Psalm 81

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Psalm

Psalm 81
1 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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Outline

"If Only..."
Psalm 81
By Pastor Clinton Macomber

1. Make Fun, Noisy Praise to God!

   1. Sing loudly to God, Psalm 81:1
   2. Bring a psalm and musical instrument, Psalm 81:2
   3. Blow a trumpet on holy days, Psalm 81:3
   4. Obey this law to Israel, Psalm 81:4

2. Proclaim God's Goodness

   1. God ordained Joseph among foreigners, Psalm 81:5
   2. God delivered him from servitude, Psalm 81:6
   3. God answered when called, Psalm 81:7

3. Testify of the Simple Requirements

   1. Hear the testimony of God, Psalm 81:8
   2. Reject any worship of alien deities, Psalm 81:9
   3. Accept God's work on our behalf, Psalm 81:10

4. Testify of the Tragic Loss

   1. God's people were given their lusts, Psalm 81:11-12
   2. God would have been against the enemies, Psalm 81:13-14
   3. Haters of God should have been eternally doomed, Psalm 81:15
   4. God would have fed His people with wheat and honey, Psalm 81:16.

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Sermon

If Only....”
Psalm 81
by Pastor Clinton Macomber

“If only I had just done ....” This is a common regret that echoes throughout all civilization on this side of God’s Kingdom. People foolishly pursue their own interests instead of God’s interests and go on paying for it for all eternity. Very often such a person is told to stop it, and not even think about such things. This is actually bad advice. We suffer from bad choices so that we will speak up and warn others not to go down the path we trod. Pretending as if our course was fine is a dangerous precedent to set with those that look up to us.

This Psalm is a song about the wrong choices and the cost for having made them. It is a sad tale. It is designed to challenge us to stick to the right choices and not let our twisted lifestyle govern our lives any longer. Today is the day to testify of God and change.

In the heading there is an instrument mentioned. It is the Gittith. Jewish tradition says that David saw this instrument in Gath, and copied it for use in Israel. Others figure from the name that it was a song of grape crushing.¹ A comprehensive interpretation is that this has to do with the victory that comes from Spiritual crushing. Being a slave in Egypt was like being a grape in the wine-press. This Psalm celebrates the release from the toil and physical oppression that is celebrated on the great Feast of Rosh Hashanah.²

This psalm is sung each year by the Jewish people, on the fifth day of the feast of Passover. It was on the fifth day of creation that God created the birds and fish that bring great joy to the creation, moving one to praise God for the color and vitality of His creatures.³

1. Make Fun, Noisy Praise to God!

This first selection is actually a bit funny! God orders us to be joyful and glad! I once heard a message on how you cannot legislate joy, yet this is the very reminder we have given to us. The Scriptures order all the men of Israel to stop their work and come to God’s place of worship, and celebrate with great joy what He has done for them.

The sad thing is that there are many people that would never think of saying thank you to God in any form, unless they are specifically told to do so. There are others (like Michal, David’s wife) that belittle the worshiper for their exuberance. This makes it necessary for God to order praise. So, how do we praise God?

1. Sing loudly to God

Psalm 81:1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

God gives us strength (social and political boldness) so that we will have the energy to really get excited about His blessings and praise Him with all we have. The way to do it is through singing to God, and making a joyful noise to Him.

Lots of people hum as they go about their duties, and even some Christians might quietly hum a tune in their mind, but this is the complete opposite. It is taking a hymn from the Psalms and singing out with all our might, so people can hear the excitement a long way off.

This is the amazing characteristic of the Saints of God throughout the ages. God’s people set the standards of music and enthrallment. The songs of the saints are so powerful, that just a few can create such a sensation, that people for great distances receive a witness and testimony as to God’s power. The devil’s blind followers cannot produce anything from the pit of darkness that compares, so they make loud racket, to try to overpower any harmony with discord and discontent.

