Psalm 81

Psalm 81:1-16 (ESV)
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.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known:
6 “I relieved your 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”


Journal
1. The Lord must be praised.
2. God is patient with your rebellion
3. The very best is found in the presence of God.

The Lord must be praised (v1-4).
God is praised. We must do all that we have to worship him. Sing aloud! Blow the trumpet. The Lord is God alone. We praise the Lord Jesus for His joy and wondrous deeds.

God is patient with you rebellion (v6-15).
We see that when we rebel and reject God he will turn “them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.” (v12) What a frightful thing it might be to left to our own devices! Lord take us now and make us into your people. That we may not let our own ways destroy our relationship with you. The Lord will wait for you to finish fighting. The whole time you are in His hand He will not let go. We need to submit to him and make his ways our ways. “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” (v13)

The very best is found in the presence of God.(v10,16)
When we finally stop fighting the hold of God we see we can have the very “finest of the wheat” v16 No one will satisfy us except the Lord. He even says to open wide so that we can fill your mouth (v10)! The Lord is truly amazing and only he can make us happy. Come and taste that the Lord is good!