His mercy is great.

Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”
- King David, 2 Samuel 24:14

When I sinned against God, when I rebelled against God, when I scorned and rejected God's love and rule, I will run to Him and submit to Him whose mercy is great. No man can be as merciful as God, no man can execute justice on earth like Him. Find forgiveness and comfort in Him who is abundant in mercy.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases...

Lamentations has got to be the most bleak, depressing book in the whole of the bible. Yet, right in the middle of the book, God is described as below.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
-- Lam 3:22-23

This is unbelievable! If you think this statement about God is not amazing, read the rest of the book, and ponder on it.
May God grant you an unshakable ground to stand on, and give you an indestructible hope in Him.

God saved us according to his own mercy

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7

Thank You.

O LORD, be gracious to me

John Owen said "be killing sin, or it will be killing you."
How true it is. It has been a tough couple of days for me. I almost wished that God wouldn't have revealed this sin in my life, for it is so painful to me. Yet, how can I wish that when I know that it is because God is working on me that I now see this sin as it is. God is not only working in me, but also on me. And as long as He is working on me, I will not lose hope.

"O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!"
- Psalm 41:4

Forgive me, O Lord, be merciful to me. Purify me of my sins and restore me.

"justice be served but mercy be shown"

SMH reports:

The Libyan jailed for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing was granted release on compassionate grounds in Scotland on Thursday, despite fierce US opposition to freeing him.

In a move likely to be hailed by Libya as a new sign of its return to global respectability, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi -- who has terminal prostate cancer -- was given his freedom by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

MacAskill said Megrahi, who medics say has less than three months to live, could return to Libya to die because Scottish law required that "justice be served but mercy be shown".

Justice be served but mercy be shown.
I like that. Since the day I watched Braveheart, I always liked the Scots. :-)

SMH article continues:

The 57-year-old "now faces justice from a higher power... he is going to die", MacAskill added.

That is solemnly true. Megrahi will face God's judgement. Only God can judge him with perfect justice, and only God can have mercy on him. Even Mergrahi, who was behind the bombing of a commercial airplane, which killed hundreds of human lives, if he would place his faith in Jesus and turn to God, there is no way God will reject Mergrahi. Christ's sacrifice is sufficient to cover anyone's sin. And only His sacrifice is sufficient to cover anyone's sin. Do you believe this?

On the cross where Jesus died, God's justice was perfectly fulfilled and His mercy was majestically poured out. Justice be served, but mercy be shown? As I've already said, I like those Scots, but at best, our ways are mere imitation, or reflection of God's way of executing justice and showing mercy, which was gloriously declared and served at the cross of Christ.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. -- 1 John 4:10

The Bruised Reed - 7 (chapter 10: Quench Not the Spirit)

After such a sweet series of encouragements, Richard Sibbes looks at different ways of "offending deeply against this merciful disposition of Christ" to borrow his own words in Chapter 10 of the book.
I'll simply list the titles of the small sections (these might possibly be added by the editor, but they form a short summary after all, so hopefully this will be helpful), and a short sentence to help understanding.

1) False despair of Christ' mercy - Do not fail to go to Christ thinking you won't be accepted by the merciful Saviour.
2) False hope of Christ's mercy - Do not be deceived by your own fancy imagination that Christ does not care about your unholy (unrepentant) way of life
3) Resisting Christ's mercy - Do not resist Christ's mercy by hating the light that comes from God and refusing to be handled by Him.
4) Presuming on Christ's mercy - Quench not the Holy Spirit (by continuing to live a life according to the flesh, abusing the liberty one gains from Christ).
5) Seeking another source of mercy - There's no other source of mercy but Christ, so refuse to find mercy in any other places, it is an offense to God, and you'll find none but His wrath.
6) Mistreating the heirs of mercy - Be gracious to other Christians just as Christ Himself is gracious to you.
7) Strife among the heris of mercy - Do not fight over insignificant things among the believers causing divisions.
8) Taking advantage of the bruised - Do not abuse other believers who are in need or in a sorrowful condition (more generally, in a bruised state).
9) Despising the simple means of mercy - Do not despise how the church or an individual believer is sustained and expanded (or grows into maturity) by God even if the means He uses seem very simple to you who are very sophisticated.

The last one kinda stood out for me as I didn't think about this one before.
Quotation follows:

Lastly, they carry themselves very unkindly towards Christ who stumble at his low stooping to us in his government and ordinances, that are ashaemd of the simplicity of the gospel, that count preaching foolishness. They, out of the pride of their heart, think that they may do well enough without the help of the Word and sacraments, and think Christ did not take enough dignity upon him; and therefore they will mend the matter with their own devices so that they may give beter satisfaction to flesh and blood, as in popery. What greater unthankfulness can there be than to despise any help that Christ in mercy has provided for us?
-- p. 76, The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

O Lord, save me, I drown!

A couple of nights ago, I was kneeling down next to my bed to pray before sleep. I don’t pray like this often, but that night I was drawn to kneel and pray. As I closed my eyes and tried to pray, I suddenly became aware of emotional burdens I had been under, and I could not pray but only cry out: ‘O Lord, save me, I drown!’
At first, it was a surprise to myself that I spoke those words to God in prayer. Not that I was uncomfortable to pray like that, but because those words described my soul condition so accurately. As soon as the words left my mouth, as soon as I heard my own prayer, the picture popped into my mind, the picture of Peter sinking in water and crying out to Jesus who was walking on water. And quickly identifying with sinking Peter, under the waves of water in his case, and under the waves of emotional stress and worries in my case, I repeated the prayer several times and asked the Lord to rescue me from all these turmoil and distractions going on within my soul.

My prayer did not last long, but it was an honest and sincere prayer in quite a while.