One of the sure signs that a church group is following God is when the few who attend gather around and raise a loud melodic and happy harmony to God. There is nothing that can compare with singing the same words with others of like faith and practice. All present: old, young, rich, poor, strong, feeble, etc. can join together in worship to God. Many a person has been drawn into a church because of the singing, and then saved once they heard the gospel. Singing the great old hymns and Psalms is one of the greatest things we can do to spread the Word of God.

2. Bring a psalm and musical instrument

Psalm 81:2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

We are to “lift up a song.” The word for psalm is first found in Exodus 15:2, where Moses lead Israel in His song of victory. Toward the beginning, they sang that “Yah is my boldness and song.”

The message is that we are to do everything we can to make a loud, joyous noise to God. The invite reads: “Bring your hymn book, any instruments you play, and sing so loud you can drown out the cymbals!”

3. Blow a trumpet on holy days

Psalm 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

Now the question as to when we are to celebrate is answered. Every new moon, we are to sound the trumpet and sing praises, as well as the holy feast days. Everyone is to be ready to respond in praise upon the sound of the trumpet, and for the holy days.

4. Obey this law to Israel

Psalm 81:4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

The reason given to do it is because this is God’s law. It is not an option. It must be done. As humans we have to learn to praise God. We have to learn to raise our voices in triumph and joy. It is not a natural thing. People learn to cheer their favorite sports team players and join in the culture that develops to honor some overpaid athlete.

But when it comes to praising God, we are silent. One of the great things about raising a family is being able to teach the children to pray. It is not easy to close one’s eyes and lift up one’s voice in conversational tones with someone you cannot see, but who hears you. The child is usually timid and might almost whisper words at first, and needs lots of assistance in forming the sentences. But after a few months of practice, they can raise their voices and pray loudly enough all can hear in a room. Later they can add real meaning and heartfelt feeling to their prayers.

The same thing is true in singing and making triumphant praise. One has to learn to do it. It is not an easy thing. It is the means of drawing out one’s spirit and quenching the embarrassed soul. But once the process is learned, the praise can be glorious. The best place to learn is with others that assemble themselves regularly for the same reason. To us, this is our weekly church services. Learn to praise God there, and you will be practiced for all eternity.

2. Proclaim God’s Goodness

1. God ordained Joseph among foreigners

   Psalm 81:5 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.

This rule of loud praise was established in Joseph, as the young man went about Egypt, a foreign land, with a strange language and culture. Joseph had to go through all the land of Egypt to make assessments of the need for storage facilities for the grain to sustain the nation for 7 years of famine. Then he had to supervise the raising of grain silos to protect this huge amount of perishable product. Joseph’s praise was glorious, because it was loud and came from the heart. He named his boys to memorialize the fact he has almost completely forgotten the suffering he endured. Thus, God made it a law that all His people should behave the same way regularly.

2. God delivered him from servitude

Psalm 81:6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

Joseph was sent to Egypt as a slave. It was his job to do the menial tasks that others did not want to do. It was also his job to do the hardest work there was to be done. He did his job faithfully, and would not consider sin as a diversion from his work. This meant he became a slave in the prison house of the Pharaoh. His labor only was increased and his degradation also increased.

But God did not leave him there. He delivered him from all menial duty and made him prime minister of the land. Joseph remained faithful to God, and God was able to raise him up on high. Joseph’s praise must have been glorious.

3. God answered when called

Psalm 81:7 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.

Now we skip ahead in the story that is so familiar to everyone that loves God’s Word. 400 years later, the Israelites had grown from one man to 70 people, to several million people. At this point the people were suffering dearly under a cruel Pharaoh. They cried to God for help and deliverance. He heard them and responded in powerful splendor. He created a powerful influence that stirred fear into the hearts of all the neighboring nations. They also knew that God had promised Israel their land.

