Psalm 81
For the director of music. According to gittith Of Asaph.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.”
Sometimes when reading the Psalms when it is a time for trouble and worry - it seems David complains and complains, and as the reader you are agreeing with him! That's right, tell us, tell God about it! Suddenly David does an about face .... when one is "hep up" agreeing with David
.... and he says..... like in Psalm 108:
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
Some days we feel like David. Like Jesus carrying His cross. Then David throws a curve in a verse latter in the same Psalm 108:
12 Oh grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
Read Psalm 81 again, or just let a verse jump in your memory....
For me this Psalm hinges on:
I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I delivered you
Some days I say, please Father, help me to carry that burden..... and other days the verse puts a little jolt of "Noooo.... I want that..... more...."
Regardless, I reach the verse:
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it
And I say to Him, "I can think of a whole lot of blessings!!! And I won't bow down to another god!!! Watch me, Father God!!!"
So what about these Davidic turn-around Psalms? David is Not window dressing, thresh David down, shake him around - David trusts God. Even when the Ziphites went to tell Saul where David was, in Psalm 54; David trusts God.
David grew up hearing, then living the mighty works of God. He heard stories about the Heavens long before his descendant Hezekiah would ask God to turn the hands of time back. David knew of Joshua:
Joshua 10:12-14
At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
Genesis 18:14
Is ANYTHING too hard for the LORD?
Jeremiah 32:27
"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
David waited expectantly, like Paul did, to see what God would plan. David trusted God. As we can.
Father God, You are one who heeds our voice in Prayer. Thank You God. In Jesus. Thank You. We look to You. Amen.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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