Psalm 81: When the Lord is NOT Your Shepherd

Today’s reading is Psalm 81.

God pulls out all the stops in Psalm 81. He reminds Israel of the great blessing He provided when they followed Him in the past. He promises the great blessing He will give them if they keep following Him. He bestows grace, giving them further opportunity to follow Him when they’ve abandoned Him in the past. “If you would but listen to me,” He pleads, not for His benefit, but theirs. But…

“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me” (Psalm 81:11, ESV). Anyone who knows the history of Israel knows they failed to listen and submit again and again and again. They repeatedly turned to other gods. They repeatedly abandoned Yahweh. Psalms 77-80 have a repeated Shepherd/flock/sheep theme. While Shepherd, flock, and sheep are not mentioned directly in this psalm, we get a strong flavor of what happens when the flock refuse to heed the voice of the Shepherd.

So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.

Psalm 81:12 (ESV)

The result of this is understood by all who heard this psalm in Israel. The enemies of vs. 14 subdued and conquered Israel because they followed their own counsels. This happened repeatedly in Judges. It happened with Israel in 2 Kings 17 as they were conquered by Assyria. It happened with Judah in 2 Kings 25 as they were conquered by Babylon. If they would turn and listen, God would deliver again. But Israel continually refused to heed the voice of God.

The point we need to understand. God longs to lead us to life. He pleads with us. He cautions us. He reminds us. He promises us. He instructs us. He warns us. He chases us. He restores us. He warns again. He clearly wants a relationship with us. However, if we refuse to listen, if we push back, if we wander away, eventually He will let us go our own way. For all He does, He won’t force us on His path. Eventually, He will give us up to walk in our own counsels. The problem is our own counsels are awful. They will not provide for us, neither in this life nor in eternity. Our own counsels lead to death and destruction. Our own counsels lead to Hell. If we won’t listen to God, He will let us walk that path. He doesn’t want to, but He will.

Here’s the thing. It will never be easier than today to submit to the Lord as Shepherd. The more we refuse Him, the harder it is to turn back to Him. Don’t delay. Let the Lord shepherd you today. That is the only path to life.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 81.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 81 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Hear and Heed

Today’s reading is Matthew 7.

Jesus wraps up this sermon with a powerful warning. Judgment is coming. In fact, it is judgment just like the one that came in Noah’s day. That is, the rains will fall and the floods will come. No, Jesus isn’t saying another flood is literally coming, but another judgment is literally coming. He uses the imagery from that previous judgment to provide the warning.

What is the difference between those who will survive the judgment and those who won’t? Those who survive the judgment will not only hear the words of Jesus, they will do them. Those who do not survive will hear the words of Jesus, but won’t do them.

Think about that. Those who don’t survive the judgment are people who “go to church.” They are people who attend the Bible classes. They are people who read their Bibles. They are people who listen to the sermons. But that is all. They listen, but they don’t do. They hear, but they don’t heed.

This is the part of the sermon that has convicted me the most. Last year, we had a Bible class on the sermon. This ending plagued me the whole time because I knew it was coming. It kept me asking, “If I really lived this Sermon, what would my life look like?” I realized there were plenty of portions of the sermon I had relaxed. I realized I could talk about the sermon, discuss the sermon, write about the sermon, preach on the sermon, teach the sermon, but for all of that, I could still ignore the sermon. That is not good enough. This sermon is not to be read. It is not to be heard. It is to be practiced. It is to be lived.

As we wrap up our look at it, may we keep it in memory and may we ask, “If I decided to really live this sermon, what would be different in my life?”

Next week’s reading is Matthew 8.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. How do we build our lives on the rock? How do we build our lives on Jesus?
3. Why is it tempting to build our lives on sand?
4. What do you think it means when Matthew goes on to record that the people were astonished because Jesus taught as one having authority?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?