Slices
Prepare
Worship the Lord for what he has saved you from and for what he has saved you into (1 Peter 2:9).
Bible passage
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:
6 ‘I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you –
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 ‘But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
13 ‘If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last for ever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’
Explore
This psalm might seem strange for use in corporate worship. Used at the festival of Tabernacles to remember how God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, it begins joyfully enough (vs 1–5) and we marvel at God’s powerful response to his people’s cry (vs 6,7). But then the Israelites’ indifference and rebellion turns this into a hymn that should be called something like ‘Great is thy faithfulness; thanks a lot, I’m off!’ (v 8,11). How does recording their rebellion add power to its use in the worship of God? It magnifies his faithfulness even more (vs 14–16)!
Like many characters we met in Proverbs this week, turning away from God robbed the Israelites of their identity and inheritance (vs 9,12). When we stop acknowledging God as the ultimate source of satisfaction in our lives we will look to other things to fill our need for significance and love which require less humility than acknowledging God. Which ‘idols’ still pluck at your heart? Work, money, power, family, fame, romance? Make a list of God’s faithful deeds to you and see those impostors off!
Respond
When your prayers go unanswered, are you tempted to wonder if God is as unreliable as we are? Remember his past goodness to you and reaffirm this truth: ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows’ (James 1:17).
Deeper Bible study
‘Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.’1
Psalm 81 opens with a summons to worship at the festival that was ordained to celebrate the deliverance from Egypt (vs 1–5). The worship leader ‘heard’ (šāma‘) an unknown voice (v 5b), which is clearly God’s. The fivefold occurrence of šāma‘ serves to knit the thread of the ‘listening’ theme throughout the rest of the psalm (vs 6–16).
Speaking in the first person, God reminds the Israelites of their past disobedience and of his discipline (vs 6–12). God compassionately urges in verse 8, ‘Hear me, my people, and I will warn you – if you would only listen to me, Israel!’ (italics added). Despite experiencing God’s deliverance from Egypt, they still turn to other gods (vs 9,10). That’s why God painfully cries out, ‘But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me’ (v 11, italics added). Giving them another chance, God expresses his desire ‘If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways’ (v 13, italics added). Then he would deliver them from enemies and grant them abundant blessings (vs 14–16). The connection between listening and obedience is highlighted in verses 11 and 13, where ‘listen’ parallels ‘submit’ (v 11) and ‘follow my ways’ (v 13). Obviously, the verb šāma‘ also implies obeying, not just listening.
This psalm reminds us that both listening and praising are involved in worship. As James Mays puts it, true worship is ‘not mere celebration, not simply music and liturgy; it is an occasion when the congregation can become again the listening people of God’.2 Praise in worship should serve to elicit or express our commitment to live a life worthy of God, inside and outside the church building. In what area do you think you still haven’t obeyed God? God is now giving you a renewed invitation: ‘Listen, my child!’
Don’t hesitate. ‘Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.’3
1 Prov 23:12 2 James L Mays, Psalms, Interpretation, John Knox Press, 1994, p266 3 John H Sammis, ‘Trust and Obey’, 1887
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jonah 3,4; Revelation 11
Pray for Scripture Union
This month SU Singapore has their annual children’s and youth camps. Pray for protection as participants go about the camp activities, and for lives to be touched through the programmes and teaching sessions. Pray for safe travel for the youth as their camp is held in a neighbouring country.
