Praise That Survives Tears: Psalm 8
Only after experiencing the Lord can one truly believe that all creation will eventually submit to and serve him. Only after experiencing God can one have faith in what Psalm 8 promises at the end: that this world will ultimately bow at his feet, and utter from the heart: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Humanity Has Forgotten Who We Are: Psalm 104
As humans desire to exercise control over everything that God made and which he ought to control, our work becomes labor, burden, and pressure. We lose the original joy the Lord gave us: the opportunity to work in concert with him.
How I Prayed for Relationships
When Chinese Christians meditated on relationships through the prism of the Psalms, they did not just pray for relationships in their families or with people they knew. Instead, many of our Chinese writers this May specifically applied the magnifying glass of the Psalms to their more public relationships.
Persecution and Isolation Have Taken Turns: Psalm 86
The norm of a life of faith – for both the psalmist but also for us – is to be besieged by the pursuit of the proud and the strong. Those of us who are Chinese Christians and often experience persecution for our faith feel immediate empathy for the author of this passage.
Refuge in the Locked-Down City: Psalm 55
The locked-down city is full of lies, sins, oppression, and violence. Where is my refuge? How can I rest in peace? Where is the salvation of my countrymen, of my country?
Blessing Comes from Zion: Psalm 128
Those who do not have families or children can freely enter the family made up of the bloodline of Jesus… We no longer have a narrow, nationalistic worldview, because our hope is not in this earthly kingdom. Through Jesus, we have entered God’s kingdom, a kingdom where Jesus reigns.
Hearts United With the People of Ukraine
We are able to see your kingdom within Ukraine tonight. Your love, your truth, and your servants are present in the midst of all of the chaos, killing, and lies. In the darkest of situations, you, God, have awakened the hearts of the people.
In His Fortress: Psalm 34
God calls us to fear him, and, amazingly, it is fear of God that ends all fears. Our fortress, built on the solid cornerstone of Christ, is personally protected by the Sovereign King…We are already in his fortress and under his protection. He is our great Shepherd, who lives among us.
How I Prayed for Character
We are not asking God for the impossible when we ask him to grant his character to his people. When we ask God to graciously grow character in Chinese Christians, we can in the same moment rejoice, because he has already given every believer his character by giving us Christ.
Fret Not Yourself Because Of Evildoers: Psalm 37
We must know we are not righteous, but wicked, before we can be justified by faith in Christ and move from the camp of the wicked to that of the righteous. Only when we read this Psalm again, in the position of those who are clothed in Christ’s righteousness, will God’s exhortation to us through David be truly meaningful.
