Psalm 81
June 2, 2024
Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It is good to be in your presence and sing to the Lord, to shout for joy. It is a commandment from the Lord in Exodus 20. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make or worship idols. We worship you, audibly, because you are the only one worthy of worship.
You brought us out of the land of slavery in Egypt. You have freed us from the bonds of sin. And yet we so easily forget the miracles you have performed to give us freedom. And why do we so easily forget this amazing freedom? We forget and worship idols. We sin when practically we put our hope in and trust in money, or politics, or fleeting pleasures, or earthly relationships, or ourselves. These idols will fail us. Forgive us Lord. We confess that all these idols are imposters and never really deliver on their promises and never really satisfy. We celebrate that you are faithful, even when we are lacking in faith, or when we are fumbling. You are more faithful than the morning sun. And as the last verse of Psalm 81 ends, “he would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Lord help us to look to you and find the sweetness of life in who you are, regardless of our present circumstances.
The end of this Psalm draws a clear distinction between the fate of those who do listen and submit to God’s commands, and those who don’t. “Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. We do not have to look very far to see people that hate you O Lord. Their hearts are hardened and they are oriented to destruction. We see evil in our country and around the world. We pray that the evil people who are enslaving other people would be defeated. We pray for slaves to be set free. And we pray that the freedom brings glory to you oh God, and that people all over the world would know you as the true source of freedom and joy.
Lord, we pray that we would listen and submit to your voice, and that we would be fed and nourished by you.
Amen