Psalm 81

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Scripture

“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!

Psalm 81:13-14, LSB

Quote

The salvation and health of the church depends on its continuing to listen to God’s word and to obey it.

~W. R. Godfrey

My Thoughts

The ancient Israelites had a bad memory when it came to the things God had done for them. It seems that they always focused on what they didn’t have instead of thanking God for what they did have. We should pray when things are going bad, but we should also pray when they are going good. There are five basic lesson taught in Psalm 81…

  1. Our relationship with Christ must be celebrated. We must praise Him; give Him shouts of praise and make music to Him. We should maintain an attitude of gratitude and give Him praise, no matter what the circumstances. This includes festivals, fellowship meals, etc. {verses 1-4}
  2. We must pray without ceasing; pray always. Israel cried out to God when they got in trouble but when things were going good, they had nothing to say to Him. {Verse 7, In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud}
  3. We must listen attentively to God’s word and obey it. Listening alone is not enough but it is a good start. { Verses 11-12, 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}. C.S. Lewis said, The greatest judgment of all is when God says to us, “Have thine own way.”}
  4. We cannot subdue our enemies, not alone. When I speak of enemies, I am talking about Satan, the flesh and the world system in rebellion against Christ. {Verses 13-14, 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}
  5. There is no future for Jesus haters. God will forgive you for most anything but there will be no forgiveness for hating His Son. {verse 15, Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever}

Extra

We had 40 at are 49er Fellowship last Friday and another feast. We had a good crowd yesterday. June and I both thought we would be down but we had good attendance and a good service.

My good friend and neighbor Randy Lewis was promoted yesterday morning. I do not know the exact time. I got a call around 10:15 a.m. On the way home, Joe David sent a text telling us that Kenny Thompson also passed. I don’t think his passing was expected.

The big news is the weather. It was 18* when I came to the office. I had on a hoody and my overcoat. Thank goodness we have electricity, but neither the house or the office are warm. Our system can’t handle extreme weather but it is warmer in here than out side. It was snowing. It is a very fine snow, almost ice and I didn’t see it until I looked up into the street light. Both the house and the office porch are slick so be careful.

Extra/Extra

As a part of my devotional time, I am reading Robert J. Morgan THEN SINGS MY SOUL. Several facts that some of you might find interesting. The Jews have a Doxology called the Yigdal written by Moses Maimonides and it has 13 verses. It is sung by some congregations in Great Britain. Modern congregations don’t have the patience to sing 13 verses.

Martin Luther was a musician. He not only wrote hymns. His favorite musical instrument was the flute which he played proficiently.

The German doxology is NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD. It was written by Martin Rinkart. He was a pastor in Eilenberg, Saxony which is now a part of Germany. During the Thirty Years War, Eilenberg was surrounded by the Swedish army. The city endured famine and all the things that go with it. Every pastor in the city died of the plague or diease except Rinkart. It is said that he conducted as many as 50 funerals per day. By that statement, I wrote WOW!

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