Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.
81:1 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 of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a language I had not known:
6 “I relieved your 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 with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Rescue the Weak and Needy
A Psalm of Asaph.
82:1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations! (ESV)
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken
When I read these two verses, right away I started to think of all the people at my High School who are not saved. They are weak and needy for the Lord and as a Christian, it is my job to talk to these people and share the gospel with them! They walk in darkness and they do not have any knowledge of Christ. Even though evangelizing is my weaker area, I am going to step it up and talk to people who aren’t saved and to be bold when open doors come my way, In and out of school! I am ready for whatever comes my way! I know I am commanded to, and its a desire of mine to actually do! (:
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
This is a very scary verse. If I were to fall into sin and never repent from it God would let me fall eventually and therefore I would’ve never been a Christian. This definitely makes me want to obey Christ more. LORD, don’t let me fall into sin, but obey you with my whole heart.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
The sounds a lot like me…God has saved me from sooooo much, mainly my sin, yet I find it hard to submit to Him. I still want to do my own thing and satisfy myself by doing what I want. In my stupidity I think that my plans are better than God’s! Yet this verse says if I would simply “open my mouth” God would fill it! God can fill the “hole” inside of me like nothing else can…infact He is the only thing that can fill it! I am going to trust God to satisfy me and let Him fill up! He is the good shephard (Psalm. 23:1) and He is the living water (John 4:14)!
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance
In reality, all of our world leaders are just apart of God’s plan. They are all puppets in God’s grand scheme. Becuase of this I am going to fear God instead of fearing them. He is the King of Kings and Judge of the nations!
Ps 81:13-14 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
We will have trouble in this life as Christians: that is forecast in the bible. But God is our faithful deliverer and will do what He says and save us. We will still have problems and discipline from the mighty, loving and perfect God but in the end we have an unshakable hope of comfort here and in heaven! Thank You Lord for Your unmerited grace and mercy towards us and please, please, PLEASE come soon!
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
Hunter said some great stuff! For me too, God has saved me from all of my sin, that I wouldn’t have to suffer the penalty for it because Jesus Christ took my place. And after being saved by God, I still foolishly try to do things on my own. Instead of be completely and wholly satisfied in the LORD, I try just doing what I want and think that will satisfy me. God is saying that if I would simply open my mouth, He will fill it. This is like spoon feeding, He has what can truly satisfy me and all I need to do is accept what He has to offer. But that also includes stopping to rely on myself, and instead rely on and seeking fully after God. I can’t seek after Him but still seek after other things. I need to wipe out anything else that competes with God for what I desire, for it should only be God, to live for Him should be the cry of my heart!
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
if we trust in God and listen to Him, like He commands to israel, then He will be with us and protect us. pastor mike made a great point this weekend when he said that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us. when we admit that we are weak and need Him, and humbly obey Him, He will be sure to protect us and bless us. this passage reminds me of one of the verses we memorized at Revival: “Come out from them and be separate says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). if we obey God and live holy lives for His glory, He will not turn away from us; rather He will receive us and bless us, because He is faithful
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
If the Israelites would have listened to God in the first place, they would have saved themselves a lot of trouble. But instead they chose to ignore what God told them, and they did what they wanted. That’s a lesson that I can read and look back on the consequences that the Israelites had. God even said that He would’ve defeated their enemies very quickly if they had just listened! And I don’t want to repeat their past mistake of not listening. If I listen to God, He says that He will quickly turn His hand against whatever i’m struggling against.
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
what other “god” can live forever as our God does, none. So all the false gods may be praised now but evenetually they will fall and be nothing more then trash
c u all at true north united
Goodmorning . . .
I read . . .
Psalm 81 & 82 . . .
“15. Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.”
The Athiests out in the world, who don’t believe that there even is a God, will suffer even after they die. When they will see God come down on the Day, they will cringe and feel uncomfortable around the God who made them. Their punishment (Hell) will go on for eternity. Just as the bible talks about. If you are a Christian and have repented and put your faith in Jesus Christ, than you will spent eternity (forever) with JESUS CHRIST. But, if you don’t believe in God and continue to live in your old ways, than you will spend eternity (forever) with Satan in Hell being punished in the scorching weather. As disciples of God, it’s our job to either spread the word of God, or water whatever might have already been planted.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~MARANATHA~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
=) ~ Ariana Mishreki ~ =)
Mady, that’s so neat how your going to evangalize to a new friend of yours. I will be praying for you, and tell me how it went. God bless!
