Psalms 81
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Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
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Commentary
There is a beautiful promise nestled in today’s reading: “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!” (verse 13).
God longs to rescue us. Can you hear the longing in His tone? And even though the Israelites had rejected God, he still calls them “My people.” In Matthew 23:37 Jesus implored his people, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Have you heard the voice of Jesus imploring you to allow him to share your life? To comfort you and protect you, much like a mother hen cares for her chicks? Jesus often refers to himself as our caretaker. He calls himself, “The good Shepherd.” He says, “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.”
Chicks. Lambs. Reminders that Jesus wants to protect and cherish you. He longs to hold you close to Him, and to stand between you and your foes.
Kimberly Bobenhausen
Southern Adventist University, Tennessee USA
