God Speaks
81 For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 Sing praises to God, our strength.
Sing to the God of Jacob.
2 Sing! Beat the tambourine.
Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
3 Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,
and again at full moon to call a festival!
4 For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a law for Israel
when he attacked Egypt to set us free.
I heard an unknown voice say,
6 “Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
7 You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud
and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude
8 “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
9 You must never have a foreign god;
you must not bow down before a false god.
10 For it was I, the Lord your God,
who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
11 “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
Israel did not want me around.
12 So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
living according to their own ideas.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me!
Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;
they would be doomed forever.
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”
82 A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides over heaven’s court;
he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:
2 “How long will you hand down unjust decisions
by favoring the wicked? Interlude
3 “Give justice to the poor and the orphan;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
4 Rescue the poor and helpless;
deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
5 But these oppressors know nothing;
they are so ignorant!
They wander about in darkness,
while the whole world is shaken to the core.
6 I say, ‘You are gods;
you are all children of the Most High.
7 But you will die like mere mortals
and fall like every other ruler.’”
8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to you.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection
Psalm 81: This author is grateful to Fr. Reardon for proposing that this psalm is a fanfare or call to worship for the Israelites to commemorate the events of the Exodus when the LORD God alone did miraculous things to free them from slavery in Egypt. As he points out, “all our worship of God is rooted in our deliverance from demonic slavery by His gracious redemptive hand. It is ‘to the praise of the glory of His grace’ (Eph. 1:6) that He has saved us.”* This author believes that one reason that there are so many problems in our culture today is that the adults of the past 50 to 75 years (this author included) have done an inadequate job of passing on to upcoming generations the values and traditions that have made this nation great in the past. As Dennis Prager** has inferred on various occasions, this has resulted in a “pandemic of ingratitude.” Oh, that we would heed the instructions of Psalm 81: 8-13; that we would turn back (repent), listen to and obey the LORD. Then He would fulfill the promises He made in verses 14-16.
Psalm 82: This author agrees with Fr. Reardon* that this psalm depicts the LORD God presiding over the courts of Heaven pronouncing judgement on the rulers of the world (both human and demonic). The human leaders have been following “their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.” (Psalm 81:12 NLT) The world is in such a mess that we can only cry out with Psalm 82:8, “Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to You.” (NLT)
*Christ in all the Psalms, Patrick Henry Reardon p. 159-162. **The Rational Bible: Exodus, PragerU, Fireside Chats, Dennis Prager.
Prayer
Dear gracious and merciful God, please turn us back to Yourself and Your Word. Help us to remember You, what You have rescued us from and how to live lives that truly reflect You and Your gracious forgiveness. Help us to be grateful, happy and helpful to others. AMEN
Action (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
I will pour out my heart to the LORD, thanking Him for setting me free from bondage to sin, self and Satan.
I will join others in celebrating this fact.
I will spend time daily listening to the LORD.
i will join with others in standing up for the truly oppressed.
Share
I plan to share what I’ve learned with ________.