Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 81.2 and following. Indeed, Israel is invited to sing as it once did by the Red Sea, to the sound of the tambourine (Exodus 15:20-21). But after the deliverance of Egypt mentioned in verse 7, Jehovah would still have had many great things to accomplish on behalf of his people… if he had wanted to listen to him. He was ready in particular to feed him with the marrow of wheat (the fine flower of flour that always tells us about Christ), as well as the honey of the rock, an image of the sweetness of divine grace. But God is forced to note sadly: “Israel did not want me… ». How touching is His exclamation: “Israel, oh! if you wanted to listen to me” and further: “Oh! if my people had listened to me” (Dt 5:23-29). Believing friends, God has also lifted our shoulder from under the heaviest of burdens: that of sin. But let us remember that He still has many other blessings in store for us… provided that we have the desire to receive them and that we listen to His Word. He has prepared victories for us; He wants to nourish us with Christ and His love.
Thus, the psalm remains in the same current of thought: it is the expression of the feelings of the residue that the Lord has revived, according to their desire of Ps. 80. It is the language of their souls, now awakened and repentant – Israel celebrating the Feast of Trumpets – that typifies Israel’s repentance in the last days, according to Leviticus 23. This is the true sounding of the trumpet at the new moon, an expression of Israel’s resurrection, after the current interval of the time of the nations – the moment of the return of light, that is, when the moon will shine again, reflecting the brilliance of the great luminary. But Jehovah is moved by this repentance of Israel, and he then recalls both his ways, and their ways of the past – thus justifying his way of acting towards them; for he makes them understand that it was their own folly and wickedness that made this visitation necessary; if they had listened to his voice, “their time would have been forever, ” they would have experienced no eclipse or decline. He has now revived them by grace; but he desires that they never forget this -that they forced Jehovah to visit them to revive them.
For he is not content to justify his ways towards them in this way: his words are wonderfully apt to deepen and strengthen in them the spirit of repentance, just as Jesus’ gaze at Peter, at the same time as the crow of the rooster, operated with a view to the restoration of his soul. And what could be more natural? Doesn’t God enter the ways of the human heart in a striking way? A heart returned to itself and repentant can only be vividly seized by a call so full of grace. For verse 14 recalls Deuteronomy 5:29 and Isaiah 48:18; and these passages are further testimonies to us of the deep tenderness and sympathies of Jehovah; and before Israel sins, they present Him to us in His ardent desire to find them free from sin to remain a people blessed by Him; and after they have sinned, God is presented as leading mourning over their wickedness that deprives them of blessing.
This is why Ps. 81, while celebrating, in figure, the restoration of Israel, returns again to the historical point of view, especially in that it introduces Joseph who represents the ten tribes (Ezek 37:16): otherwise, Judah, the Jews, could have claimed everything. But during the restoration (although there are events that relate in a special way to the Jews, for it is among them that Jesus conversed, and on the last day He will enter especially into the circumstances in the midst of which they find themselves, associating with them in such a profoundly interesting way that we have studied in the first two books), it is evident that in the full fulfillment of God’s purposes, Joseph’s wood must have its place, and be one with Judah in the hand of the Son of man, to represent all Israel (Ezekiel 37:17). But the new moon was the symbol of Israel’s reappearance in sunlight; the people greeted her with joy, attached that she was to redemption, in the thought of faith.
For Israel in distress had cried out to God, and God had delivered him; but another principle appears at the same time: God, it is true, was responding to his people in distress, but he also felt it. They tempted God, doubting His care and power, and He tested them with difficulties that seemed to show that He did not care for them, and that He lacked power. They then said, “Is the Lord in our midst? But Jehovah answered in grace (Exodus 17). That is the event referred to here. But even on the second occasion, that of Meriba, so named because Israel again disputed with Jehovah, when Moses (Numb 20) spoke recklessly from his lips and was expelled from Canaan (for since Sinai the people were placed under the rule of law, though it was a merciful government), Jehovah was sanctified by giving water to his people, by a grace that rose above moses’ fault.
