Psalm 081

Introduction

It occurred to me as I was studying this psalm and preparing for this evening that the whole psalm is like a service of worship with four main parts.

And so, we’re to imagine the Lord’s people coming to worship God. And in the first part of the psalm, which is verses 1 to 5, we have the call to worship. Then, in the second part, which is verses 6 and 7, God speaks to his people to remind them of what he has done for them in the past when he rescued them from Egypt and provided for them in the wilderness. In the third part, which is verses 8 to 10, the Lord reminds his people of his law. In particular, he focuses on the first of the Ten Commandments to have no other gods before him. And finally, in verses 11 to 16, he warns his people of the trouble they’ll suffer if they are unfaithful to him; but he also reassures them of all the good things they’ll enjoy if they remain faithful.

And so, we’re to imagine the psalmist calling the people to come before the Lord for worship. And when they assemble, they hear the good news of the gospel; they’re reminded of God’s will for them; and they’re warned about what will happen if they’re unfaithful, and they’re reassured of the good things they can expect if they remain faithful.

And, of course, when we gather in church on Sundays, we have the call to worship at the beginning of the service. And then, we hear the good news of the gospel and all that God has done for us by his Son. And we’re also reminded of God’s will for us and how we’re to live for him and for him alone. And during the service, there are warnings for disobedience and unfaithfulness; and there are promises of blessings for those who remain faithful.

And so, let’s turn to this psalm which is like a service of worship with four main parts.

Verses 1 to 5

We have the call to worship in verses 1 to 5. And the psalmist calls on the people to sing for joy to God our strength; and to shout aloud to the God of Jacob. So, their worship is to be joyful and loud.

And they’re to worship joyfully and loudly, because they’re worshipping the God who is their strength. That is to say, he’s the source of their strength. He’s the one who strengthens them. He upholds them. He gives them the strength to keep going and to stand firm. When the Israelites left Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them. But, even though the Israelites were only farmers and builders, they managed to defeat the Amalekites. How did they do it? It was because God strengthened them and enabled them to win the battle. And the Lord continued to strengthen his people and to help them throughout the years.

And the psalmist also refers to God as the God of Jacob. So, their God is the same God who revealed himself to Jacob many years before. And ever since that time, he has been their God and he has helped them and he’s provided for them and he’s led and guided them. In the days of Jacob, when there was a famine in the land of Canaan, he saved his people by bringing them to Egypt, where they had all that they needed, thanks to Joseph. Afterwards, when they were slaves in Egypt, he led Jacob’s descendants out of their captivity and through the wilderness and into the Promised Land, where they had all that they needed. That’s who their God is. And the psalmist calls on them to worship him.

And he tells them to begin the music and to strike the tambourine and to play the harp and lyre. So, the musicians should get ready so that the people can worship the Lord joyfully and loudly.

He mentions the trumpet in verse 3 and the New Moon. Trumpets were sounded in those days in order to gather the people for worship. And the New Moon was a special day of worship on the first day of every lunar month. When it was the time of the New Moon, in addition to bringing the regular daily offering for God, the people were to bring two bulls and one ram and seven lambs as well as grain and drink offerings for the Lord. And they were also to offer a goat as a sin offering to wash away the stain of their sin. So, the people were to bring all these offerings to the Lord to worship him. And the psalmist refers to that special New Moon day in verse 3. And he tells the people in verse 4 that this is a decree for Israel and an ordinance of the God of Jacob. That is to say, God has decreed and ordained that they should worship him in this way every month. He established this pattern of worship as a statute for Joseph. When he mentions Joseph, he’s referring to the people of Israel as a whole. And so, whenever God brought them out of Egypt in the days of Moses, God commanded his people to worship him in this way from that time on. And so, you can read about the New Moon offerings and all the other religious feasts and festivals in Numbers 28 and 29, where it refers to the daily, weekly and monthly offerings as well as to the Passover, the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. God laid down in his law how his people were to worship him in those days.

But their worship of him was not to be perfunctory. That is to say, they were not to go through the motions only. Their worship was to be joyful and loud. So, they were to rejoice before their God and they were to put their heart and soul and voice into it. It was to be heartfelt worship.

But, of course, they did not always worship the Lord in this way. And so, the Lord complained through the prophet Isaiah that the people drew near him with their mouth only; and they honoured him with their lips; but their hearts were far from him. So, they were only going through the motions. And therefore God told them through Isaiah to stop bringing him meaningless offerings. He said he could not bear their evil assemblies. Their worship had become a burden to him. So, they were doing what he told them to do, but their hearts were not in it; and they did not mean the things they were saying when they sang their songs of praise to him. And after worshipping the Lord in the temple, they went out and continued to sin against him and to do evil in the sight of the Lord. And so, their worship was meaningless, because the hearts of the people were far from God.

