Listen and Live: Psalm 81-Supplication through the Scriptures

Listen and Live

Psalm 81

The Word of God is most precious to the man who most lives upon it.

Charles Spurgeon

Hudson Taylor, the man God used to bring the gospel to the interior of China, says in his autobiography, “I have put God’s Word to the test. Certainly it has never failed me. I have never had reason to regret the confidence I have placed in its promises, or to deplore following the guidance I have found in its directions.” Surely this should be the testimony of all God’s people. But Psalm 81 paints a different picture of the Israelites, God’s chosen people. Though God had relieved their burdens and delivered them from oppression, they refused to listen to Him and thus forfeited the blessings of obedience that could have been theirs. If they had listened, they could have lived. Hudson Taylor had a choice, and the people of Israel had a choice. Would they live upon the Word of God, trusting their God and His promises?

We serve the God who beckons us to listen to Him and obey because He is worthy, and He knows our obedience is for our good. He calls us to live upon His Word by trusting its promises and heeding its commands. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). And the psalmist says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”(Psalm‬ ‭119:103‬). Our obedience shows our delight in His Word. “Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them” (Psalm‬ ‭119:29). He would feed us with the finest wheat, and satisfy us with honey from the rock. His Word is that fine wheat and sweet honey.

And this is what He implored His people to do in Psalm 81. He desired for them to listen to Him and be under His special care and blessing.

“If you would but listen to me!” (81:8)
“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.” (81:11)
“Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” (81:13)

We too have a choice. We can listen to His voice found in His Word. Promises like:

“Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22).
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10).
“No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

Or we could listen to the voice of fear:

“I’m weary and I can’t bear the pressure anymore.”
“This trial will never end.”
“My needs will not be met.”

But if we will listen to His voice and walk in His ways, He will subdue our enemies: fear, unbelief, discontentment, bitterness, anger, despair (81:14). His Word can be lived upon moment by moment and day by day. And as we find His Word and the Lord Himself sufficient for our troubles, for our very life, we will have tranquility and quietness in our soul, even in the midst of life’s storms. “Great peace have those who love your law and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119:165).

Will we come and listen to Him, obey, and live? Our response reveals what our heart treasures. God called the Israelites to have no other god (81:9) because He, the Almighty Sovereign God, had been their deliverer, and only He could fill their mouth with good things and satisfy them. He has delivered us from our greatest peril, condemnation for our sin, will we not trust Him to carry us again and satisfy us, even in hard places? Will we listen to His voice or harden our hearts? Will we listen to His Word and live on it?

“Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-8). “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:3).

Raise A Song

81:1-3 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

Heavenly Father, I pray:

▫️The tune of my life would be praise to You, in the valley or on the mountaintop.

▫️I would sing because You are worthy, You are my strength, and my joy is found in You.

▫️I would sing of Your faithfulness, and the theme of how great You are would remind my soul that I can trust You no matter what lies before me.

Listen!

81:4-10 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. I hear a language I had not known: “I relieved your shoulder 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. Selah Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Almighty Father, I pray:

▫️You would relieve the burdens that press down on me today, but while I wait, I would be confident that You will sustain and uphold me (Psalm 55:22).

▫️You would deliver me from the distressing situations in my life, but until deliverance comes, I would not be in despair but I would go from strength to strength as I lean into You as my strength.

▫️As I go through this time of testing and refining, I would come forth as gold. You would transform me and I would not resist the process. Help me to hold on to Your Word and rest on Your promises.

▫️When I come to Your Word, my heart would be ready to listen to Your voice and live upon Your Word.

▫️As You reveal to me things that my heart treasures more than You, I would put away those idols in my heart.

▫️I would open my mouth wide and You would fill it! As Jehovah Jireh, You would abundantly meet all the needs I have.

Satisfy

81:11-16 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Gracious Lord, I pray:

▫️Where You lead, I would follow. What You call me to do, I would obey cheerfully and quickly.

▫️I would walk in Your ways revealed in Your Word, even when and especially when the road is hard and obedience seems difficult, and You would subdue my enemies and turn Your hand against my foes.

▫️Satisfy me with goodness from Your hand. Change my heart to be content and satisfied with whatever Your hand gives.

▫️Your Word would be wonderful to me, sweeter than honey to my mouth, and I would live upon Your Word.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Photo credit to artrachen

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