I looked up the passage today which shows Jesus walking on water and Peter who jumped out of the boat to walk on water in zeal, but soon found himself starting to sink and asked for help desperately. From Matthew 14:22-33 (only quoting from the verse 28 below):
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:28-33, ESV)
As I looked at this scene more clearly (than the other night when I had to rely on my memory), I noticed:

1) Jesus granted what Peter asked (twice), even though Peter sounded almost as if he was commanding Jesus here, or at least very demanding. And when Peter cried out for help, Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of sinking Peter.
It showed me how merciful Jesus is. The Lord of the universe humbling Himself and listening to a demanding, hot-headed disciple. And while He told Peter to have faith, His hand reached out immediately and took hold of Peter. How willing is our Lord to help us in our weak moments!

2) Peter did walk on water at first, but it was when he saw the wind that he became afraid and started sinking. And Jesus told him ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’
Peter, being distracted and overwhelmed by the wind (and hence waves), lost his confidence in Jesus’ power. He was no longer able to trust in Jesus’ word “Come” even though it was what Peter himself requested. No sooner he lost the sight of Jesus by distraction than he lost his trust in Jesus, and no sooner he lost his trust in Jesus than he became afraid and his fear became real (drowning). Could all these overwhelming worries and desires that pierce me through be a sign that I am losing the sight of Jesus and being distracted? The striking fact is that, contrary to what many secular psychologists may suggest, my worries can come true and my desires can be denied just like Peter’s fear of drowning was very much a possibility and did happen (although he was saved by Jesus). But knowing Jesus who is able and willing to sustain me to bring me safely home, why am I still so full of worries and doubts?

3) After this incident, the people in the boat worshipped Jesus and recognised and proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God.
I can’t remember when was the last time I struggled with fear and doubt and overwhelming worries as much as I do these days. Maybe I simply don’t want to remember that time. But whenever that was, I was sustained by God who is gracious beyond my imagination and I can say that I am still alive and deeply grateful that I am still in Christ. But I just wonder how much of Jesus did I learn through that experience, and what did I do when it was over? I can say I learned this and that through such experience, but did it make me to worship Jesus and proclaim Him? Well, enough of looking back, what about this time around, when He hears my cry and rescues me from the crashing waves, will I bow before Him and worship Him confessing that He truly is the Son of God?

O God, help me not to lose my focus on Jesus, hence becoming fearful of the world and drowned by it. But my merciful Lord, rescue me from my own crashing waves of worries and worldly desires so I may once again recognise your face and worship you.
O Lord, save me, I drown!

Horrible things are happening all around the world, in Sydney, and also within my heart.

A Sydney Morning Herald article reports what is going on in an African country. But what is more horrible is our ability to ignore such things. From the article:

During the war here, just one silver back was killed. And when it happened, within 48 hours millions in funding was sent to ensure the rest of the gorilla population was protected. Why isn't the same done with our women? I'll tell you why, because in the eyes of the international community animals have more value than humans in this part of the world.

What is described in the article is seriously horrific. But I feel so helpless as I know I am more than capable of ignoring such evil.

While I was waiting for Hanoh at Strathfield today, I saw a homeless man lying on the concrete floor outside the station. He was just lying there. People were not giving much attention to him, and only when they come within steps from him, they would be surprised and walk around to avoid coming too close to him. They were all so good at ignoring him. It seemed that only few steps were required to forget about a man lying on a street seemingly helplessly.

To most of us, he is kind of known. We know he hangs around the area and he is a homeless person. He was probably sleeping, or maybe even drunk...

Or... was he sick? Was he silently suffering some kind of pain? Did he lose consciousness because of some kind of illness? Or... was he dead?

I have no idea. I thought about going near him and check and see if he was ok, and even offer him help and talk to him about Jesus. But I only kept on looking at him... from a distance. I never had enough gut to go near him and see if he was not in some kind of urgent medical need. I never offered him help. I was just watching him from distance and listened to Hymns with my iPod. Oh, I use my iPod to listen to Hymns and Christian music, even sermons, I must be Christian! Wretched, disgusting hypocrite I am.

God, mercy!

Pray for me

"Pray for me."

That's what I said to a friend on our way home from a harbour cruise.
It was almost 10 years ago.
It was also the very first time I was totally intoxicated with alcohol. I wasn't even able to sit properly (I was on the bus next to my friend).

While I was so drunk that I couldn't handle my own body, and my mental ability degraded to only a little above that of a mere infant, I said "pray for me."

It is still strange to me that I said such a thing when I was drunk and to a friend whom I barely started to know.
Yet, as I look back on that moment, it appeals more and more as an example of God's faithfulness.
I remember myself being exhausted from daily routines (how ever mundane they were is not important) and pressure I and people around have put me to. Drinking, while I did not know how deep the hole was, was definitely an attractive escape route.

But, while I took the matters to my own hand rejecting to trust and obey Him, God still protected and led my life proving His faithfulness to His Word and His people. Those words I spoke to my friend asking to pray for me were not the proof that I was trusting God so much that I knew prayer was what was needed. Rather, I believe it was God who knew my short-comings and He knew my needs. "Pray for me" wasn't a much a plea to my friend, but to God who remained sovereign in all things including my life. As I was feeling so weak and helpless because of intoxication, it was only a natural response that could come out of a God's elect child as His Spirit worked in even at such a moment.

After all these years, I am being reminded of that moment more and more especially in recent days.
I don't get drunk like that anymore. I could say I've learned my lessons now. But my disbelief in God's sovereign grace, that God has got everything under His gracious control, still leads me to look for some other escape routes, namely, books, TV, internet, games, whatever.

Perhaps it is time that I start asking again. "Pray for me."
May the Lord be merciful to me.