And it can happen with us, can’t it? We can come to church on Sundays and we take part in the service by singing the songs of praise and by bowing our head in prayer and by listening to the sermon and by taking part in the Lord’s Supper. We can do the things God commands us to do, all the things we’re supposed to do. But perhaps our hearts are not in it. Perhaps we can’t wait for the service to end and we can go and do something else instead. Perhaps we can’t wait for Sunday to end and we can get back to doing what we really want to do. And though we confess our sins to God, we have no intention of giving them up.

When we come to worship the Lord on Sundays, we’re not to go through the motions. We’re not to worship him with our lips only, and not with our hearts. We must worship him joyfully and loudly, putting our heart and soul and voice into it.

Verses 6 and 7

And when we gather for worship, God speaks to us through word and sacrament to remind us of what he has done for us. And that’s what we find in verses 6 and 7. God speak to his people. And what does he say? Take a look at these verses, where he tells his people that he removed the burden from their shoulders and he set their hands free from the basket.

The psalmist is referring to the time of the captivity in Egypt. At that time, they were slaves. And so, they were forced to carry burdens on behalf of the Egyptians. For instance, they had to carry bricks to make their buildings. And when they farmed the land, they had to carry baskets. So, day after day, the Egyptians made them carry their burdens and they were given no relief.

But according to Exodus 2, the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out; and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and he looked on the people and was concerned for them. That’s what it says in Exodus 2. And in the psalm, God speaks to his people who have gathered for worship and he reminds them of how in their distress the people called. They cried out because of their suffering. And God rescued them. And those three words, ‘I rescued you’, can be unpacked, can’t they? How did he rescue them? He sent them Moses to be their leader. And he sent the Ten Plagues on the Egyptians to persuade them to let his people go. And, on the night of the tenth plague, the Lord passed over the homes of his people and spared their sons from death. And he brought them through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptians who were following them. That’s how he rescued them.

And then the Lord says that he answered his people out of a thundercloud. He might be referring here to the time they spent at Mount Sinai, when there was darkness and lightning and thunder and God spoke to them. And when he spoke to them, he established his covenant with them to be their God and to take care of them always.

And God also says that he tested them at the waters of Meribah. So, before the Israelites arrived at Sinai, they camped at a place called Rephidim, where there was no water. And the people quarrelled with Moses. And God heard what they were saying and he saw their distress, and the Lord brought water out of the rock for them to drink. And the place became known as Massah and Meribah. It was named Meribah, because Meribah means ‘quarreling’ and that’s where the people quarrelled with Moses. And it was also named Massah, because Massah means ‘testing’. In Exodus 17, it says that the people tested the Lord: they tested his faithfulness. Would he help them or not? But here in the psalm, the Lord says that he was testing the people: would they trust him or not? And by testing them in this way, God made clear to the people that they could always trust him. So, when there was no water, there was no need to be afraid, because God can bring water from a rock. And when there was no food, there was no need to be afraid, because God can supply them with manna in the wilderness. When their enemies attacked them, there was no need to be afraid, because God would fight for them. The Lord tested their faith continually to prove to them that he was trustworthy and true.

We’re to imagine in the psalm how the psalmist has called the people to worship the Lord. And now that they have gathered before him, the Lord reminds his people of what he has done for them and how he rescued them from Egypt and how he provided for them in the wilderness. And when we gather before the Lord on Sundays to worship him, he speaks to us through his word and sacrament to remind us of what he has done for us. And what has he done for us? He’s rescued us. He’s rescued us, not from bondage in Egypt, but from our captivity to sin and Satan and death, all of which are part of what the Apostle Paul calls this present evil age. It’s an evil age, because it’s dominated by Satan, who is evil. And it’s an evil age, because it’s marked by sin and shame and weakness and death. And it’s destined to perish, isn’t it? And all who belong to it will perish with it.

But God sent his Only-Begotten Son into the world to rescue us from this present evil age so that we might live with God and Christ in the new age to come, which will never end. Just as God sent Moses to lead his people from Egypt, so God has sent Christ to lead us from this present evil age and to set us free from the penalty we deserve for our sin; and to set us free from Satan’s tyranny over us; and to set us free from death and hell. God saw our sin and misery; and he rescued us. He removed the burden of our captivity from us and he has set us free so that we can look forward to coming into the new heavens and earth where we will see God in the face of Christ and where we’ll be happy forever and forever.

And just as God promised the Israelites that he would be their God and would take care of them, so he has bound himself to us with a promise to be our God and to be the God of our children and never to leave us or forsake us. And though our faith is often tested, through the troubles and trials we suffer, God has proven himself again and again to be a faithful and good God, who never lets us down and who always hears and answers our prayers according to his will; and who always works all things together for our good.

When we come together before the Lord on Sundays, to worship him, God speaks to us through his word and sacrament to remind us of what he has done for us by his Son to rescue us from this present evil age and to give us eternal life in the new heavens and earth. And, of course, the Son rescued us by giving up his life on the cross to take the blame for all that we have done wrong and to make peace for us with God. And so, his body was broken and his blood was shed for us and for our salvation. He died so that we might live forever. And God proclaims this good news to us when we meet for worship on Sundays.

