LISTEN, MY PEOPLE!
Opening Prayer
Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening.
Read PSALM 81
Psalm 81[a]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
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 festival;
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.[c]
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 forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Footnotes:
a Psalm 81:1 In Hebrew texts 81:1-16 is numbered 81:2-17.
b Psalm 81:1 Title: Probably a musical term
c Psalm 81:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 23:12).
Psalm 81 opens with a summons to worship at the festival designed to celebrate the deliverance from Egypt (1–5). The worship leader “heard” (šāma‘) an unknown voice (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 (6–16).
Speaking in the first person, God reminds the Israelites of their past disobedience and of his discipline (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!” Despite experiencing God’s deliverance from Egypt, they still turn to other gods (9, 10). That’s why God painfully cries out, “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me” (11). Giving them another chance, God expresses his desire “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways” (13). Then he would deliver them from their enemies and grant them abundant blessings (14–16). The connection between listening and obedience is highlighted in verses 11 and 13, where “listen” parallels “submit” (11) and “follow my ways” (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” (James L. Mays, Psalms, Interpretation, John Knox Press, 1994, p. 266). Praise in worship should reinforce 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!”
Apply
Don’t hesitate. “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” (John H. Sammis, “Trust and Obey,” 1887).
Closing prayer
Lord, we fully understand the relationship between obedience and blessing, as opposed to disobedience and difficulty.
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