Now there is an interesting point made. After God provided abundantly and beyond their hopes and dreams, He offered a small test to see if they would trust Him. He brought them to the desert where there was no water. Would the Israelites wait patiently on God or fall into a temper? We know the bad news. We read:

Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?

The people came to this place of testing and instead of being loyal to God, they took out their anger on Moses by verbally abusing him and threatening him with harm. Their insults demonstrated their hearts were hardened against God and His provision. They were not willing to trust God in spite of all He had done for them. So we read:

Exodus 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

Massah means “testing” while Meribah is the word for “contention.” When they came to the place of testing, they fought it, and did not come with a humble and tender heart to the Lord for provision.

3. Testify of the Simple Requirements

1. Hear the testimony of God

   Psalm 81:8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

The key to success in learning to worship God with full joy is to listen to God. We have to turn off our own thoughts and just listen to Him. Accept His Word at face value and put His words into action.

How shall they hear? It starts with a preacher that is sent by God. It is through him and the reading and sharing of Scripture that things get started. After that, it continues with his help and the personal Bible study and prayer. But people always figure they have other things they would rather do. Or, finding a person sent from God may require some effort. But in the end, once things are going, and God’s Word is being learned and applied, joyful worship is a wonderful thing.

2. Reject any worship of alien deities

   Psalm 81:9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

The next step is to cut off the worship of anything else. This is a process in one’s life. We start by ceasing and desisting from anything we know is wrong, because continuing on such a path is doomed to interrupt our progress before God.

Then each day, we need to ask God to bring out new idols that we have and purge them from our lives. Any bad habit or unrighteous deed shows we follow other things than God. We cannot bear to have such things. They are contrary to the benefits of following God. They must go, or we suffer a lack of blessing and leading.

3. Accept God’s work on our behalf

   Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

This next step may seem fundamental, but it is just as tough to teach our soul discipline, as it is to raise our spirits in joyful praise to God.

While Moses was up on the mount, being given the laws that would govern the nation, because the people wanted Moses to represent them; Aaron was down below, taking the Egyptian face rings and melting them into a golden calf. After fashioning it, he presented it as the nation’s Savior.

This is to us an amazing display of depravity that it seems unthinkable. Yet we forget that the cow was considered a sacred god, and in several countries is still considered the embodiment of human beings and gods.

Culturally, coming from Egypt, this seemed a very real way to represent the God they worshiped. But then, remembering the many dances and sensuous practices that went along with such worship, they began such ceremonies before this man-made idol. When Moses was sent down by God, he was horrified at what he saw. The Levites purged away the lives of those committing the gross acts of vile deeds. And Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites to spare the whole nation.

The point is that we have got to recognize that it is Yah Elohim that brings powerful redemption and freedom. According to the commandments, there is nothing that can represent Him on earth, nor can anything act as a “window” to help us communicate with Him. Worship can only come from a pure heart, in full humility and appreciation.

If we open our mouths wide, He will fill them with the blessings of awe and wonder. He will supply our needs. He will help us meet our obligations. But we must commit ourselves completely to Him first, and make sure we allow nothing to come between us and His greatness.

4. Testify of the Tragic Loss

1. God’s people were given their lusts

   Psalm 81:11-12 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

It seems unthinkable to us that Israel could possibly not listen to God after seeing first hand all the wonders of God. But it is a fact that we do the same things. When one surveys all those who call themselves Christians, they see a vast array of selfish, self-serving, and ungrateful people. They are people that rarely read a verse of Scripture, let alone follow it. They are a people that want to believe that God lets us do whatever we want to do.

The truth is that God does permit us to follow our own wishes. But it is also true that in following our own wishes, we are only following the lusts of the body, and we remain dead in our soul and lack His Holy Spirit. We wander about in our lives, waiting to die, being worthless and never experiencing the blessings He has in store for us.

2. God would have been against the enemies

   Psalm 81:13-14 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem, knowing that they were soon to go through a doom that would last a great while. He loves His people and wishes they would somehow accept His offers of blessing and help. But they consistently reject Him, as they have historically.

