The “What Ifs”



Psalm 81
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.
1Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.
4For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob.
5He 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.
7In 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
8Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10I 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.
12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.
15Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever.
16But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

This psalm is a bit of a departure from most of the psalms we have studied so far. Here we find almost a lament spoken in God’s voice. It is as if He is speaking to Himself of the joys the people have missed because of their own stubborn refusal to remain faithful to Him. They could have had so much and have chosen to throw it away.

It is God’s pleasure to bless His people. He has not given a difficult road to walk. But we think we know a better way and in choosing that way we disconnect ourselves from His abundant blessings. He is forced to withhold all that could be ours because we would rather bow to worthless idols. Here in Psalm 81 it is almost as if God is pondering the “what ifs.”

  • What if we spent our lives in love with Him and in service to others?
  • What if we didn’t worship things rather than God?
  • What if I found obedience a pleasure rather than a hardship?
  • What if I brought the worship of a grateful heart rather than paying lip service to God?

God raises this quandary back in Deuteronomy with the Children of Israel as they wander in the wilderness. He expresses the same sadness over the apostasy of the people even then as they received from His hand everything they needed and yet still wandered away from Him.

Deuteronomy 5:29
Oh, that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

So far this psalm has been tragic. But what we are reading are the thoughts of a broken-hearted God. It was/is His desire to bless, not to curse. He longs to pour out His love and passion upon us. But we are often like petulant children who stomp their foot and demand their own way. The Good News, though, is still the same. Even though we break His heart regularly He did not withhold that which we needed the most – a Savior. Even our greatest sins could not stop His love from acting out through this magnificent Gift of Jesus Christ. Even my idolatry is forgiven by His blood shed on that cross. My most vicious moments of foot stomping sin are no match for the grace of God found in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This psalm challenges us once again to turn away from our stubborn, stiff-necked rebellion and run back into the arms of the Father who will not give up on us – ever. His blessings are new every morning and so too is our opportunity to live in His love and experience His grace.

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