Dear Zikora:
This chapter is a good follow up for the last entry: How To Navigate Life Like a Pro..
As with everything, maintenance is how you ensure that things not only last, but keep running smoothly. Today’s reading is a warning in form of reminders on how to protect and preserve our relationship with God. It is also a guide on how we can continue to enjoy God’s provisions and promises. Here is the step by step how to from Psalm 81.
1) Praise God Always:
This chapter opens with a command to praise God. The first three verses gives us exact ways in which we are to praise God. They include: in loud, obvious, demonstrative, celebratory, joyful ways, and using music. Here is the direct quote:
“Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!”-verse 1
“Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp”-verse 2
“Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day”- verse 3
It should be noted that praising God is not a polite recommendation. It is a command from God, a statute as it is written in verse 4-5a:
“For it is a statute for Israel; A rule of the God of Jacob”.
“He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt” … Psalm 81 vs 4-5a.
2) Remember the Miracles of God in Your Life:
Always recall the works of God in your life; this helps you to stay grateful and in love with God. It also strengthens your faith in God and gives you confidence to face different challenges. Check out this post: How to Cure Chronic Anxiety: Looking back in Gratitude to Face the Future with Confidence-.
In verse 5b-7, God even reminds his people that God does not forget the miraculous deeds he does for his people, and he wants us to remember them as well. That is what the verse below means:
“I hear a language I had not known: I relieved your shoulders of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket”.
“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”…Psalm 81 vs 5b-7.
It is important to remember always what God does for us because God does not forget either. Forgetfulness of God’s faithfulness in our lives is one of the tools that the devil uses to instill fear and anxiety in our lives. Be wise, stay alert.
3) Listen to God’s words and Avoid idols and false gods:
God should always be our top priority and God should be first in our lives. God is always vocal and reminding us in several instances to stay away from idols (it is also one of the 10 commandments we must abide by). I think the reason for these constant reminders to avoid idols is because it is very easy to have an idol or idols. An idol can be a distraction that takes up most of our time and diverts our attention from God. This can be in the form of our jobs, relationships, money, our habits, fantasies we indulge in, our favorite thoughts etc. God seriously warns us to not bow down, that is, do not give in to things that threaten to take God’s place in our lives. We should only bow to God almighty, and here is how God puts it:
“ Hear O my people, while I admonish you!
“O Isreal, if you would but listen to me!”
“There shall be no strange god among you;”
“you shall not bow down to a foreign god”…Psalm 81 vs 8-9.
God is sufficient and will fulfill all our needs abundantly, so we do not need any idols. Here is how God puts it:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth and I will fill it”…Psalm 81 vs 10.
4) Listen to God’s words, Submit and Walk in God’s way:
Similarly to the point above, God doesn’t just warn and admonish us to listen to his words, he also presents us with the rewards of doing so and the punishment for not doing so. In a nutshell, listen to God’s word and be sure to obey it. I have lived a life where I did both (listened to God’s word and not listening to God’s word) and I can tell you, listening and obeying God’s words is far better. I got so much heartache and pain from disobeying God’s word. I tell you with so much certainty that disobeying God is definitely not worth it. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise. And no, God won’t change his commandments just for you. Here is the punishment for when we refuse to listen to God’s words:
“But my people did not listen to my voice; Isreal would not submit to me.
“So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels”…psalm 81 vs 11-12.
I will tell you for free, when you get to live life exactly how your mind tells you, you are in trouble and it never ends well.
On the other hand, here is the reward for when we listen and submit to God’s words and ways:
“Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Isreal would walk in my ways!
“I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes”…Psalm 81 vs 13-14.
SUMMARY:
In summary, love God always. Loving God makes Praising, listening, obeying and submitting to him very easy. There is great reward for doing so and it is the best way to sustain your relationship with God. It is also the best way to ensure that your life goes smoothly (aka living a soft life). Choosing to do life any other way is foolishness and you would be doing yourself a great disservice. Here is how God puts it:
“Those who hate the lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever”…Psalm 81 vs 15.
“But he would feed you [those who love God] with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you”…Psalm 81 vs 16.
So bottom line: Love and Praise God, pay attention, listen, understand, submit, and obey God’s words! There is a reward from God if we do!.
PRAYER:
Dear God, thank you so much for loving me dearly that you constantly remind me of ways to please you. Please help me to completely submit to you in all ways. Make it easy for me to remember your commands and obey them without grumbling. Thank you, my king, because I know you have heard my prayers. I praise you because I know you will do exceedingly abundantly all that I have asked in this prayer. In Jesus name, Amen.
