Psalm 81
To the choirmaster: according to the Gittith. Of Asaph
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.
Following a fervent prayer for restoration, Psalm 81 begins with a summons to corporate worship. The psalm is addressed to the congregation, to the nation as they gather for a religious festival. In this case it is most likely the feast of tabernacles which commemorated the wilderness wandering, but it was likely sung at other feasts as well. The first thing to be summoned is the human voice -- “sing aloud” and “shout for joy”. This is a call for exuberant celebration, an emotional outburst like one might have at a sporting event, a cry from deep within that is meant to be as loud as possible. The addressee of that cry is “the God of our strength” and “the God of Jacob”, recognizing our dependence on God for our strength as well as our history as God’s people going back to a single individual, Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, a unifying name. The second verse commands us to channel that emotional energy and vocal strength into a beautiful song accompanied by percussion and stringed instruments (some translations also indicate a lute, a flute-like instrument). So our worship is to be beautiful, pleasing to the ear, orderly, and a unifying experience. Musical worship is one of the best ways to accomplish this. The word “delightful” suggests the pleasure that this brings to the participants. Finally, verse 3 tells us that corporate worship is to be regular, scheduled, and planned. Blow the trumpet at the new moon (the first of the month) and at the full moon (the fourteenth of the month), the day of our feast. There is a summons to come and worship and then the sounding of the same trumpet on the climactic day of the feast. It is a reminder that worship is something that we do whether we feel like it or not. This is something I pushed back on as a child (what child hasn’t), but I now see the wisdom in it. We need corporate worship. There is a strong current in our culture today of expressive individualism where each person is the arbiter of their own truth based on their own experience. Corporate worship pushes against this heresy by reminding us of history and community. My experience is not the ultimate authority. I need others to help me understand and live within reality, the shine the light of truth on my life by hearing the ancient words of God and seeing the faithful lives of others, proving that the faith is not only true, but it still works in the modern world.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, a rule [just decree] of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over [against] the land of Egypt.
The psalmist reminds us that worship is commanded. It is a statute, a rule, a decree -- not something that you do whenever it strikes your fancy, when the mood seems right, when you’ve got nothing better to do. It is stated three times to three parallel addressees just to make the point. This is even perhaps a way of paralleling the commands in the first three verses -- shout, sing, and make music. The nation is addressed with three different names -- Israel, Jacob, and Joseph -- each name bringing up different associations based on and lives of these two men (one of them with two names because of a before/after experience with God). This decree had its historical origins in the exodus event, when God went over/against the land of Egypt. So this song and this feast are meant to recall the great and miraculous deeds of God in bringing his people out of Egypt. Worship today is grounded in the acts of God in the past. Our modern mindset pushes back against commands and rules, preferring the freedom of expressive individualism. I suppose no one likes to be told what to do these days, but there are things that we need to do that are actually good for us. Corporate worship is one of those things, and when God says the same thing three times, you can be pretty certain that he means for us to do it. We are not only a tad rebellious, but we are also forgetful. We live in the present, in the moment and do not place as much value on the past even though it is the past that has shaped us into who we are in the present. Biblical worship is always about the application of the past to the present, actualizing the truth of God today based on what He has done in the past. Do not neglect corporate worship even if modern culture portrays it as one of many options on your television screen. All things are not equal.
I hear a language I had not known:
6 “I relieved your [Hebrew his; also next line] shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
The people have been summoned and now the Lord speaks, and his words are said to be in an unknown language. Or the psalmist heard a language that he did not understand (that is, Egyptian, referring to the previous verse). The Lord speaks to his people for the remainder of the psalm. What is strange and unknown about God’s language? Is it unfamiliar because the people are not accustomed to listening? That may be the case in context given that the people are chided for not listening (vs. 11). In this sense, God’s voice is a foreign language to them. The things that God has asked them to do don’t make sense because they have lived so long ignoring his voice and doing their own thing. There is certainly a sense of that in the post-Christian West as well. God’s commands and a biblical worldview seem foreign to many, where even a few generations ago they were commonly understood. The Lord begins to recite some history, lest the people forget. He is the one who brought them out of slavery in Egypt, relieving the burdens on their shoulders and the baskets in their hands. They were wandering in the wilderness and cried out for water and he answered. The sky thundered and water poured. He even brought out water from rocks, spring water from the ground. God tested their faith at Meribah, would they trust him in the wilderness? The phrase “the secret place of thunder” is parallel to “the waters of Meribah”. Thunder is rather mysterious even though we understand the physics of it. Its origin cannot be seen. It is the sound of air molecules reacting to intense heat and cooling. It happens so fast and because it consists of air molecules it cannot be seen. Thus it is said to be a “secret place”. This is the same word that is used of the womb (Psalm 139:15 - my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place). When the people called out in distress, God answered with thunder in the sky and water from the ground. Sometimes God answers our prayers in big ways, thunder that you cannot miss. Sometimes he answers in miraculous ways like bringing water from a rock. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, you will be tested in the wilderness. Will you trust Him when he seems to be silent, knowing that his thunderous voice may speak at any moment? When you cry out, listen for the thunder and expect the water to appear.
