My Tribute

All that I am, and ever hope to be...I owe it all to Thee!

Lord, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah our Righteousness,

the lyricist of this song ("My Tribute") has taken the very words right out of my mouth when he wrote :

"How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me?
Things so undeserved yet you give to prove your love to me.
The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude;

All that I am, and ever hope to be
I owe it all to Thee.

To God be the glory
For the things He has done
- With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me -
To God be the glory for the things He has done.

Just let me live my life, let it be pleasing, Lord, to Thee.


The words of the following songs come to my mind, too.
Once again, I am reminded of why I can be confident of my future in God's wise and loving hands.

I Know Who Holds The Future

I do not know what lies ahead, the way I cannot see;
Yet one stands near to be my guide, He'll show the way to me.

I know who holds the future
And He'll guide me with His hand
With God, things don't just happen,
Everything by Him is planned
So as I face tomorrow
With its problems large and small
I'll trust the God of miracles,
I'll give to Him my all.

I do not know how many days of life are mine to spend
But one who knows and cares for me will keep me to the end.


I do not know the course ahead, what joys and griefs are there
But one is near who fully knows, I'll trust His loving care.


I Don't Know About Tomorrow

I don't know about tomorrow, it may bring me poverty
But the one who feeds the sparrows is the one who stands by me
And the path that be my portion may be through the flame or flood
But His presence goes before me and I'm covered with His blood

Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.



The Lord brings to my mind the memory of a very precious moment in time :

Way back in 1976, one morning at around 5.30am, I was very disturbed about my poor grades in school and was most troubled about my future. I felt my future was bleak and that I was unable to face yet another day. While I was reading the bible and praying, I sensed God giving me a very special and personal word of encouragement to fully entrust my life and my future to Him.

I remember sensing this call from Him to wholly surrender myself into His loving care and to place my confidence in Him. I felt led to read from the book of Jeremiah. I flipped to Jeremiah, half afraid that I would once again find it hard to understand what I was reading (at that time I found it difficult to read and understand the Old Testament books of the Bible). To my surprise, I found myself drawn to a certain portion in Jeremiah 29. When I came to verses 11, 12, 13, they seemed to leap from the page to grab my full attention.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

While reading that portion of scripture that morning, the Holy Spirit helped me experience such a wondrous sense of intimacy and closeness with God.

I felt as if God was speaking personally to me, answering my prayer almost instantaneously. It had only been just minutes earlier that I had talked to Him about my fear for my "bleak" future, telling Him how I felt afraid to face the days ahead. Then, almost as if God was engaging me in conversation there and then, He seemed to say to me in reply using the words found in the Jeremiah 29:11-13 text, that He has had everything planned and that I did not need to fear the future.

I knew it was God speaking to my heart, promising me that in the same way which He has brought me into existence, and has sustained my life so far, He will continue to help, lead and guide me on my journey in this life.

He seemed to be saying to me, "My child, I made you. I have been helping you and sustaining you all through life so far. I am here with you. I will never leave you, nor abandon you. You can count on me. Only trust in me... and follow me. Let me guide you in the path ahead."

I sensed his awesome presence and I knew He was assuring me of His abiding presence in all the days of my life, and of His ever faithful and watchful care over me. I knew then that my faith was built upon a solid and secure Rock...the mighty Rock of Ages... and that as long as I am tied to this Rock, I will be safe. That morning, I prayed, "Lord, hold on to me and keep me close to you until the very end. I am weak but you are strong. I need you, moment by moment, all the days of my life." And I yielded my future into the hands of my God, Jehovah Rohi.

God has faithfully seen me through many days, weeks, months and years since that morning. He has never failed me. His loving kindness endures forever. He is faithful, constant, true. I know He is still at work in my life, moulding me, shaping me, smoothening out the rough edges, helping me to become the person He had planned for me to be when He created me. I know He will see me through all the days ahead.

I know I can rest in God and I am content to let Him hold absolute sway over me and over all of my life on this side of eternity, and through the rest of eternity, too. O how good it is to be reconciled to God, to know His surpassing and enduring peace. Indeed, 'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.

He'll go with me all the way
He's my comfort and my stay
From His tender love and mercy
I will never, never stray

O'er the mountains rough and steep
Through the valleys dark and deep
Till I reach my home in glory
He'll go with me all the way!


Jehovah Rophe, thank you for having walked with me through the past few days. Thank you for the two verses which you brought to my mind to calm me (I was beginning to get the jitters when they were just about to put me to sleep) on the surgery table.

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me." (Psalm 3:5)

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8)

Thank you for being with me right through that morning, just as you have always been. I knew I was not alone, even though I had gone to the hospital's Admission Ward by myself. I knew you would be there to see me through.

Thank you for yet another opportunity to experience you and your mighty awesome presence. If anyone else had been there with me, perhaps my attention and sense of dependency would have been shifted and not focussed solely on you, and the wondrously calming sense of your quiet abiding presence would not have been so keenly felt by me. Thank you, Lord Jehovah Shalom.

Thank you. Thine be the glory!