Refuge to Righteousness… (Psalm 11) 010208
I thank God that my father was discharged on Wednesday. He was still weak. Yesterday, after dinner, he routinely cuts fruits for the family, but I can see that he was still very tired and weak. I was greatly moved by his love for me. My father is a person who does not know how to communicate love in a gentle manner. As one who grew up among gangsters and had to work at a very age and without any proper education; he is not used to express himself gently. But I know, he loves his family, he does so by ensuring the family will have cut fruits after every dinner. He sees that this is the right thing for him to do. And he is right, when he tried to suggest to me that he was tired and wanted me to cut the fruits, I was so embarrassed within me that I actually did not know how to do so, or rather I was not willing to do so.
But my father is a simple man, he knows what is right and do it. The Lord loves people who do the right thing, for the upright will behold His face (v7). I want to be one who knows what is right and do the right thing. I remember there was a catch phrase: Be a man, do the right thing!
Life is so unpredictable from man’s perspective. At the span of one week, I received many news. Some are good news and some are bad news. I have friends who are pregnant, I also have friends who lost there family members and even one of them passed away yesterday morning. My father was hospitalized, and was later discharged. My sister thyroid seems to be having a relapsed, but at least now she is back in Singapore. How can my soul contain so much of ups and downs? I thought I will slide back to my depression, but I am thankful that I have learned to dwell in the presence of God more. In His presence, I can find stability. In the Lord, I can take refuge (v1).
How can I be in the Lord? It is because I am righteous! I am not righteous because I have been a good man, no trouble at all and always doing the right thing! I am righteous because the Lord is righteous and He loves righteousness (v7). I can be righteous because God considers me righteous. I can be righteous because the Lord is the presence of my life.
I know my thoughts, they are evil. I know my heart, it is corrupted. I know my ways, I am sinful. But my soul longs for the presence of the Lord, and only His presence can make my thoughts, my hearts and my ways right once again. And only in His presence, I can take refuge when I am attacked by the temptation and accusation of the evil one. I might still yield to temptation or badly hurt and wounded, but I know that I can take refuge in the Lord, because of the righteousness the Lord has graciously imputed on me.
Do you also have the same confident that you can take refuge in the Lord because you know you have the righteousness that the Lord would graciously impute to you, if you ask?
HHS…
Abel…