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
The Lord continues to address his people using the language of the Shema. “Hear, O my people...O Israel.” These are phrases that would have immediately brought the creed to mind. “The LORD is your God, the LORD is one.” The Lord repeatedly pleads for his people to listen. Here’s the rule: There shall be no strange god among you. You should not bow down to a foreign god. The wilderness was a place where the idols of the heart were revealed. The Israelites likely brought out idols with them from Egypt. There were Egyptians and other foreigners among them and perhaps they brought their idols as well. In the context of the ancient near east, trusting in a multitude of gods was a normal thing. This is what everyone did. You wanted to have your bases covered, particularly as you traveled into new regions where different gods exercised authority. Moses introduced an entirely new way of thinking about God. There was one true God, one God who was worthy of worship. The others (if they even existed) were nothing compared to Him. This was a difficult way to live in the ancient world because it ran counter to every other culture. Egypt had its multiplicity of gods as did every other ancient civilization. Israel said, “Nope, there is one God. His name is YHWH.” This radical understanding was not even fully embraced by the people who were called by his name. The priests and prophets would tell the people over and over again, put away your foreign gods and worship the LORD exclusively. We are much more sophisticated today. We don’t carry idols in our pockets or set them up on the mantle. We treasure them in our hearts. We pretend that we have none, but they are there. We turn to them whenever we are in need - our money, our pleasures, our addictions, our relationships. There are any number of idols that we cherish in our hearts and God simply says, “Listen to me. Put them away. Stop valuing things that have no ultimate value.” The wilderness, the hard times, when everything we’ve trusted in is stripped away -- this is when we learn that God can be trusted. The desert reveals the idols of the heart. This is why every saint spends time in the desert (Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul). Examine your heart and remove the idols that beckon your trust.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
In contrast to the idols, the impotent foreign gods that the people were cherishing, the LORD declares that He is the one who brought them up out of the land of Egypt. The verb “brought up” means to climb, to ascend, and this is literally the trek that Israel had made. They went up from Egypt, climbing from the Nile delta to the high mountain desert of Sinai. They met God on one of the highest mountains on the peninsula, Horeb (or Sinai). From there they headed east to the land promised to them while God provided for their every need in the wilderness. It was as easy as opening their mouths and God would fill it -- manna, quail, water from the rock. That is probably an overstatement because there were times that Israel grumbled and cried out for food and water, so they must have had moments of scarcity. But these seem to be seasons of testing. Would they trust the One who brought them up out of Egypt? The question is appropriate today as well. Do you trust the One who brought you up out of Egypt? Do you open your mouth wide before him so that he may fill it? Or are you satisfied with your current diet? Are you even hungry for what God is offering? An image that comes to mind is that of feeding a baby. As the spoon comes near, the baby instinctively opens her mouth to receive it, trusting your goodness and enjoying the flavor. This verse is an invitation to find your ultimate satisfaction in God. It is a fantastic offer: “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Are you placing yourself in a position to receive what God has to offer? Are you opening your ears and heart to listen to his voice each day in the thousands of ways that he speaks? Are you so full of the things of this world that you have no hunger for anything richer or better for you? The LORD offers you truth and wisdom in abundance. His Word is sweeter than honey from the comb. His words are life itself. Open wide your mouth and receive them today.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
The LORD offered everything the people needed, but they did not listen and they would not obey. So God smote them. Not really. Actually he didn’t do that at all, and this seems to be his normal modus operandi. He let them do what they wanted, to listen to their hearts and follow their own advice. This is exactly what Paul says of all humans in Romans 1. If people choose to take the knowledge of God that they have and walk away from him, God lets them. This is illustrated in the parable of the prodigal son as well. The father allows his son to walk away with half of his wealth. He doesn’t run after him. He doesn’t call the police and have him arrested. He doesn’t initiate a public shaming campaign. He doesn’t redirect all of his love to the son who stayed behind. He does nothing. This psalm and others make a pretty good case for free will. God doesn’t need to smite the disobedient. It turns out they smite themselves. As Romans 1 puts it, “they receive in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” There is an internal price to pay for rebellion. People who appear to be free from all moral restraint are suffering deeply inside, reaping psychological, emotional and physical damage while pretending on the outside that all is well. This is why the most compassionate thing we can do is preach the gospel and call people to come home to the father. Affirming people who are expressing pride in their sin is the opposite of the gospel even though it appears to be kind. I know many Christians personally who have compromised the clear teaching of scripture when it comes to human sexuality because they want to show compassion on others, as if it were compassionate to allow another human being to eat pig slop when the father’s banquet awaits. Continue to call people to listen to the father’s voice and resist the call of their own hearts. Our culture has fully embraced expressive individualism. The triumph of the psychological over the physical has meant that people believe their truest self is whatever they feel, that authenticity is following the voice in your head, not necessarily the reality of the body and the world around you. This is always to their own detriment.
