God’s Amazing Love: Psalm 81 (Thomas Schreiner)

By Thomas Schreiner–

 

[This is the first in a series of Christmas blog posts.]

Psalm 81 reveals God’s love for us and his longing to bless us. John Owen rightly says we will not walk closely with God unless we know his love. Owen writes,

“Many saints have no greater burden in their lives than that their hearts do not come clearly and fully up, constantly to delight and rejoice in God—that there is still an unwillingness of spirit unto close walking with Him. What is at the bottom of this distemper? Is it not their unskillfulness in or neglect of this duty, even of holding communion with the Father in love? So much as we see of the love of God, so much shall  we delight in him, and no more. Every other discovery of God, without this, will but make the soul fly from Him. But if the heart be once much taken up with this the eminency of the Father’s love, it cannot choose but be overpowered, conquered, and endeared unto Him.  This, if anything, will work upon us to make our abode with Him. If the love of a father will not make a child delight in him, what will? Exercise your thoughts upon this very thing, the eternal, free, and fruitful love of the Father, and see if your hearts be not wrought upon to delight in Him.”

In Psalm 81 we see the love of God for his people unfolded. The Lord urges in the most tender terms his people to trust in him. Psalm 81 comes from Book 3 of the Psalms, which consists of Psalms 73-89, which depict Israel in exile. So, as we read Psalm 81 we realize Israel is suffering at the hands of its enemies, but God promises them if they listen to him he will pour his love out upon them. Now we have to be careful of drawing too close a connection between Israel and the church of Jesus Christ, especially when Israel is suffering punishment for her sin. Still, the NT emphasizes in 1 Peter and Hebrews that believers in Jesus Christ are sojourners and exiles.

We have not yet reached the heavenly city, and so we need warnings and admonitions to keep following the Lord until the end. As exiles, as believers we may lose our first love. We may be on a detour from the Lord because of the trials in our lives. So, the words of this Psalm still speak to us today.

(1) Those who know God’s love praise him.

I see this in vv. 1-5. In v. 1 Israel is commanded to sing for joy to God their strength and to shout in triumph to the God of Jacob. Now this is quite remarkable. Israel is to sing praises to God even though they are in exile, even though they are suffering. Verse 2 concentrates on the instruments to be used in worship, including the tambourine, the lyre and the harp. The trumpet in v. 3 probably refers to the trumpet that was blown at the beginning of the Jewish New Year. The new moon refers to the inauguration of the New Year, and the trumpet was blown in celebration.

Similarly, in v. 3 the full moon likely refers to the Feast of Tabernacles which occurred 2 weeks after the New Year celebration. God commanded his people to observe these festivals, to gather corporately and to praise him. Notice the word “for” found in v. 4. Israel is to praise God at the beginning of the New Year and at the Feast of Tabernacles, because that is a statute and rule given by God. He commanded his people in the Books of Moses to observe these festivals. This decree, i.e., the decree to observe these festivals with joy was given to Joseph (which stands here for all of Israel) when they were freed from Egypt. Israel was to praise the Lord in these festivals in commemoration of his great saving acts. Even in exile, Israel was to remember the great things the Lord had done for them.

So, what does this mean to us today? We aren’t under the OT law, for the Mosaic law has passed away for those who belong to Jesus Christ. We have no reason to celebrate the Jewish New Year or the Feast of Tabernacles, for we weren’t freed from Egypt. Still, what we find here still speaks to us today. For we have been rescued by God if we belong to Jesus. The Lord saved Israel from slavery to Egypt, and he saved us through Jesus Christ from slavery to sin. So, even though we don’t practice the Feast of Tabernacles, we are to sing with joy to the Lord for his great redemption. I see several applications to us.

First, the church of Christ is to gather corporately every Sunday to worship the Lord. And like Israel we are called upon to worship and praise God even if we are suffering. Isn’t it striking that God calls upon us to sing and shout for joy even when we are in pain? Given what God has done for us in Christ, we should be full of joy when we gather together. The Lord has been very good to us no matter what we are going through. If you are not joyful (which is not the same thing as being happy), the call is not to feel guilty. Somewhere and somehow you have wandered from the love of God. So, if joy is absent, you need to take inventory of your life. What has happened that you aren’t experiencing the love of God?

Second, just as Israel was to worship God corporately at various feasts, we are called to worship him corporately weekly. We all know there are reasons to miss church, such as sickness or an emergency of some kind. But it isn’t a light thing to miss corporate worship. Let’s not give way to an undisciplined life where we are failing to gather with other believers. Such lack of discipline is sin, and if you are falling into it you should turn from it. Actually, you are missing out on a great blessing if you don’t come. For it is a joy to praise God together with brothers and sisters.

