Title I Will Fill (Psalm 81:8-16)
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This psalm is a hymn that was sung during the three great festivals of the Jews. As people sang this hymn, they were thankful and rejoicing while thinking of God's grace. The word ‘gitim’, which is the headword, speaks for itself. ‘Kitdim’ means ‘pleasant tune’.
The word chosen as the text for this time is to think of God's grace so far and to adjust their attitude of faith. The main content of the text is to declare that God first heard the cry of Israel and set them free from Egypt. However, it reminds us that Israel forgot that great grace and put God to the test and caused suffering. And he warns the present generation not to repeat the disobedience of that time, and asks for a few things.
Do not worship idols (verse 9). Heed the word of God (verse 13). “Be obedient” means “to listen to your heart and act faithfully.” If you do this, it is a promise that God will defeat your enemies and feed you with all good things (verses 14-16).
1. Do not have any other gods besides God, and do not bow down.
A god other than God is anything that takes the place of God.
There is this story in the extra-biblical Yasa about Abraham. Abraham's father, Terah, was a man who made and sold idols. On one occasion, he left his son Abraham to work in a warehouse for making idols. Abraham hated his father who did not serve God and made idols. Abraham seized the opportunity, went into the storehouse where he made idols, and left only the largest idol and destroyed all of them.
When his father returned home, when he saw the appearance, he was furious and urged Abraham to tell him who had done it. Abraham,
“An old woman brought a plate of meat to sacrifice to an idol. A great fight broke out between the idols who saw the sacrifice for their own possession. But the biggest idol smashed all the smaller ones and took the meat dish.”
Said. Upon hearing this, his father became angry and rebuked Abraham, saying, “You bastard, what kind of life can an idol have?” Abraham said, "The time is now," and he asked, "Father, why should we serve this lifeless idol?"
It is said that his speechless father, Terah, drove Abraham out of the house. At that time, God appeared to Abraham, who was driven out of his house, and it is said that he went to the land of Canaan.
However, today's idols apply even to the thoughts of a person's heart. Even unreasonable fantasies of God or even the Bible and the cross can be idols.
Don't try to imagine God. When we imagine God, we believe in an abstract and ideological God. Some saints only know God as being in heaven, while others think of God only in what they personally like and need. I picture God in my head and say that the God I believe in is like this. However, such a God is just an idol in his heart that is nowhere else in the world. You must abandon these human attempts to bring God down to your own level of thought. People who believe in this kind of God are easily disappointed and discouraged when things do not go their way. God is the Sovereign who is with us, but He is Himself, beyond our hearts and minds.
A young man who was zealous for bible study that day started studying idolatry. Thinking about what he had studied, he studied the Bible to see if he had any idolatry. Suddenly, the inkwell fell and completely threw away the inside of the open Bible. At that moment, the Holy Spirit made me realize that my love for Bible study was greater than that of God.
The promise of God's beautiful answer is recorded in verse 14 and below. However, this verse is conditional. In other words, it is a promise given when the conditions presented in verses 9 and 13 are satisfied. “Having no other gods among you, not bowing down to foreign gods, obeying me and doing my ways” is God’s condition.
When the conditions are satisfied, God fills them. However, there are also limited conditions for that filling.
2. Then, what is God's filling?
Look at verse 10. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
This is a promise that if the Israelites faithfully accept the conditions set by God, whatever they ask for will be given to them. Can't you remember a New Testament word that has a similar meaning to this verse? This is John 15:7. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish. Then it will be done.”
God wants to fill His people, His children. It was the “fullness” that God gave to the first man, and it was also “fullness” that Jesus Christ sent to this earth. God, our Eternal Father, abounds in all that we ask or think. Therefore, believers should live in the will of God and seek abundance.
However, even in God's filling, there are conditions that we must fulfill. It's about opening your mouth wide.
Open the mouth of faith wide. To open your mouth wide of faith means to exert the faith you have been given to the fullest. Worrying thoughts like ‘What if I do!’ or ‘Is this going to happen?!’ result in a decrease in the amount of faith. Nothing is impossible with our God.
Open your mouth wide for prayer. All of God's grace and promises come through prayer. God has spoken in detail about this fact. See James 4:2-3. “What you do not have is that you do not ask. You ask, but you do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your lusts.” What we do not have is because we do not ask, and what we ask and do not receive is because we ask to spend it with our lusts. Therefore, we must pray to the end in faith and do not lose heart, while expressing our need in God's will.
Are you sure of God's answer to your requests? The people of Israel also forfeited the opportunity of blessing that had been given to them. We must never miss this opportunity. Let's expand the measure of faith through positive expressions all the time in our daily life. So, I pray that you will be able to open your mouth wide and live an abundant life by believing and relying on God's work in your daily life.