Psalms 1

Summary of what I learnt from the class "Learning to Pray thro Psalms"

All the psalms are prayers themselves, it is like the Book of Common Prayers used in the Anglican Church, you may be surprised if you seriously think about it, Psalm 1 is a prayer, what is the writer praying about?

[1] Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
[3] He is like a tree
planted by streams of water,
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
[4] The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
[5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
[6] for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

This is exactly how Jesus told us to pray, to pray for God's kingdom and His righteousness. Forget about our own agenda, forget about the weather/Jabez prayer.

Remember how the Lord's Prayer mainly focused on God, and when Jesus used "our daily bread" from Proverbs 30, note that the original writer did not just pray that he will not be poor, also he WILL NOT GET RICH!

[7] Two things I ask of thee;
deny them not to me before I die:
[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
[9] lest I be full, and deny thee,
and say, "Who is the LORD?"
or lest I be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God.

Do not treat our God as another one of those traditional Chinese idols like Guan Yin for us to borrow from her bank ("借庫"), not treat the church as a regular Temple, and stop speculating in the market to try to get rich.

It is a particularly striking message at this time when the financial market is in a turmoil and everyone is talking about money. Pray about God's kingdom and righteousness, NOT our own agenda. Pray for our willingness to submit to God's will.