————————————Hopefully I’ll be going to TRUE NORTH UNITED—————————–
Psalm 81:1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Two things stood out to me in this short verse that kicked off Psalm 81. First, how the psalm starts with a call to praise the Lord. Singing for joy and shouting aloud of His wonderful acts are two great ways to praise His wonderful name. Secondly, I was struck by the statement that “God is our strength.” This is a simple truth, but one I fail to remember from time to time. The way I have strength to live for God daily is through His power that is at work within me- the Holy Spirit. Whenever I try to live by my own strength I fail miserably. Lord, as this week is the kick off to two ministries I serve in please help me rely on your strength. Help me to live for You in all areas of my life, relying on Your strength to sanctify me and conform me more to the character of Christ.
In Psalm 81, Israel has turned away from God to other gods. But I love the way verse 7 reads
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
God is reminding the people that in their hard times and trials, they relied solely on Him. He is our rock and our redeemer. When we call on Him and rely on Him in our time of need, He will be their with us every step of the way. He doesn’t promise that our trials will be easy, but He does promise to deliver us and draw us nearer to himself, and that is better than having Him just remove our trials from us!
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
We look at Israel and think how could they desert their God?! But how often do we not listen, do we follow the devices of our own flesh…scary to think that God will give us over to our stubborn hearts. I don’t want to fall prey to this, I pray that I will be on guard to the sin that so easily entangles me and rely on His strength to say no to it!
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
God’s strength is endless and uncontrolable. He can do whatever He wants whenever He wants. He should have whiped out the etire world countless times, but He didnt. We are blessed to have a patient and just God. I should be taking more time out of my life to praise Him for everything He does. Not only for me, but what Hes done to make me stronger and to help my friends and everyone around me. God’s plan is the only plan we should have in our life. If we try to go our own way, we basically tell God we know better then Him. This is obviously not true at all. Accept God’s plan, for He knows whats best.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
God is great and He is all powerful and mighty. My favorite verse is Philippians 4:13 is because it reminds me of God’s strength and how I can do anything with Him, but I can do NOTHING without Him. Sing praise to the LORD for He is good and has done so many amazing things in my life. Praise the LORD! :]
***SING PRAISE***
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
I need to remember how gracious God has been with His people (Israel) in the Bible, His followers throughout history, & ME! He does so much for us before we even come to Him, then He simply asks that we follow Him, and then He does even more for us! All God wants from us is our submission to Him & His will, but we’re so consumed with having our own choices and our own “rights.” Only when we surrender our rights does God “fill our mouths”!
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Ouch! Since the Israelites would not listen to God, God gave the Israelites over to follow their evil desires. I need to listen to everything that God says in His Word, so that God will not give me over to follow the evil desires in my heart.
Brooke, awesome comment!! The only way there will be revival in the high schools of Orange County is if people like you open their mouths and share the gospel!!!
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
The more I read the Bible the more I realize how STUPID people are (and I am)!!! God tells me exactly what he expects of me. But sometimes I don’t want to listen and I’m stubborn and think that I can do it better. How absolutely stupid! I want to always listen to God and submit to his ways because his ways are always best!
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
This is so sad because so many people are walking in the darkness. I am so bless to be chosen by God. I want to be an example to everyone at my school who are described as this. I is amazing to think that at one point every knee shall bow!
ELLO… I read
I like verse 12,”So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.”
I like this verse because it tells exactly what is happening today. When a nation continually sins and delights in sin then GOD will give them over to sin and that nation will fall.
