Blessed are you, O Lord
Written by Ps Alby Yip
My heart has been heavy over our Land Lease Renewal Fund (LLRF) lately. This was prompted mainly by two matters. Firstly, the bid price for a recently released land parcel was higher than expected and this may affect our lease renewal cost. Secondly, I am reminded that we have exactly a year until the deadline next September to initiate land lease renewal application to the Singapore Land Authority.
As I was praying, I was led to re-read what God had impressed upon me the last time my heart skipped a beat on the LLRF. One of the Bible passages I always take comfort in whenever I am anxious especially about financial matters is 1 Chronicles 29:10-19. It was a thanksgiving prayer in which David prayed after the people rallied together and contributed to the building of the first Temple.
“Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” (vv.10-11). Note David’s use of God’s proper name YAHWEH (depicted by “LORD”) and how David book-ended his praise with God’s eternality and sovereignty.
All that is in-between, is under the lordship of his Lord. It means two things: Firstly, God is so great that everything in the heaven and in the earth belongs to Him. Secondly, since God owns everything, He was and is able to supply anything we need. It is important to always keep this grand image of God in mind. Otherwise, our anxieties may inadvertently reduce the image of God in that we unconsciously doubt His ability to answer our prayers.
Let’s take a closer look at v.11 at how David marvelled at the attributes of God. Note that the article “the” was used eight times. This seemingly excessive use of “the” was to convey the sense of absoluteness, akin to “all the.” The past, present, future; the intangibles like greatness, power, victory and majesty; the tangibles in heaven and on earth; Everything belongs to God!
What a reassurance it is that everything belongs to God and He is able to supply all our needs. Indeed, we have seen how God broke through at every juncture of difficulties and challenges in Zion Bishan’s history. Let us continue to pray and trust that God will again breakthrough in the LLRF matter. Let us also give of our best to partner God in His plan to build up a people in Zion Bishan who will be a City on the Hill and a Light to the Nations.