Verses 8 to 10

But then, in verses 8 to 10 the Lord reminds his people of his law.

And so, he calls on his people to hear him. And then his words in verses 9 and 10 recall the opening to the Ten Commandments, but in reverse order. So, the Ten Commandments begin with a reminder of who God is and what he has done for his people; and then we have the first commandment. Here, however, God begins with the first commandment and then there’s the reminder of who he is and what he has done for his people. So, we have the first commandment in verse 9: you shall have no foreign god among you and you shall not bow down to an alien god. That’s the command. Then we have the reminder in verse 10: I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.

So, when the Israelites gathered for worship, God would remind them of what he had done for them by rescuing them from their slavery in Egypt. And he brought them to Sinai where he entered into a covenant with them to be their God and to take care of them. And in return, they promised that they would be his people and that they would obey him. And the first and most important commandment was for them to worship him alone. They promised that they would forsake all other gods and love and worship him alone.

And so, here’s God reminding his people of what they promised to do. And then God also tells them that if they open wide their mouth, he will fill it. In other words, if they look to him for all that they need, then he will give it to them. They can always count on him. There’s no need for them to go to Baal or to any of the other gods which we read about in the Old Testament and which the pagan nations worshipped. There’s no need to go to them, because God will supply their every need.

And when we gather for worship on Sundays, God reminds us of what he done for us by his Son to rescue us from this present evil age and to give us eternal life in the new heavens and earth. And then he also reminds us of his will, doesn’t he? He reminds us of his commandments and laws. He reminds us that we’re to worship him alone. He reminds us that we’re to love, trust and honour him above all others; and that we’re to put him first in our lives. God comes to us on Sundays to remind of what he has done for us; and then he calls on us to live our lives for him.

In fact, in the last prayer of our communion service, I say the following: ‘Almighty God, we thank you for this opportunity to proclaim again our Saviour’s death, who died that we might live.’ So, I’m thanking God for the reminder that Christ died for us. And then I say: ‘Enable us to love and obey him while we go on living on the earth….’ Since Christ died for us, help us to love and obey him for the rest of our lives. That’s what we’re all to do.

Verses 11 to 16

But look now at verses 11 to 16. God complains that his people would not listen to him. Israel would not submit to him. Despite all that he had done for them, they would not submit to him and walk in his ways.

And what did God do? Look at verse 12: he gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. That is to say, he gave them up to the sinful desires of their sinful hearts. And since sin leads to misery, then that means their lives only became more and more miserable.

And so, right at the end of the psalm, God calls on his people to repent. He says: ‘If my people would listen to me, then how quickly would I subdue their enemies.’ Perhaps God had let their enemies persecute them. But here he’s telling them that he would save them from their enemies if they will only turn back to him. Those who hate the Lord will cringe before him and they will suffer eternal punishment. But those who turn back to the Lord will feed on the finest wheat and will be satisfied, not with water from the rock, but with honey from the rock. Honey is better than water. God is promising good things for his people who return to him.

And when we gather in church on Sundays to worship the Lord, God comes to us and reminds us of what he has done for us to rescue us from this present evil age by his Son and to give us everlasting life in the new heavens and earth. And he reminds us of his law and how we’re to worship and serve him alone. But every time he reminds us of his law, he uncovers our sins, doesn’t he? He shows us our shortcomings. He show us that, very often, we put other things before him. And so, we don’t put him first of all in our lives. And most of all, we put ourselves first of all. So, instead of living for him, we live for ourselves. Instead of seeking first his kingdom, we are self-seeking and selfish. Instead of yielding our lives to him, we say ‘no’ to him.

And so, God also says to us, ‘Repent!’ He says: ‘Give up your sins.’ And the good news is that despite what we have done, and no matter how badly we have sinned, God promises to forgive us when we come to him, confessing our sins and asking for his forgiveness. He’s promises to forgive us, because Christ our Saviour’s body was broken and his blood was shed to order to make peace for us with God. So, no matter what we have done, God will pardon us for the sake of Christ who took the blame for us when he gave up his life for us. God will pardon us. And having pardoned us, he says to us, ‘Go and sin no more.’

Conclusion

When we gather on Sunday, the service will open with a call to worship the Lord. And we’re to worship him joyfully and loudly.

And then God will declare to us through word and sacrament what he has done for us by his Son to rescue us from this present evil age and to give us everlasting life in the new creation to come.

And God will also remind us of his law and how we’re to live for him and for him alone.

And God will also summon us to repent and to give up the sins which still linger in our lives. And those who are careful to walk in his way can expect good things from the Lord. These are not good things we deserve or can earn, but these are the good things which he freely bestows on his people who walk in his ways and who do his will.