*This blog is part of our weekly, virtual Bible Study through the book of Psalms. For information on how to participate, please visit this page.

By Lewis Hogan

If I had to summarize the message of Psalm 81 it would be this:  Come to the place of worship, remember all that God has done for you, and return to Him with all of your heart. It is in that place of worship and returning that God desires to pour out all His blessings on you.  

Hebrews 10:25 exhorts, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Throughout the Scriptures we see different times that God appointed for His people to come together. One such time for the nation of Israel was the Feast of Tabernacles. It was an annual feast when the people would praise God and remember His faithfulness and care for them during their time in the wilderness. The feast begins five days after the Day of Atonement and at the time the fall harvest had just been completed. It is a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in the current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness.

Psalm 81 was written with the Feast of Tabernacles in mind. It begins with a call to worship, a call for the people to gather and praise God. But what becomes clear as the psalm continues is that God is calling His people back to Him.  Many had forgotten His faithfulness and disobeyed His commands. The majority of the psalm is a call for the people to remember their God and to repent of their unfaithfulness. 

Worship

I love how God calls His people first to worship.  The  psalmist Asaph begins his worship song by inviting his congregation to praise God loud and long. In fact, he is adamant about the need for worship.  It’s actually a series of five sharp, imperative commands  in quick succession: “Sing aloud! Shout for joy! Raise a song! Strike the tambourine! Blow the trumpet!” (vs. 1-3) Asaph is like a confident worship general, barking out orders to his army of potential praise warriors! 

In Psalm 81:1, we are called to ”Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob.”  

We are those potential praise warriors who need to come to the place of worship, so we can remember who our God is! This is not a passive activity; this is full of worship actions- singing, shouting, dancing, and blowing the trumpet. 

As the great Bible commentator Matthew Henry writes, “No time is amiss for praising God . . . But some are times appointed, not for God to meet us (for He is always ready) but for us to meet one another that we may join together in praising God.” 

It is in these places of corporate worship that we are called to rehearse the goodness of God, not only in our personal lives but in our corporate lives as the people of God.  This is why it is so important to gather together.   There are times when lives get busy, especially during the Christmas season, but we should never let the business of life stop us from gathering together in corporate worship.   We need the community of believers to stay rooted and grounded in God’s truth and word.

REMEMBER

This is why it is in this place of corporate worship that God calls us to remember. In verses 6-10, He calls His people to remember His Deliverance and His Law.

“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket

In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—if you would only listen to me, Israel!

You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

THE PROMISE

It is in this place of remembrance that God gives this incredible promise in verse 10: “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.” (Psalm 81:10)                                   

I want to take time to reflect here. In this place of worship, in this place of remembering, God gives this incredible promise. In fact, this verse is worth memorizing today, hiding in your heart and keeping it there.

God is saying, why are you abandoning Me, when I am the Lord, your God who brought you out of slavery and Egypt, brought you into the promised land. He’s saying if you will just open your mouth wide and if you will look to me for satisfaction, look to me for joy, look to me for fulfillment, look to me for security, look to me for all these things and I will satisfy you more than anything else in this world. I will give you a security that nothing in this world can take away from you. I will give you a joy that surpasses circumstances. And I will give you an identity that is unshakable for all of eternity. If you will just look to me, trust in me. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Someone once said, “The manner of prayer is this — ‘Open thy mouth.’ The measure of prayer is this — ‘Open thy mouth wide.’” To which, I might add, the mission of prayer is this — "Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.” In this verse we find this promise that when we come to God in the place of worship, rehearsing His faithfulness, and repenting, He is the God who pours out His blessings. The psalmist David writes about the Lord in Psalm 103:5b, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things.” 

And in this way, I want to encourage you to hear Psalm chapter 81:10 as a call to relationship with God.  He is God, the God of relationship. We are not just saved out of the land of Egypt and slavery there,  we are saved from the power of sin for all of eternity. Romans 8:2 states, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” And Romans 6:11 says, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” And Jesus himself said in John 8: 36,” So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Join me in prayer: 

So God, help us to open wide our mouths today, in the sense of looking to You, trusting in You, being free from the weight of sin. God help us to live differently. Help us to live with devotion to You, in the worship of You, with longing for You, with trust in You, with joy and fulfillment and satisfaction and security and identity in You. God, I praise you. There is no one, nothing like You in this world. And when all of these things in this world have faded away, we are so thankful that we will have You. The one who said to us, “I am the Lord, your God, open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”

REPENTANCE

Psalm 81 ends with a call to repentance. Psalm 81: 13 - 16 states “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 adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

RETURN TO GOD

The goodness and kindness of God is present as He calls His people back to Him.  He promises the defeat of their enemies and provision beyond what man can do.  He promises the “finest of wheat, and honey from the rock.”   This call to abundance is found only in relationship with Him.  As the psalm comes to an end, the love of God for His people and His desire to show mercy are on full display. God desires for His people to repent and to return to Him. He is ready to deal with their enemies and satisfy their souls. 

Let our prayer be, “God, help us not to seek temporal satisfaction in this world, but to seek lasting satisfaction in God.” 

CONCLUSION

Psalm 81 calls us to a place of worship, remembrance, repentance and return to God with incredible promises of blessings. It all flows out of relationship with Jesus.   We must ask ourselves, Is Jesus Lord of my life? Am I leading a life of worship and faithfulness to Him? 

Dr. A. C. Gaebelein comments on Psalm 81:10 “Who is able to grasp the full meaning of the sentence! He is the omnipotent Lord; there is nothing too hard for the Lord. Open thy mouth, He says, as wide as you can, and I will fill it. Ask anything in My Name, He says in the New Testament, and I will do it. All He asks is obedience to Him, the yielding of the heart and will.” 

Lord, that is our prayer.   Let our mouth be open wide in worship, prayer, and repentance.   Remind us daily of our need of You.  Keep our hearts yielded to Your will in all that we do.  To God be the Glory! Amen!

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