Nevertheless, although God’s grace and faithfulness to His promises to His people were found in His government (Ex 34:6-7), the people were tested in a lawful manner, on the very footing of this mercy. Thisgovernment was testing, while being a merciful government, and this is, indeed, in a sense, the divine government.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
If my people listened to me…:
· God our strength
Ex 15:2 The Lord is my strength and the subject of my praises; He was the one who saved me. He is my God: I will celebrate him; He is the God of my father: I will exalt him. 2 Sam 22:33 It is God who is my mighty fortress, and who leads me into the right way. Ps 28:8 The Lord is the strength of His people, He is the rock of the deliverances of His anointed. Ps 46:2 God is for us a refuge and a support, a help that is never lacking in distress. Ps 84:6 Blessed are those who place their support in you! They find in their hearts paths all mapped out.
· Statutes, general references
Ex 15:26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, if you do what is right in his eyes, if you listen to his commandments, and if you keep all his laws, I will not strike you with any of the diseases of which I have struck the Egyptians; for I am the Lord, who heals you. Lev 26:46 These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that Jehovah established between Him and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses. Dt 4:5 Behold, I have taught you laws and ordinances, as Jehovah, my God, has commanded me, that you may put them into practice in the land of which you are about to take possession. 1 Kings 3:14 And if you walk in my ways, keeping my laws and commandments, as david your father did, I will prolong your days. Ps 19:9 The ordinances of the Lord are righteous, they rejoice the heart; The commandments of Jehovah are pure, they enlighten the eyes. Ps 119:12, 54 Blessed be you, O Lord! Teach me your statuses! 54 Your statutes are the subject of my hymns, In the house where I am a stranger.
· The Life Tried by the Lord
-The inner life tested Ps 17:3 If you search my heart, if you visit it at night, If you test me, you will find nothing: My thought is none other than what comes out of my mouth.
-The process of refining Zec 13.9 I will put this third in the fire, And I will purify it as one purifies silver, I will experience it as one experiences gold. He will invoke my name, and I will answer him; I will say: This is my people! And he will say: Jehovah is my God! Ml 3:3 He will sit, melt and purify money; He will purify the sons of Levi, He will purify them as one purifies gold and silver, and they will present offerings to Jehovah with righteousness.
-The test of the storm Lk 6:48 He is like a man who, building a house, dug, dug deep, and laid the foundation on the rock. A flood came, and the torrent threw itself against this house, without being able to shake it, because it was well built.
-The final test 1 Cor 3:13 because the day will make it known, because it will be revealed in the fire, and the fire will experience what is the work of each one.
· Divine Pleadings
Pr 1:24 Since I call and you resist, Since I extend my hand and no one is careful, Isa 1:18 Come and plead!” says the Lord. If your sins are like crimson, they will become white as snow; If they are red like purple, they will become like wool. Isa 55.1 All of you who are thirsty, come to the waters, even he who has no money! Come, buy and eat, Come, buy wine and milk, without money, without paying anything! Ez 18:31 Throw away all the transgressions by which you have sinned; make yourself a new heart and a new spirit. Why would you die, house of Israel? 2 Cor 5:20 We therefore act as ambassadors for Christ, as if God were exhorting through us; we beseech you in the name of Christ: Be reconciled to God!
From all the above, we note that God subjects His people to this test: if they were faithful to God, and there was no foreign God among them, the blessing was ready. He was The Lord, their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt. All they had to do was open their mouths wide and he would fill it. But they did not want to listen, and were abandoned to the obstinacy of their hearts. However, we see in this Psalm the tenderness of God’s love for them, and the joy he would have had in blessing them and subjugating all their enemies. His righteous government would have been manifested in them (Mat 23:37; Luke 19:42). Oh! if they had listened! This gives us the reason for the ruin of Israel: As the redeemed of Egypt, the people were placed under the test of obedience and faithfulness to God; they had failed to do so; nevertheless they will appear again to reflect the light of the face of Jehovah. Car cand Jehovah’s love for his people bursts even in his fall. Here, a principle of great importance to every soul is presented to us: redemption, accompanied by the promise of a conditional blessing, only leads to the loss of blessing, precisely as it was for creation. It’s the same thing or worse. How would the care of ensuring the blessing rest on us, now that we are fallen beings, instead of being innocent and free like Adam in paradise. Grace alone can keep us, and so it will be with regard to Israel. Thus Ps 81 brings out in a magnificent way God’s thoughts towards his people and his character full of grace and tenderness. The passages of the Gospels mentioned above express the same tenderness, but also show that Jesus is the Very Lord. Let us open our hearts to Him; He will fill them and His praise will be in our mouths. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the faithful call his people to adoration and fidelity.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.