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 foes.
Having allowed his people to ignore him and walk away, the LORD laments their lack of listening and obedience. This is the frustration of a parent whose children insist on rebellion, even to their own harm. This is a father who has lovingly instructed his children only to have them spit in the face of the old man and walk away. This is the cry of the father of the prodigal. “Why is my son bringing harm upon himself by refusing to listen to my wisdom?” If the children would only listen and obey they would experience a victorious life. Their enemies would be subdued and God would actively work against those enemies. The children would prosper in the security of God’s protective will. This begs the question, “Are we listening to the voice of God and walking in his ways?” We listen to the voice of God primarily by reading and applying the written word of God to our lives. There really is no other way, and this is not complicated. Simply read the Bible until you come to a command or an implication, and then obey that command. Embody that characteristic. This is not purely an act of the will because God is working with you to help you walk in his ways, as the New Testament tells us, “If we live by the Spirit we will keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25) The enemies in this text of course are literal flesh and blood nations who wish to destroy Israel. Our enemies are spiritual, tempting us to reject the voice of God and follow the voice in our head that tells us to walk in step with the world. The more we walk in step with God and grow accustomed to hearing and obeying his voice, the less likely we will fall for the lies of the enemy, particularly when we come to understand the goodness of God. His ways are not arbitrary, rather they keep us living in line with how we were made, our teleos.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you [That is, Israel; Hebrew him] with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.
The psalmist seems to be continuing his reference to the enemies of Israel from the previous verse by designating them as “YHWH haters”. These enemies of God will cringe before Him and their fate (lit. time) would last forever. In contrast, the people of God would enjoy the finest of wheat and be satisfied with the sweetness of honey from the rock. However, this is where the twist comes in. The “YHWH haters” in verse 15 are among the people of God. The enemy is within. This psalm is a call to fidelity for the people of God, to resist those among them that are following their hearts and not God their savior. Another way of translating verse 15 is that “YHWH haters pretend submission to him.” This then is not referring to the nations in opposition to Israel, but the covenant-fakers among them, the wolves in sheep’s clothing who feign obedience while secretly disregarding the truth of God in reality. This is directed to every believer who would pretend to be good Christians while secretly living a double life, hollow and guilt-ridden, they cannot enjoy the gifts of God, the honey wheat bread that truly satisfies. The reference to wheat and honey are from Deuteronomy 32, the Song of Moses. In that portion of the song, he is describing God’s care for his people, likening the LORD to an eagle hovering over her young, fiercely protecting and providing for them. This is YHWH and the good life that he offers those who will listen to his voice. This is not a promise of a life free from pain. Rather it is a promise that you will always be fed, always find satisfaction in Him, regardless of the depravations you may face. Jesus declared himself to be the “bread of life” (John 6), the ultimate fulfillment of this promise from the psalm. He is bread from the finest wheat, and he is the sweet, rich honey from the rock. Jesus was the rock that accompanied Israel in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4), the one that was struck (smitten by Moses’ rod of judgment) on our behalf in order to satisfy us with life-giving water and provide us with the sweetness of his presence.