1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6 "I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah
8 "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9 There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 "But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of Me.
12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13 "Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure forever.
16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."—Psalm 81
Beloved, our God LOOKS to be gracious to us! He looks to show mercy! His desire for us is good. In this Psalm I hear the heart of a loving Father who cannot help but feel compassion on His own wayward child whose heart seems to be set upon going in the opposite direction and treasuring up sorrow for themselves.
Verses 1 through 5 is a call to praise probably to celebrate a certain Feast Day of Israel..according to commentators, perhaps the Feast of Booths. Verses 6-16 read as if God is giving the people a message in the first person. He reminds them of the great and awesome things He has done for them and admonishes them to listen to Him and obey His commands. Verse 10 is my favorite, (Open your mouth wide and I will fill it) and reminds me of Philippians 4:19:
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
God desired to fill them with good from His inexhaustible treasury of grace. Oh, to to be in a position always to have His endless supply of grace poured out in my life.
The next verses (11-12) are words of admonishment and make me weep. The LORD had done great things for His people. Their hearts “should” have been thankful and their every thought toward obedience. Instead, as Romans 2 aptly describes, they despised the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering and in accordance with their hardness and impenitent heart were treasuring up for themselves wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds".
Verse 12 tells us that He gave them over to their own stubborn heart. They would walk in their own counsel and eat the fruit of their OWN way. The horror of that judgment couldn’t be greater nor could it be more just. Instead of working out their own salvation, they would work out their own destruction.
Hear our God’s kind and fatherly heart that is grieved over His people’s sin and resultant punishment in these last three verses.
13 "Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure forever.
16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."
In verse 13 I hear the cry of Jesus as He weeps for Jerusalem.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!—Luke 13:34
If Israel had been willing to obey, He would have subdued their enemies and fed them with the finest of wheat...with honey from the rock He would have satisfied them.
Beloved, if you find yourself going in the opposite direction from what God has intended, turn...it is not too late. Our God WAITS to be gracious to us. The LORD your God IS gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him."
Oh Father...Make us willing! Keep us faithful. Help us to walk always in the light of Your countenance. We don’t want to miss out on anything You have for us both here in this world and in eternity. The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
No comments:
Post a Comment