Third, we are to sing vigorously to God. Have you ever been in a worship service and many of those around aren’t singing at all? That is exceedingly strange and when I am in a church like that, I wonder what is going on.

Certainly it is contrary to what we are taught here. We are instructed to sing joyfully and energetically.

This command isn’t only for those who have good voices. If others around us don’t like our singing, that’s their problem. We are commanded to sing aloud and to shout for joy. This doesn’t mean worship is chaotic and disorderly, but it does mean that we are singing gladly and with fervor. Ephesians 5:19 makes it clear that when we sing corporately we are not only singing to the Lord but also to one another, for it says “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (addressing not just God, but one another). When we sing with joy and energy, it encourages others in the things of the Lord. Have you ever thought that your singing could encourage others around you?

Here is another thought. If you are worried that you have a bad voice, I am right with you on that one. Chip Stam, our former worship pastor at Clifton Baptist Church, always threatened to have me sing a solo! But if everyone sings fervently, the bad voices are lost in the singing of the entire congregation. Good congregational singing drowns out the bad singers! I love it when my singing is drowned out! Let me make a point related to this. It isn’t wrong to sing with our eyes closed in corporate worship, but it shouldn’t be our pattern, for when we sing in church it isn’t our private devotional time. It is a corporate time where we sing together, and thus we should drink in the joy of singing together. Singing with our eyes closed tends to communicate that we are having a private worship time. Again, I am not saying that is wrong. But the NT emphasizes our corporate worship together. Maybe it helps you and encourages you in worship to look a at others as they sing and give thanks to the Lord.

Fourth, we see from v. 2 that worship is to be marked by celebration and skill. I see celebration in the instruments used: tambourine, lyre, and harp. There are some who think instruments shouldn’t be used in worship since they aren’t mentioned in the NT, but that is a misreading of the relationship between the testaments. The shift from the old covenant to the new does not mean that instruments are now forbidden.

Nothing written in the NT leads us along that pathway. Verse 2 mentions the “sweet lyre.” What he means is that the music is to be sweet sounding and melodious. In other words, our worship should be conducted to the best of our ability. The instruments used should be pleasing and bring pleasure. When it comes to music, of course, what is pleasing differs in various cultures. It would be wrong to conclude that our worship must be professional or flawless. On the other hand, I think there is the suggestion that we attend to worship by singing or playing to the best of our ability.

How does this truth about finding joy in God relate to Jesus Christ? All of us have failed to and even now fail to praise God the way we should, but Jesus always trusted God, obeyed him, and praised him. He found his greatest joy in loving and praising his Father. We look to him as our example of what it means to rejoice in the Lord, and we look to him as our Savior, the one who has forgiven us through the cross for the many times we have failed to give God praise.

(2) The Lord displays his love by delivering us from sin.

Asaph recalls Israel’s liberation from Egypt. We read in v. 6. “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.” He thinks of the burdens the Israelites carried on their shoulders and the labor of carrying baskets, doing the bidding of their masters. But now they have been freed from such labors.

As Derek Kidner says, this verse tells us that “it is good to recall God’s answers with sharpness of detail.” No more shoulder work. No more carrying baskets. Perhaps it will help you praise God if you write down ways in which he has blessed you.

When my wife, Diane, was in the hospital, we were encouraged because the Lord answered specific prayers for her day by day. For instance, at the beginning we just prayed that she would raise two fingers or that she would wiggle her toes. How good it is to thank God daily for the specific mercies he shows us. How easily we forget his daily mercies.

We also see in v. 7 that God delivered Israel from distress and answered them with thunder. As v. 10 says he brought them from the land of Egypt. Because of his great love, he saved Israel from Egypt. Our greatest enemy, the NT makes clear, is not a foreign enemy, but our own sin and rebellion. We are the willing slaves of sin before our conversion. But Jesus Christ came to free us from our sin, to ransom us from our lostness, to take those of us who were unholy and to make us holy. This is the supreme testimony to the love of God. As 1 John 4:9-10 say, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

If you have forgotten about God’s love, you have forgotten about the cross. We all do of course. And so we are reminded by the word of God, and by the Eucharist which we celebrate today. The word “Eucharist” means thanksgiving, for when we celebrate communion we give thanks to God for his saving love in Jesus Christ.

We give thanks for the one whose body was broken and whose blood was shed so we can enjoy life. If you are unbeliever, realize that salvation comes through the work of Christ on the cross, not your own goodness and works.

(3) Sin is a rejection of the love of God.