Just as in the days of Moses, the judges, the prophets, and today, Israel turns their back on the goodness of God and follow their own ideas and ways. The Lord Jesus pointed out that the religious leaders were good at amassing huge law books for the people to follow, but did nothing to follow God personally.

In the gospels we read of the multitudes that would come for food and for healing, but you do not see them coming for salvation, or for spiritual cleansing and direction. They wanted the free benefits without the holy life. Later when the disciples shared the message of the Word of God at the Feast of Pentecost, many were saved because of the wonders and signs. But they soon fell away. Paul labored to start many churches, but shortly afterwards labored to salvage them. By the time John wrote Revelation, many of the churches had been destroyed, and so are not mentioned. The ones mentioned were fighting to survive.

Here is where we got the title for the message: “If only....” If only they had the faith to trust God and follow Him implicitly. There is nothing strange to do in obedience to God. Instead it is a call to maturity and honesty. Man-made organizations have horrible initiation ceremonies and frightening systems of promotion. This never exists in God’s plan. He is a loving father, not a strange and evil dictator.

3. Haters of God should have been eternally doomed

   Psalm 81:15 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

Those that hated God should have not done that, but instead they should have submitted in humble gratitude to God. Instead of facing eternal doom, they would instead have eternal life. So not only does the Lord grant blessings today, He extends those blessings for eternity.

4. God would have fed His people with wheat and honey

Psalm 81:16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

The closing verse of this song is that God also would have given the best wheat in the world and the best honey from the rock!

From the Egyptian tomb we have been able to regrow a wheat that is much bigger than any wheat berries we have had for many years. It is also rated as being more nutritious. Joseph had a great time to introduce the choicest wheat when gathering the various grains and storing them for seven years. The grains that were being used would have dried up and Joseph could have saved the best to be planted. A sample of this prized grain was found in a tomb and after 3,000 years planted. It grew and is in great demand.

Just think what Israel could have gotten in their breadbasket of the world, had they honored God and followed His ways. They had control of the territory that all through the Roman occupation was considered the world’s source of grain, in the land of Bashan. And this reputation was during the times when Israel was still in rebellion against God. Just think what would have happened if they were in harmony with Him!

Next is the mention of honey from the rock. The Israeli bee is a very aggressive bee. I looks for cool cavities in rocky cliffs where the hive can be protected from the heat of the day and the cold of the night. It is also a good place to avoid creditors like the bear, skunks and other pests.

I read recently in a book that was written around 1850, trying to explain the significance of using honey, because sugar had completely replaced it. He was acting as if people really did not know what honey was. This is so unfortunate. Honey has built in systems to make sure it is not overused. It has a huge balance of various sugars, minerals and vitamins to make sure it is a healthy product. Sugar has none of these things. It is completely evil except for the taste. As is our habit, we think we have to find a replacement for God’s food, and our replacement is the source of many evils.

God had wanted to offer the cream of wheat and an abundance of honey that just dripped from the rocks, like water from a spring. If only....

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Topic Study

Those that Will not Hearken
B y Pastor Clinton Macomber

Adam and Eve immediately demonstrated the effects of sin by their fleeing to hide when they heard God's voice calling them.

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

The heartbroken testimony of the sons of Jacob mentions that they would not heed the cries of Joseph. Their hardheartedness brought them a life-time of grief.

Genesis 42:21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

Moses was sent to the Israelites to give them the words of God that promised deliverance and a land that would be theirs. But they would not heed Moses because they were in such anguish and bondage, they did not care.

Exodus 6:9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

God told Moses that Pharaoh would be beligerant and would not respond to the Word of God. The result would enable God to demonstrate to the world, His own power and glory, and that He fulfills the impossible, once it is promised.

Exodus 7:4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

There is a final doom to those that do not listen to those who have God's wisdom.

