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

Humility

 

Gentleness

 

Perfect & Mature

 

Fear of the Lord

The term "Learning" in Bible

 

There is time to give up (Ecclesiastes 3:6b)

Giving up is not always bad. There is time to give up (Ecc 3:6b - NIV). Give up here (lə-’ab-bêḏ, אָבַד, abad) can be translated to ‘to perish’, ‘to lose’, ‘to quit searching’, ‘to give up as lost’, ‘to destroy’, ‘to break’, ‘to die’, ‘put to death’, or ‘to spend’ [1]. Giving up on something can be a beginning of a new fresh start:

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24 – NIV)

There are things that we should never give up, e.g. our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior, our trust that God -our Father- loves and cares for us, our belief in the promises of God, our belief in God’s ability, faith, and many others. However, there are things that we should give up, e.g. sin, flesh desires, wrong motive, arrogance, pride, and many others.

Sometimes, even though the vision/work we do is good in the eyes of God, flesh desires sneak in. I would like to illustrate this situation as a tree branch that has a disease on its beautiful leaves. Depending on the condition, the solution can be using medicine/treatment to treat the diseases or to cut the leaves and let new leaves grow out from them. There are times (maybe not so often) that giving up is needed to let something new grow by the grace of God.

The boundary of which to give up and not is different for every situation and people. Therefore, we always need the Holy Spirit to guide us.  

[1] https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6.htm

God is in control

 

Greek terms for Anointing

 

Greek terms for "Death"

 

Blessing / Happy

 

The Fruit of the Spirit

 

Names of God

Drowning in Negative Emotions

In some cases, negative thinking can be fought with faith and the word of God. However, there are times that I got drowned in negative emotions/thinking. The things that I tried to do just drag me deeper. One possible cause is that I failed to focus and have enough faith in God while walking on 'water' (Mat 14: 29-30). Failing to focus makes me difficult to cope with a situation. A little wind can easily bring my emotion down. I understand that it can also happen because of other things. But, if you are in the condition that you are drowning because of failing to focus on God, it is OK to cry out to God, "Lord, help me." He will help you to refocus again on God.

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

Fear of God

Some time ago, I wrote about how God did many things to make people understand the sovereignty of God [1]. This theme is not only appeared in the book of Ezekiel:

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

It seems like in life, there are some elements of randomity to build humility, trust, and the fear of God in us. Do not 'give up', but 'surrender' to God.

1. https://ivannatimotius.blogspot.com/2021/07/ezekiel-know-that-i-am-lord.html

Tent of David

After this, I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it. - Acts 15:16 (NIV)

In that day I will restore David’s fallen shelter —I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins— and will rebuild it as it used to be. - Amos 9:11 (NIV)

What is special about David's tent? Why does God want to rebuild it? The one difference between the tabernacle of David and the tabernacle of Moses is the presence of special areas in the tabernacle of Moses. For example, in the tabernacle of Moses, there is a place called the Holy of Holies, where only special people at special times can enter. However, it is not so in the tabernacle of David.

I believe that even though there is no Holy of Holies area in the tabernacle of David, the level of God's holiness is still the same. Therefore, I think David and all the worship teams (1 Chronicles 6:31-32) learned how to handle the holiness. Let us also learn how to handle God's holiness.

The Meaning of Praise & Worship

Worship [1] - English: condition of being worthy, dignity, glory, distinction, honor, renown

Sembah [2] - Indonesian:  to pay the honour, obeisance, homage or to worship

Proskuneó [3] - Greek: to do reverence to, I go down on my knees to, do obeisance to, worship, to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior, to worship, ready "to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one's knees", to "do obeisance".

Shachah [4] - Hebrew: to bow down

Barak [5]: to kneel, bless, salute

Halal [6] - Hebrew: to be boastful, to praise

Shabach [7] - Hebrew: to laud, praise

Tehillah [8] - Hebrew: praise, song of praise

Zamar [9] - Hebrew: to make music (in praise of God)

Yadah [10] - Hebrew: give thanks, praise

Todah [11]: thanksgiving, praise

1. https://www.etymonline.com/word/worship
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sembah
3. https://biblehub.com/greek/4352.htm
4. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7812.htm
5. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1288.htm
6. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1984b.htm
7. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7623b.htm
8. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/8416.htm
9. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2167.htm
10. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3034.htm
11. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/8426.htm

Ebenezer (1 Sam 7:12)

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” - 1 Sam 7:12

I believe that Samuel did this so he and all the Israelites remember (especially during tough times) that the LORD will always help them.

I might have no stone, but I want to use this blog post to remind you that the LORD will always help you.  

Communication Skill in God

I struggle with my communication skill in my whole life, especially in spoken communication. I often have self-doubt about the way I am communicating: Should I be more open or reserve? Should I talk more? Should I be silent instead? Should I express things in a better way? Was my body-language/expression/motivation correct? How was my emotion? Should I have longer small talk? Additionally, I often lost words/blank out in the middle of sentences. I often face difficulty in learning new languages and in formal speaking (even in my mother language). When I was little, I did suffer from selective-mutism (which at that time was seen as part of personality). This somehow affect my spoken communication ability, especially when I am tired. But of course, I also know there are many people have more difficulty than me, e.g. communication difficulties that comes with autism.

Communication is defined as a process by which information is exchanged between individuals. Communication (to others and God) is a vital part of our live. It do have a big impact. For example, in leadership, communication is very important in expressing goal / vision / motivation / believe / faith / encouragement / point-of-view, public speaking, understanding, conflict management [1], project management, organization, team building, training, and discipleship.

There are times in life that communication is so tough and might lead to argument, disagreement, chaos, and confusion. However, there are also times that communication is so easy even without many words, heart to heart, and with one vision/thought. 

In a relationship to one another and God, a smooth communication is closely related to the ability to love (1 Cor 13:4-8). Communication is smoother when people learned to forgive and accept forgiveness. Also if they learned for being humble, listening, and investing time.

I believe that God can interfere with our communication. He can speak to people heart that make people understand others and also understand Him. He can make people heart/spirit/thought become one. Moreover, He can help us in learning new languages. There are several occasions written in the bible on how God interfere with the communication between people, e.g.

The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” - Gen 11:6-7.

(20) And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time. (64) Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. - Luke 1:20,64

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. - Acts 2:4-6

for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say - Luke 12:12

Even tough now you might feel not confidence about your communication ability, trust God that He can work in your communication with others and with God.