Unto the Hills

The Lord - Our Helper and Keeper

The Lord – our Helper and Keeper

“ The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.” Psalm 121: 5-6

We are on our pilgrimage from earth to heaven. The Psalm highlights two dangers and in the original setting they were more than figures of speech. They were two real perils that the pilgrims feared most – the dangers of sunstroke and moon stroke. To be exposed to the sun for long periods of time, one can die of thirst. Climate change in our generation is affecting the whole world. Living in Singapore, near the equator, O how I wish for the four seasons like we enjoyed when we lived in England for the last four years of our active service.

There is a lot of superstition leading to fear of moon stroke. Think of the word ‘lunacy.’ What picture comes to mind? Insanity, madness. mental illness, unsound mind. mental instability, psychosis; the survivors plunged into despair and depression.

Pilgrims on the journey of life face real dangers. Thanks be to God, He watches over us, guards us, protects us from the perils of day and night when we lift up our eyes to Him in faith. Living in this sin sick world, we cannot escape these dangers. But we should not allow them to terrify us for the Lord watches over us and guards us from all harm.

“I shall not fear though darkened clouds may gather round me; The God I serve is one who cares and understands. Although the storms I face would threaten to confound me, Of this I am assured: I'm in his hands.”

Chorus - I'm in his hands, I'm in his hands; Whate'er the future holds I'm in his hands, The days I cannot see have all been planned for me; His way is best, you see; I'm in his hands. Stanley E. Ditmer

 

 

 

Visit of Ng Kim Loh of Melaka

On Monday 15^th August, we received a pleasant surprise. Our doorbell rang and when I opened the door, there stood two men and a woman! I immediately recognized Ng Kim Loh, one of my former young people Melaka Corps. His sister and husband are Singaporeans. Lily was a little girl of four when I was the pastor in Melaka. What memories!

Sixty two years ago at the age of 22, I took up my first appointment as the pastor of Melaka Corps (church) On the Thursday following Commissioning the Public Relations Secretary, Major Stanley Gordon, fetched me to the Sing Liang Malacca/Singapore Express Bus terminal at Beach Road to begin a six hour journey by bus to Malacca. It had to cross two ferries, at Batu Pahat and Muar. There were no expressways then!

On arrival, I was met by my predecessor, Lieutenant Douglas Kiff. He and his newly married wife, Jean, had delayed their departure for Penang in order to conduct my welcome meeting. Douglas and I sat in one trishaw, while all my worldly possessions, comprising a suitcase, a small bag and a carton of books, went into another. We did not have far to go from the bus station to 69-A Wolferstan Road. Malacca Corps occupied the premises above the wine shop.

On the front of the building was the sign board with the words THE SALVATION ARMY in English, Malay and Chinese. Directly below it was another signboard - CHOP SI SOON, WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANTS. What a strange juxtaposition!

We ascended a narrow staircase and entered the corps premises. The main floor area was the corps hall, with 30 chairs. A small corner at the back was partitioned off for quarters - a cubicle, which served as a bed-sitting room cum office for the Corps Officer. It was most convenient for the officer to get out of bed and there was the office desk to work! At the back was a small kitchen and bathroom, but toilet facilities were downstairs. To get there meant descending the spiral staircase, walking past the living area of the people living downstairs, past a fierce German shepherd, tied up during the day and freed at night to roam the backyard!

There was plenty to occupy me – Sunday Holiness meeting in the morning, and Salvation meeting at night, the Sunday School in the afternoon and an open-air meeting prior to the night salvation meeting. During the week there was a tuition programme, Joy Hour and Thursday night Holiness meeting. Later on I added Youth fellowship, plus Saturday night English meeting.

Ng Kim Loh  then 16 years old was one of my young people. He helped his Mum run a provisions shop in the village. I managed to persuade his parents to let me teach him English. He progressed very well and I was able to get him into a Christian School for those who were overaged. He had only four years of formal education, then entered training and started to teach in Muar. He continued his studies and returned to teach at the ACS Melaka till he retired.

Memories! How precious they are to us as we reflect on the past. Thank God for calling me to be a Salvation Army Officer.  Sixty two years have gone by, thanks be to God.