CYA
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
When I read Jacob’s comment, it reminded me of another passage I read about a man in depression (possibly a couple psalms ago??). It’s interesting how when in times of sorrow we can remember all the other times God has rescued us and helped us persevere. I just wish I thought of that more often when I was sick last weekend!! There is nothing that God can’t handle and our “problems” are probably really miniscule in His eyes compared to what it really could be. I need to think about what God’s plans could be in unsure times and remember what He has done for me in the sad ones!! :D
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
I love this! Ive just started reading it and already its praising God! :D
8 “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
These verses are so amazing and explanitory. Alot of the time, we wonder “why does God let me fall into misfortune?” or “if God loves me so much, why did he allow this to happen?” by wondering this we miss the point. God offers us protection and sanctuary. all we have to do is listen to Him. We seem to end up thinking that listening to His word every other day and thinking of what He would want us to do every once and a while is listening to Him. But what we dont realize is that its NOT listening to Him. To listan to Him, we must listen to im eery minute and meditate upon his word everyday! When we ignore His teachings God will allow us to follow our own path that will lead us into destruction, for He wants us to choose His way and the punishment of our deeds against Him will always fall into place. For HE is a JUST and RICHEOUS GOD
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
God WANTS to help us! God loves us! He is such a great God, and all we have to do is put our trust in Him and listen to His teachings. Then we will be forever protected in Him.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
Men may think they are gods, but none can live up to our mighty and powerful God. He is one and only. Men are one in many
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
This verse reminds me of some of my friends. Some are like the weak and needy, and it is true that they know and understand NOTHING. Reading this makes me realize that they need a helping hand. I believe that it is me that shoud stand up and talk to them. Also not to be a pleasing person. It does’t matter what they think of me. What matters is that they will listen to me, and understand what they are doing wrong. Also turn away from their sins. It is not always easy, and your never wrong for speaking up for the Lord. My challenge is to go out there and talk to people I know or don’t know about our heavenly father. Who knows that might be the day they turn thier life around.
8 “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
Here is an example of God assuring us that He alone can give us peace. He is pleading with Israel to repent and listen to Him, and Him alone! He also reminds them in verse 10 of the Exodus- a huge example of how God loves His people and how mighty He is to save. If we open our mouths wide, He will fill it- in other words- Surrender completely and He will restore our lives. I need to be asking God to do this every day!
Matthew 10:39
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
God when he returns there will trumpets for the sign of his return and on that day we should be ready.
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I agree with Brooke, these verses describe the people at our schools who are not saved. Like verse 5 says, they understand nothing, they walk about in darkness. As christians we are called to evangelize, and spread the word to people at our schools who are lost. I need to remember to be doing this daily!
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
God’s plan is always perfect; though there are times when he allows His children to go through trials, there are also great blessings that He wants to give them. His plan for our lives will always be the best there is. But too often we stray from that, thinking in our own human “wisdom” that we know better. And we never do. I need to make sure that my life always matches up to what God’s Word commands; even if sin seems better at the time, it will never be better than God’s blessings, and will always lead to discipline.
8 “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
Here lies the problem: Israel didn’t listen! From remembering Pastor Bobby’s sermon, I know that not listening is the deadly sin of high school. And the only way I can listen to God is by reading and meditating on His word. Good thing I’m on SOTD.
But listening is only half the battle. I definetely need to work on putting to work what I read out of the Bible. I want to be a “doer” of the word as James spoke about.
I’m really excited for True North United tomorrow night! I’ll be praying!
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
God is my strength He keeps me going and I praise You oh Lord for everything!!!
8 “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
We can not have false idols or anything above God for we will be punished and we will deserve what we get if we do not have God first in our lives.
1 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
If I choose not to listen to God, He will let me do what I want and follow my sinful desires. But even though my sinful self wants this, it is destructive to my soul. Also, if I do follow God’s will, then he will vanquish my enemies and keep me safe against the wicked.
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
People today are constantly worshipping foreign or false gods. It is so sad to see people give up their whole lives to false religions with false gods. We cannot have idols put before the Lord either. I need to always be checking out my life to see if I have any idols put before the Lord. If i do i need to make sure that I fix that and put God first instead.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
Wow… This is a powerful verse. It really sets things straight. It really helps remind me that there are only two teams: God’s and the Devil’s, and if we are on the Devil’s, then boy, are we in for it. God is so powerful and just, but that does mean that he will punish those who do not follow him, and like this verse reminds me, the punishment will last forever. It makes me fear GOd all the more, but also love him for his mercy because he has saved me. Not only that, but it really motivates me to go evangelise! I do not want anyone to be tortured for eternity. Especially people I love. For example, my friends, my family, and really anyone I know. I do not want anyone to feel the wrath of God when instead they could fell his love and mercy. Im going to write this verse on my binder so that it reminds me to evangelise at school!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
God clearly states that we shall have no other gods among Him! We shall not bow down to an alien god. It also states this as the 1st commandment! For me, it is hard with dance because i dance everyday and i still need to have the Lord before that. Dance is my dream but my dream also needs to be able to see God someday. I want and need God in my life and i need to prioritize my life so that i can have Him first in my life. He deserves and needs to be my life! Nothing should interfere with the Lord our God! He is above all else.
