Pastor Fredo Ramos: We continue praying the Psalms, and today we come to Psalm 81, a Psalm of Asaph. Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to God of Jacob. Sing to the God of Jacob. Sing beat the tambourine.
Play the sweet lyre in the harp. Blow the ram's horns at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival. For this is required by the decrees of Israel. It is a regulation of the God of Jacob. He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free.
I heard an unknown voice say, now I will take the load from your shoulders. I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble and I saved you. I answered out of the thunder cloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Listen to me, oh my people, while I give you stern warnings.
Oh Israel, if you would only listen to me. You must never have a foreign God. You must not bow down before a false God. For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it with good things.
But no, my people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want me around, so I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. Oh, that my people would listen to me. Oh, that Israel would follow me walking in my paths. How quickly I would then subdue their enemies.
How soon my hands would be upon their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him. They would be doomed forever. But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.
By way of reflection, we see Psalm 81 as this prayer that invites the hearers and the singers to sing for joy. The reason why they're called to sing for joy is because they're recounting the works that God has done, specifically in the way that he delivered the people from Egypt. Now what's, unique about this Psalm is like many other Psalms, we see the Exodus repeated as a way for Israel to remember all that God did for them. But interestingly interestingly enough, in this particular case, the recounting of Israel's deliverance from Egypt has a particular theme of God saying, would you listen to me? Listen to me.
Listen to me. We see this over three times. God invites his people to listen to him. Even though God has delivered them, he states that they have been stubborn. Like many of us, though God has delivered us, though God has seen, saved us and we have seen his power at work in our lives, there is even today as we begin our day, a sense of stubbornness that still resides in our hearts that will lead us to a place where we would not listen to God.
And so the invitation is to as we listen to God and not pursue other, idols, not pursue other gods, that we would as he says there in verse 10, open our mouths wide and he would fill it with good things. And so let's do that in prayer now. Jesus, we hear you inviting us in prayer to open ourselves to you, to first and foremost listen to your voice. And we wanna receive the promise today that if we would just open our mouths wide to you, you would fill us with good things. You and you alone can give to us what truly and ultimately satisfies.
And so when we come to you, help us to confess our own stubbornness, help us to confess the ways that we struggle to listen now so that we might hear your voice and you lead us today. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.