Notice how in verse 7 Asaph mentions the waters of Meribah. Meribah is where Israel tested and doubted the Lord after he delivered them from Egypt because they were thirsty and doubted whether the Lord would provide for them. Don’t underestimate the trial. Imagine being thirsty and not having water in the desert.

Life can’t be sustained without water. Still, Israel sinned against the love of God, for how did they test God at Meribah? Because they doubted his love. Because they didn’t think he would take care of them.

Imagine that as a parent. Nothing would grieve your heart more than your child doubting your love. The Lord puts difficult situations in our lives, so that we experience his love even more. He tested Israel at Meribah after delivering them with such awesome signs and wonders to see if they would still trust his love. So, if you are suffering today, it isn’t a sign that God doesn’t love you. Instead, he is calling upon you to trust his love in your trial. We see in v. 9 that Israel must not worship false gods or idols. Why do we worship or give ourselves to false gods? Because we think such gods will satisfy us. We are convinced that these so-called gods will not let us down. We may worship sex, our health, our reputation, and our material comfort. In every case, we are doubting the love of God. If we live for the things of this world, we are saying: the world offers something God will not give me. I must have what the world offers to be happy.

But how do we know if what we enjoy is an idol or if it is a gift of God? We know it is an idol if we are doing what is forbidden in Scripture. And we know that it is an idol if we are angry or bitter or resentful when it is withdrawn from us. If it is not an idol, we give thanks for what God has given us, but do not grow angry when it is withdrawn. If anger and resentment grow in your heart, you have found your idol. When Israel was reproved and told that they were going the wrong way, how did they respond? We see in v. 11, “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.” Israel resisted the love of God. And that is what we do when we sin as well. If someone tells us about evil in our lives, we may get angry or defensive or deny it. We may even think that person who reproves us doesn’t love us. Refusing to admit our sin means we are rebelling against love.

God doesn’t force Israel to follow him, as we see in v. 12. “So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.” Here is one dimension of the biblical witness. The choices of human beings are authentic, and we are not puppets. We read three times in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28 that God gives people over to their own evil. And they do the evil that they want to do. In pursuing sin, they feel a fierce freedom and independence. No one will tell them what to do, not even God. But all the while they are twisting a net around their lives that will capture and destroy them.

Is that happening to you? Do you think you are free, when actually you are enslaved? It is hard to imagine any scenario that is scarier than that. We can become enslaved to sexual sin, to eating far more than we need, to giving into anger, bitterness, and resentment. We can sow our own unhappiness and blame our parents, our teachers, our boss, and even our friends.

(4) God in his love urges us to turn to him.

What lavish invitations the Lord gave to Israel and to us. What demonstrations of love! Look at v. 8. “Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!” These are not the words of a jealous tyrant. These are the words that remind us of a parent who loves a child, of a coach with a deep affection for a team member, of a counselor who longs to see the counselee flourish. Our God doesn’t give commands because he wants to ruin our lives.

We see the same spirit in Jesus Christ as he weeps over Jerusalem, as John recently reminded us. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” And we see the same spirit in the Apostle Paul when he says that he would almost be willing to be damned so that the Jews would be saved. The same longing for Israel to respond is evident in v. 13. “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” We are reminded of Ezek. 18:32 where the Lord says, “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” Here we see the desire of the Lord for our salvation. Yes, the Lord is sovereign over our hearts, but it is also true that our choices matter. And the Lord grieves when we turn away from him. And what stunning invitations the Lord gives. He says in v. 10, “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” Every joy, he promises, will finally be yours if you follow me. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

John Owen is right, isn’t he? If we truly understand the Lord’s great love for us and his promises, we will walk closely with him. And he promises in v. 12 that Israel’s enemies would soon be subdued. The enemies of God would be destroyed as v. 13 says. Victory would not be immediate but it would be soon. In other words, the dreams of their heart would become a reality. Israel would be safe, secure, and happy. But this is a promise given to a people in exile. This is a promise given to those who were suffering. It would not be realized immediately. They were to trust in God’s promise and hope in his love. When God gives such promises, he doesn’t promise that they will be instantaneously true. There are many trials and heartaches along the way, but none of them (not one of them) contradicts his promises.

The psalm concludes with amazing words in v. 16. “But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” God doesn’t just promise wheat. But the finest of wheat.

He doesn’t merely promise food, but the sweetness of honey. These are indications that the Lord wants us to be happy in him, to exult in his goodness, and to know the sweetness of his presence. May God reveal to each of us the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thomas Schreiner is James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Among his many books are Romans, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ, Magnifying God in Christ: A Summary of New Testament Theology, and Galatians.