Proverbs 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

It is a scorner that does not hear a rebuke.

Proverbs 13:1 A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

Those that refuse to hear God's law also do not have prayers that are heard.

Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

A poor person's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

Ecclesiastes 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

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Quote

Psalm 81 Quote:

Thou calledst … I delivered; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder. Psalm 81:7

Such trouble as Israel passed through in the Exodus comes but once in the history of a nation. From the brick-kilns and treasure-cities which they built, God's people called to Him with strong crying and tears, extorted by insupportable sorrows. Still more did they need to cry for help when they stood between the Egyptians and the waters of the Red Sea. From the beach a nation's call rose to God. Then was their trouble and heart-travail — a nation in throes of pain! Are you in trouble? Call upon God in the day of trouble; He will answer.

God's answers are often in the secret place of thunder. From his pavilion of cloud God spoke in tones of thunder that pealed over the heavily-breaking surf of the Red Sea. Several of the Psalms allude to the thunderstorm that rolled through the night of the passage through the deep. The march of Israel was to the roll of thunder. The peals of heaven's artillery struck dismay into the hearts of the alien; but it was as though the Father was speaking to his children, the people with whom He was in covenant.

God's answer to our prayer is often in thunder-tones that hurtle through the air. By terrible things in righteousness He answers us. When Jesus asked the Father to glorify his name, the quiet reply, “I have … and will,” which He understood, sounded like thunder to the bystanders. Happy the child who in thunder-claps detects the Father's voice, and in mystic characters of flame reads the Father's handwriting! Whilst, at Sinai, the people trembled at the repeated thunder-peals reverberating above them, Moses went into the thunder-covert where God was. There is no fear in love, because perfect love casteth out the fear that hath torment.

Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily . Redding, California: Pleasant Places Press Vol. 3 Nu. 81.

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Devotions

Monday, Psalm 81:1-3 and Ecclesiastes 11:1-2

These two portions carry a very important message. God commands us to sing loudly and joyfully. Doing so enables us to lay up reserves for later. By blessing God and blessing others, we lay up blessing for ourselves, for when things may change.

Tuesday, Psalm 81:4-5 and Ecclesiastes 11:3

God gives us this instruction as law, because how things settle down in our lives is the way they are going to stay. If we have something of joy inside, we need to evidence it, otherwise we are just empty bags of wind.

Wednesday, Psalm 81:6-8 and Ecclesiastes 11:4-5

Divine wisdom is so far beyond our thoughts that we cannot possibly guess the manner in which God will bless and provide. There was a time when I would pray for God to do something and suggest a way. I soon learned that any way I could invent was surely not going to happen. Instead the source of least expectation was the source of greatest blessing.

Thursday, Psalm 81:9-10 and Ecclesiastes 11:6

What a harmony of verses! In the Psalms we are warned to drive away any strange habits of worship from our lives, and open our mouths as wide as possible to see what goodies are placed in them. In Ecclesiastes, we are told to always be sowing, because we do not know what portion, planted at what time will bring in the harvest, that makes the efforts with it. Cover all the bases so that you can receive the ultimate in blessing from God!

Friday, Psalm 81:11-13 and Ecclesiastes 11:7-8

The sad dark days are supposed to shake us up so that we will run to righteousness. Instead, we figure we just have to do better on our own, and we continue to ignore the reason we are failing and not enjoying the blessing of God. Do not let yourself be swayed from a tenacious following of God. When you are completely dedicated to Him, you will know, and enjoy the blessed privilege of walking with God. When there is sin, you will also immediately know. Vagaries are only for the prodigal who has strayed far away from God.

Saturday, Psalm 81:14-16 and Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

Ecclesiastes ends where the Psalm began. It is important that sorrow be banned from our hearts and evil be put away from our lives. There is so much at stake and there is no escape from giving a full accounting of our lives and actions, and even words.

 

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Puzzle

 

 

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