Sing for joy to God our strength; make a loud shout to the God of Jacob. Lift up a song of praise, strike the tambourine, the sweet-sounding lyre with the harp.[1]
Blessing rejected and rebellion chosen
Psalm 81:6-16 Legacy Standard Bible
I relieved his shoulder of the burden, his hands were freed from the basket. You called in distress and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah.
Hear, O My people, and I will testify against you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! Let there be no strange god among you; and you shall not worship a foreign god. I am Yahweh your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
But My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel was not willing to obey Me. So, I released them over to the stubbornness of their heart, that they would walk in their own devices.
Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies, and I would turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate Yahweh would cower before Him, and their time of punishment would be forever. But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.
Matthew Henry
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man’s willfulness. People are not religious because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin; he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts and the counsels of their own heads. If they do not well, the blame must be upon themselves. The Lord is unwilling that any should perish. What enemies sinners are to themselves! It is sin that makes our troubles long, and our salvation slow. Upon the same conditions of faith and obedience do Christians hold those spiritual and eternal good things, which the pleasant fields and fertile hills of Canaan showed forth. Christ is the Bread of life; he is the Rock of salvation, and his promises are as honey to pious minds. But those who reject him as their Lord and Master must also lose him as their Saviour and their reward. [2]
Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”[3]
A Kingdom Catechism[4]
Question #48
What is the substance of the first commandment?
The substance of the first commandment is that we who are the redeemed of God must devote ourselves to Him exclusively and unreservedly in love.
Question #49
How do they who have been redeemed fulfill the first commandment?
The redeemed of the Lord fulfill the first commandment by renouncing all other gods, pursuing holiness, and exercising faithful stewardship unto the Lord.
Question #50
How do the redeemed of the Lord renounce all other gods?
The redeemed renounce all other gods by clinging only to Jesus Christ for their salvation and seeking the glory of God in all they do.
Heavenly Father, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you: Look with compassion upon the heartfelt desires of your servants, and purify our disordered affections, that we may behold your eternal glory in the face of Christ Jesus; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.[5]
Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right
https://youtu.be/23-bjF_wLOI?si=iQXDvngcq4D8Mysf
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] Psalm 81:1-2 Legacy Standard Bible
[2] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 81:8.
[3] Legacy Standard Bible (Three Sixteen Publishing, 2022), Ex 20:1–3.
[4] T. M. Moore, A Kingdom Catechism, 2022, pp. 44-45.
[5] Prayer for the third Sunday in Lent. Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 606.
