God is calling. Are you listening? Psalm 81 is God's plea for His people to listen to Him and obey. He wants to bless them but they refuse His blessing. God is always calling us to a better life in Him.
Structure
In most psalms the central theme, or meaningful center, can be found in the center of the psalm. Asaph, in Psalm 81, takes this concept even further by having a meaningful for each half of the psalm, the center of the psalm and the center of God's speech.
The meaningful center is found at verse 8b. In Hebrew it is only four words long and is preceeded and followed by 58 words.
O Israel, if you would but listen to me! Psalm 81:8b
A large portion of this psalm is the divine speech. At the center of this speech we find another meaningful center.
I am the Lord your God Psalm 81:10a
A very fitting center for God's speech. In Hebrew the word Lord (Yahweh) is in the very center of this speech.
Asaph goes even further by dividing the psalm into two halves, each with its own meaningful center. The first is found at verse 4.
For it [worship] is a statute for Israel,
a rule of the God of Jacob. Psalm 81:4
The second is found at verse 11.
“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me. Psalm 81:11
It is also possible that Asaph intended this to be a Menorah pattern psalm - seven sections that mirror themselves from the middle outwards. The themes of worship, listening and obedience wind their way througout the the psalm so it is difficult for me to decide if the Menorah pattern is intended or I am reading it into the psalm.
Praise God! Psalm 81:1-3
God's Decree to Worship Psalm 81:4-5,
I Rescued You Psalm 81:6-7
Listen to Me! Psalm 81:8-10
But You Refuse to Listen Psalm 81:11-12
If Only You Would Obey Psalm 81:13-14
Then He Would Bless Us Psalm 81:15-16
Praise God!
Psalm 81:1-3
Asaph begins his psalm with a call to praise God. In this section he lists five acts of praise:
- Sing aloud
- Shout for joy
- Raise a song
- Sound [strike] the instruments
- Blow the trumpet
Asaph was one of David's main worship leaders and here we see him calling us to make a joyful noise to the Lord with voices (both sung and shouted) and instruments (both struck and blown).
God's Decree
Psalm 81:4-5
The psalmist now reminds us that God actually commanded us to worship Him.
This decreed of God in verse 81:4 is the meaningful center of the first half of the psalm. God calls us to worship Him and Him only. God commands this, as we will see, for our own good. He wants to bless us, but first we need to come to Him and turn our backs on our idols.
As a side note, in verse 5, Israel is poetically called "Joseph". This connects Psalm 81 with Psalm 80 where Israel is also called Joseph (Psalm 80:1).
I Rescued You
Psalm 81:6-7
In this section we begin God's speech. God starts by reminding Israel that He rescued them from Egypt. Just like Israel we need to be constantly reminded of what God has done for us.
He does this by listing 5 acts of God (worthy of praise) to parallel the 5 acts of praise found in the first section.
- He relieved their burden
- He freed them
- He delivered them
- He answered them
- He tested them
To be honest, I love all of these but the last one :). But I know that God's testing is good for me, even though I don't like it. The testing of my faith is one of the ways God develops maturity and faith (James 1:3).
Listen to Me!
Psalm 81:8-10
Here we come to the center of the psalm and the meaningful center of both the psalm and the divine oracle.
God's plea is simple: Listen to me!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me! Psalm 81:8b
And what was God's decree? To worship Him and Him only!
I am the Lord your God Psalm 81:10a
In this psalm we hear God's broken heart as He pleads for us to listen to Him. If only we would turn our hearts to Him, then He could fill us with good things.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. Psalm 81:10c
They Refuse to Listen
Psalm 81:11-12
Now we come to the meaningful center of the second half of the psalm.
“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me. Psalm 81:11
God calls us but so often we refuse to listen. And so God allows us to have our way. Instead of receiving His goodness we get to fill ourselves with the pitiful scraps that this world has to offer. We receive the natural consequences of our choices.
If Only ...
Psalm 81:13-14
Once more God crys out,
Oh, that my people would listen to me Psalm 81:13a
Do you hear the anguish in God's cry? He wants to bless us, but we refuse His blessing because we think we can do better.
Then He Would Bless Us
Psalm 81:15-16
If only we would turn to Him and open our mouth in praise. God would then fill it with His blessings!
God promises two types of blessing in this final section:
- Protection from evil (God would defeat their enemies)
- Provision both abundant and pleasurable.
But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalm 81:16
Application
God is calling you to Him. God is not waiting for you to mess up so that He can punish you. No! Just the opposite. God is calling you to Him so that He can bless you.
If you listen and obey He will bless you.
If not he leaves you to your own foolish ways and the consequences of those choices.
God is calling. Are you listening?
This post is part of a series on the Psalms.
by Jerry Wyrick, President of Worship Arts Conservatory