August 7, 2009
Making God #1
Psalm 81
Bentley Borrego
Central Truth
Listen to God and obey His commands, and you will be blessed!
Key Verse | Psalm 81:9
There must be no other god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
(Psalm 81:9)
Psalm 81
Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. 1 81:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term Of Asaph.
1
Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2
Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
3
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.
4
For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule
2
81:4
Or just decree
of the God of Jacob.
5
He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over
3
81:5
Or against
the land of Egypt.
I hear a language I had not known:
6
“I relieved your
4
81:6
Hebrew his; also next line
shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7
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
8
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9
There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
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.
11
But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
13
Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14
I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15
Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16
But he would feed you
5
81:16
That is, Israel; Hebrew him
with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Dive Deeper | Psalm 81
When I first read this passage and thought about the key verse, I said to myself, "No Christian worships any god but the one true God." But then I realized in my own life that I worship foreign gods every single day!
The truth is, I have a hard time putting God before everything else. It is so easy to think about myself and my own needs and wants instead of the things that really matter in life! There are so many things that we can put before God. It might be money, appearance, friends, family, work, school, or physical needs or wants. But most importantly, I put myself before God. It is easy to worship your talents, personal image, or even your ability to make friends and get attention. Satan is always ready to make us think that we are the most important and that our needs come before everything else. But the truth is that God should always be number one in our lives!
Even though we can't see God, He is always there, and He is the one who gives us the chance to live as a part of His wonderful creation. Sometimes, it is hard just to think about living without our most valuable possessions and things on this earth, but God, through His divine power and love, sent His Son to die for our sins so we would not have to. We serve an awesome and holy God who deserves to be worshiped and praised above everything else!
Discussion Questions
1. Where do you go, other than to God, to find life?
2. In your own life, what do you consistently put before God?
3. Do you trust that God has your best interests in mind?