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
God WANTS to take care of us, but we hurt Him when we disobey Him. 1 John 3:24 says “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom Has has given us.” That’s a little bit of a confusing translation, but it means that we know that God lives in us when we live in Him. Good works are proof that we have salvation (though salvation itself only comes through repentance and faith- NOT works) God says He’ll be with us if we follow Him- isn’t that enough of a motivation?
2 “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
I really don’t get this…Why would the psalmist think that? I mean, i think it’s established by that time that God always judges justly right? I mean, do they know that yet? I’m pretty sure they do, but i don’t know why they acuuse God of siding with the wicked.
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
God gave Israel over to their evil ways because they would not listen to Him and were bowing down to other gods. I like these verses because God says, if Israel would follow Him and obey Him, His hand would be against their enemies! Also in vs 16 it says how God would priovide for them! God is so awesome and He wants His people to follow Him!! God is Jealous and doesn’t like them bowing down to their other gods. Those false gods couldn’t do anything for the people yet they still worshipped them instead of the One True God who satisfies all!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
Although we probably wont get caught up in worshiping a different God, there are many idols in my life that I put before God, and that is just as bad. I need to make sure that I dont have any idols that I hold above God
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Even though God knows what’s best for me, He still allows to me to choose my ways and that saddens me because of the poor choices that resulted. Like when the world twists it around and says follow your heart, it’s not right. I want to follow God, not my own devices and thoughts. These remind me of the verses in in Jeremiah 17:9, and Matthew 5:19 where it says our hearts aren’t as good as the world thinks they are. I’m going to pray to submit myself fully to God’s will! Also to set my whole heart on seeking the Lord! He deserves it all. excited for tn united =]
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
In my history class we are learning about the Egyptians and other early civilizations and how they worshiped idol “gods” and “godlike” pharaohs and kings. They even spent 50 years just building a tomb for a mere man, a simple king. This is ridiculous.
Yet that relates to now because we are storing up treasures for ourself on earth, and are neglecting to store up treasure for our heavenly kingdom through obedience.
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
It’s so easy to want to be friends with people who are fun and well-liked. It’s also easy to blend into a crowd and just be like everyone else. As God’s people we’re called to stick our necks out for people who need protection and help. We should be the ones anyone can count on to defend the weak and help those who really need it.
why helloooo there!!! :)
Psalm 81:9 “You shall have no foriegn god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.”
Like I mentioned in my post yesterday, our God is a very jealous God! He will not except not being 1st in our lives! I need to always make sure that God is my number one focus, priority, and love in my life. Especially with school starting back up, for me, its going to be hard not to put all of my effort into homework, and stuff like that instead of putting it into my relationship with God.
Psalm 81:13-14 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!”
One of the many reasons why I love the Old Testament is that we can learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. They had God on their side, and they would put him first. But unfortunately, time and time again, they would mess up. They would put idols in their lives, they would forget all about God and everything He had done for them. God is saying here that if only they would put him back first in their lives, he would do anything for them! I need to remember this in my life to always keep God first. Even if my life here is tough, I know that my reward in heaven will be great for perservering with God as my ONLY God!
YES! True North United tomorroww!! cannooottt wait to see all of you there hopefully :)
12 “So I gave them over to their stubborn to follow their own devices.”
Man is corrupted, evil causes corruption and corruption needs to be destroyed. I will ultimately be destroyed if I follow my own stubborn heart, God needs to destroy sin. God sent Jesus to save us from destroying ourselves because of sin. If we accept this gift, we will be saved and would live a meaningful life. Even though the world portrays our way to be better, it l really leads to death, Satan uses our desires against us. I need to remember to follow God and not my stubborn heart.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
God was so gracious to let the Israelites leave Egypt yet once things were starting to get a little tough, they started grumbling and complaining against God and he finally just let them have what they wanted and gave them over to their sinful ways and they paid the price for that!!! This reminds of myslelf, when things start to get hard and complicated in my life, i start to grumble and completely trust in Christ!! But instead I should be putting all my problems on God and asking for forgiveness for doubting God’s plans!!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
God is our Master and He is the one and only God. I like these verses because God wants us to put Him first in our lives above everything and everyone. And if we don’t listen and submit to Him we are just hardening our hearts walking away from God.
