sung.

It is not always easy to maintain our trust in God. Life difficulty, intimidation, own ability, wealth, or other things can easily low down our trust level in God. One thing that can help us to remind ourselves about it is by singing it. 

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalm 13:5 (For the director of music. A Psalm of David)

Meditation

The word meditation has recently been extensively associated with one specific meaning (related to awareness, mindfulness, attention). Some people even associate this word with a specific meditation technique. However, in general, the word 'meditate' has a broader meaning. It means 'to engage in contemplation or reflection' [1]. Depend on the philosophies and aims of meditation, teachers or leaders might teach different ways of meditation. 

In the bible, we can also find the word meditation. The meaning there is close to contemplation, deliberation, or reflection. For example:

But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night - Psalm 1:2 (NLT)

O God, we meditate on Your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple. - Psalm 48:9 (NLT)

The practice of meditation can be in many forms, for example, during praying, worshiping, sermon-listening, or bible-reading. Do not forget to take time to meditate upon God.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meditate

Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments

The Holy Spirit is mentioned in both old and new testaments. It starts with

... and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters - Gen 1:2 (NIV)

He appeared in many other stories in the bible. Such as in David:

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. - Psalm 51:11 (NIV)

Then, why did Jesus said:

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate [Helper (NKJV), Comforter (KJV), Counselor (CSB)] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you - John 16:7 (NIV)

I think this bible verse in John is strongly connected to the one in Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:17-21:

... I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days. ...

The main difference before and after Jesus' time might connect to the term 'pouring out the Spirit on all people'. This must be something special. Therefore, I would like to suggest to pray that The Spirit is poured out to us.

Sacrifices in New Testament

For me, it seems that some people believe that after Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, no other sacrifice needs to be made at all and in any condition. Yes, Jesus's sacrifice renews our relationship with God. However, it does NOT mean that sacrifice [θυσίαν = thysian] is NOT mentioned in the new testament.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1, NIV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [λογικὴν = logikēn] service. (Romans 12:1, KJV)

Living sacrifice. This verse makes me remember a statement: Worship is an act of sacrifice on the altar, not a performance on stage [1].

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. (Hebrew 13:15, NIV)

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Hebrew 13:15, KJV)

Sacrifice of Praise. Giving praise/thanks becomes a sacrifice when we give praise/thanks to God in a difficult time. An example of this is given by sons of Korah: "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:11)"

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrew 13:16, NIV)

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrew 13:16, KJV)

Sacrifice in doing good and sharing/communicate. This verse reminds me that sometimes to do good or to communicate with others needs some sacrifices. 

For me, sacrifice is something difficult to be practiced by my strength. It does cost something. However, I believe that Jesus can enable our hearts to do sacrifices that are according to His will. He will not force us. He can teach us and change our hearts.

Note that "to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22)". In my opinion, obeying God has its own cost, which is often also a sacrifice of our own will.

[1] https://youtu.be/5-_fczbSeDQ

Worshiping by Anointing Jesus

The act of worshiping by anointing Jesus appears in every gospel in the bible. The stories come with some differences in details, which make the discussion if it is the same occasion or some separate occasions.

	Matthew  26:6-13 Mark 14:3-9	Luke 7:36-50	John 12:1-8
Where?	Bethany, home of Simon the Leper	Pharisee’s house	Bethany
By whom?	a woman	a sinful woman	Mary
How?	using very expensive perfume, pure nard	wet with tears, wiped with hair, kissed, and poured perfume.	using a pint (0.5 l) of pure nard, poured on feet, and wiped with her hair.
On what?	head	feet	feet
Criticized by	disciples	The Pharisee: Simon	disciples

If these are separate occasions, I am impressed by the number of intimate worship acts that take place in public. If this is just a one time action, I am impressed by how deeply this act touched people, that every storyteller remembered different details.

Isn't that an intimate worship to God so beautiful? It brings to a place very near to God, where everything feels so different. Additionally, it changes and touches hearts.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere

- Psalm 84:10a (NIV) -

Fighting the Feeling of Unbelonging

Did you ever feel that you do not belong in a certain (or in any) community? Maybe you tried in a very long term to do many things (eat what they eat, learn their language, reach the standard that has been told to you, change your behavior/appearance) up to your maximum energy and ability. Maybe it did happen because of some form of disabilities, underprivileged, rejection, or jealousy.

The issue of not belonging also appeared in some kids movies. In the movie of Cars 3, Cruz said, "I did not belong. The others look nothing like me." She even mentions that her surrounding tried to convince her to dream small or not at all. In the movie of Kungfu Panda, Tigress said to Poo, "You do not belong here." In the movie of Mulan, Shang said to Mulan, "You don't belong here, Mulan. Go home."

The feeling of not belonging can have a great effect in life, such as low confidence, giving up (even though there is great potential), and depression.

Regardless of how other people think and behave to you, if the Spirit of God lives in you, you belong to God (Roman 8:9). Psalm 100:3 (NIV) said:

Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Additionally, we do not only belong to God, but we are also very precious to Him as we are the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8).

Do not give up your calling/potential in God. Trust in Him.

Trust and Love God

The LORD preserves all who love Him. (NKJV Ps 145:20) There is no reason why we should not love our LORD with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. .