Psalm 81: Fed the Finest Food

Introduction: This psalm was written by Asaph(For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph) to call God’s people to corporate worship, and it survives today to continue to call God’s people to worship.We have been studying through the book of Revelation at my church; the repeated idea has been that “worship is the program and posture of heaven.” I challenge you to just scan John’s descriptions in Revelation of what goes on in heaven, then ask why so little of it goes on here on earth.

I. Verse 1: “Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!”

  1. God’s people are commanded to sing for joy and shout aloud…to usetheir mouths to praise him.
  2. Ephesians 5 tells the church to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lordalways giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
  3. And John 4 adds that “…the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
  4. Ask the Father to search your heart; when called to worship (and that can be in corporate worship or as you’re driving to work and face the sunrise), are you the kind of worshiper who is so overwhelmed by the work the Father is doing that you sing for joy and shout aloud…are you the kind of worshiper the Father seeks? If the answer is no, then ask the Father to open your eyes and change your heart…and move your mouth.

II. Verse 2: “Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.”

  1. Instrumentalists are called to join the singers for worship; I know that some of you have backgrounds of worship with absolutely no instruments, whileothers have electric guitars and drums.I think the balance lies in Ephesians 5’s “make music from your heart,” not the head, making certain that it is “to the Lord,” not to an audience, “always giving thanks to God the Father,” not the drummer or vocalist, “in the Name of Jesus Christ,” meaning with His character, without selfish motive.
  2. God’s tabernacle, and later His temple, required both singers and instruments; as pictures of the heavenly throne room, they reveal God’s love forboth singing and instruments, but as in all things, with improper motive, we can’t label it worship of Him, but it most assuredly is worship of something...and that is why we must always pray, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
  3. Furthermore, we’re told to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), which means every part of our lives; every action, every purchase, every word we speak should ascribe worth to the Father. As Paul explains in Romans 12: 1, “this is your true and proper worship.”

III. Verses 3-4: “Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.”

  1. The ram’s horn, called a shofar, was used to call God’s people to gather, and it was “a decree…an ordinance” that they come together to worship and celebrate. It is important to God that His people come together in unity to worship him.
  2. Hebrews 10:24-25 urges God’s church to “…consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”It’s fairly simple; don’t give up meeting together, or we can’t spur one another on toward love and good deeds, nor can we worship God together.
  3. My mother’s birthday is on Christmas day, and last year, all of her kids and their families attended church with her; in the same way that my mom beamed when all of us were home for Christmas filling up a pew at church, our Heavenly Father is overjoyed when His kids get together to spend time with Him.

IV. Verses 5-7: “When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say: ‘I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.’”

  1. God is in the business of removing burdens from shoulders and setting people free; he still rescues; he still answers when we call in our distress…and he still tests His people.
  2. If you’re in distress, have you called expecting Him to answer? Perhaps the distress is a test because when God sets us free, we tend to choose to wander in the desert for 40 years instead of walking in the freedom we’ve been given; folks, we’ve been offered total freedom: “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Don’t choose to put yourself back into slavery to Egypt (the world).

V. Verses 8-9: “Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.”

  1. If we would only listen to Him…the Word warns us over and over not to place worth (worship) or exaltanything above God; it has been the struggle of the flesh since Adam and Eve chose knowledge over a relationship with their Creator.
  2. However, we are not to just shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh, well. It’s the human condition, so I can’t help it.” God says “if you would only listen to me,” He will set us free, indeed, through His Son, and He has offered the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word to each of us; as wedeny ourselves and take up our crossesdaily, God’s sanctifying work will make us look more and more like Him with each passing day. But it is our daily battle to pick up the cross and crucify self (Luke 9:23).

VI. Verses 10-16: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.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! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

  1. I am the LORD your God: Don’t forget who He is…The Eternal One, Jehovah, Yahweh. The word translated LORD is the Jewish national name for God, so He reminds them, “I am your God; I have chosen you, and I will satisfy you if you will just let me.
  2. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it: What a wonderful image of baby birds stretching theirs mouth as widely as possible, so the mother can fill it. He is Jehovah Jireh…He provides, but he will not force feed His people.
  3. But my people would not listen to me;Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If His baby birds refuse to open their mouths, eventually, He will give them over to their own stubborn hearts, and when our own hearts lead us instead of His Holy Spirit, we’ll follow our own devices, and we’ll spiritually starve.
  4. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you: This is the result of starving for the LORD, of opening our mouths to him. We’re not just fed, we’re given the best and promised it will fully satisfy. Jesus explains this concept in more detail in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”However, baby birds who think they can feed themselves and refuse to open wide their mouths will always be hungry and thirsty…never satisfied.
  5. Isaiah 55:2 asks this thought-provoking question: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?” Why are so many refusing the bread of life that promises to satisfy? The answer goes back to Luke 9:23. If you refuse to deny yourself, and you refuse to pick up your cross daily, you’ll be starving, and you won’t find anything in this world that will satisfy that hunger. The rest of Isaiah 55:2 is both a command and a promise about God’s Word and how it gratifies:

“Listen, listen to me,

and eat what is good,

and you will delight

in the richest of fare.”

Amen and Amen