God is watching over you

“He that keepeth thee will not slumber” Psalm121: 3

Dr. William Alfred Quayle, American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church wrote many books specially to help young ministers. He recalls once he was burning the midnight oil. Tired and sleepy, he happened to turn his eyes to Psalm 121 and read this verse “He that keepeth thee will not slumber.” He sensed that it was a message from the Lord telling him , “ there is no need for both of us to stay awake. You go to bed and sleep, I’m always awake anyway.”

There are many reasons we stay awake all night. Perhaps fear or worry. The child may be afraid of the dark, the adult fear lots of things. Sleep is a gift from God. And here’s a wonderful assurance, given in this Psalm.

At the end of the day let us pray using the words of the Psalmist. “I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for Thou O Lord, only makest me dwell in safety” Psalm 4:8  

“Abide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live; Abide with me when night is nigh, for without Thee I cannot die” John Keble.

Saved and kept by the grace of God

Psalm 121: 3-6 "Saved and kept by the grace of God."
"He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper;The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night."

How comforting to hear these words form the Lord. Every night when we go to bed, we pray for our family, friends and the Peacehaven Nursing Home below us. We commit the these to the Lord as ask Him to watch over them.

The Lord is our keeper, He takes care of us His children.
During the time of famine in China a man who could not swim at all jumped into the river to commit suicide. Soon he was struggling in river. A passerby noticing the plight jumped into the swift flowing river and pulled him out to safety.

The man who hand been rescued, on recovery stood up and confronted his rescuer aggressively. "Why didn't you leave me to drown and let me die? Why did you save me?"
The rescuer puzzled and annoyed answered "Look I saved you, aren't you grateful."
He received the response, "Yes, you saved me, can you keep me?"

The Lord saves and keeps us. The Lord is our keeper.
Thank You Lord for Your saving and keeping power.

	I know not why God’s wondrous grace   To me He hath made known, Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love   Redeemed me for His own.
	But “I know Whom I have believed And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I’ve committed   Unto Him against that day.”
	I know not how this saving faith  To me He did impart, Nor how believing in His word   Wrought peace within my heart.
	I know not how the Spirit moves,  Convincing men of sin, Revealing Jesus through the Word,   Creating faith in Him.
	I know not what of good or ill   May be reserved for me, Of weary ways or golden days,   Before His face I see.
	I know not when my Lord may come,   At night or noon-day fair, Nor if I’ll walk the vale with Him,   Or “meet Him in the air.” Daniel W Whittle

May favourite Psalm 121 "I will lift up my eyes to the hills"

My favourite - Psalm 121. I recite it often - the KJV. It has been a source of strength for me especially in times of crisis. The opening words "I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence cometh my help." It suggests the pilgrims found strength in looking at the hills, part of God's creation.
Later versions punctuate the sentence differently. "I will lift up my eyes to the hills." then the next part, "From whence cometh my help?". The the answer "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

The punctuations made the difference.
Note, not the hills, but the Creator of the hills, our Sovereign God the Source of our security. He is the One we look up to for help and security.
Someone once said, "In crisis we look inwards and bcome afraid, we look around us and become confused, we look upwards and become serene."

I love this old hymn -

Unto the hills around do I lift up
My longing eyes;
O whence for me shall my salvation come,
From whence arise?
From God the Lord doth come my certain aid,
From God the Lord, who heav’n and earth hath made.

He will not suffer that thy foot be moved:
Safe shalt thou be.
No careless slumber shall His eyelids close,
Who keepeth thee.
Behold, He sleepeth not, He slumbereth ne’er,
Who keepeth Israel in His holy care.

Jehovah is Himself thy keeper true,
Thy changeless shade;
Jehovah thy defense on thy right hand
Himself hath made.
And thee no sun by day shall ever smite;
No moon shall harm thee in the silent night.

From every evil shall He keep thy soul,
From every sin;
Jehovah shall preserve thy going out,
Thy coming in.
Above thee, watching, He whom we adore
Shall keep thee henceforth, yea, for evermore.
(John Douglas Sutherland Campbell)

40 Days 2016

My wife and I use The Salvation Army's daily reading -Words of Life. It's an excellent devotional and when we use it we feel our unity with Salvationists all over the world.

Another excellent devotional which we always look forward to receiving comes round once a year - 40 Days prior to our National Day published by Love Singapore. In using this we are united with fellow believers in Singapore praying for our nation. The year we focused our thoughts on the letter of James.

We have been reading and meditating on this letter and have been truly blessed.

Majulah Singapura! God bless our nation.