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
Wow! This entire psalm was incredible but this verse hit me especially hard. Here, God is talking in first person saying that we shall not worship any other God’s besides him or idols. I know for me, there are some things that I never even could have thought could be idols but they were, and they were drawing me away from God. If any of us have idols in our life and God is not our FIRST priority, we need to repent of that sin and keep God as number one in our lives. The second verse that I chose was very uplifting to me. Here, God says that he is our Lord and that if we open our mouths wide and crave him, he will fill it. Just like John 15:10 says, if we abide in God’s commandments and in him, he will abide in us. This is very encouraging to me and I praise the Lord for this promise!!!
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
Whoa.. God is EAGER to subdue our enemies! That is so awesome.. As long as I live in him in obey him, he will protect me from my enemies! I really have no reason to worry about anything if I am following God… it is so cool to think that God is EAGER to destroy my enemies and rescue me!
God is so good..
MARANATHA!!
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
This verse helps me because sometimes I will feel like oh i cant believe i did that and for that moment im proud of myself a little too much, this verse shows me no matter how great you are we are limited and will die no matter what.
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
I guess this verse is showing how you can’t do anything without god. If you turn away from god and only trust in yourself and your own skills you will fail. If you trust in god and let him help you, you will be able to accomplish anything.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
A perfect way to start off a Psalm. Shouting Praise to the Lord should be my first priority. I will love the Lord with all my hear and sing praises to him.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
Whoa…New Moon…I guess the Bible is so relevant it talks about Twilight…
I wonder how many comments we would get if we started a Twilight discussion board…hmm?
Seriously, I saw the trailer for the New Moon movie and the girl is so obsessed with missing Edward Cullen that she starts putting herself into near death experiences (like throwing herself off of a cliff) because she feels near him. Yikes! That is the kind of idolatrous approach to relationships that is destructive and it is scary to think of high school girls all across America getting into this.
The reason Psalm 81 mentions New Moon is because this is a song they would have sang at the beginning of a scheduled feast…
And notice what the main point of the psalm that God wants his people to do…
LISTEN!!!
This is the deadly sin of high school that students don’t listen to what God says and do it!
The people of Israel suffered greatly because of this when they didn’t need to…
I am praying that at True North we will listen to God’s Word here on SOTD and when we hear sermons at True North… I want to be sure that I am hearing what God says to me so that I do it!
True North United tomorrow night!
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
This is a great reminder! That even back then God is rescuing people from their distress and he continues to help us in our trials! This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” And God is TOTALLY faithful! Something I HAVE to work on is trusting God more in these trials of mine! Just like God helped these people in this Chapter- he also is going to get me though whatever trial I’m in (super big or super small.) I need to trust in God’s plan for me and God ALONE! [:
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
We are faced with many temptations and choices every single day. I want everything I do to bring glory to God. Disobedience would only lead me down the wrong path. It’s so important to prioritize in our lives and put God before everything. Like Pastor Bobby said, let’s listen to God’s word more and let’s please him in all that we do.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”
heelllooo!!!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.—I really need to make sure God is ABOVE everything in my life! I cannot make other things my idols/gods besides God only! Whether its music, celebrities, or Tv, I need to make sure God is the only thing that I am addicted too and not be too busy trying to follow something else! Jesus is the only one that died for us and that is why I need to forget about everything else and serve Him first!!
stoked for TRUE NORTH UNITED!! cant wait to see you guys!!
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
No man can avoid being judged. thank the Lord that he came and took the penalty for us! It is incredible that he died for sinners like us so that we could avoid punnishment if we chose him.
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
God hates idolatry! Although I don’t bow down to foreign images or statues, there are gods in my life that I sometimes worship rather than the true God. These gods, or idols have turned my thoughts, focus, time and service away from God Almighty. Sometimes this idol comes in the form of something that I want. I think that I cannot be happy until I obtain this thing and my time and thoughts are consumed with this desire. At this point glorifying God is not my supreme desire and I have turned to idols. I need to make sure that I am loving and worshipping God supremely; that glorifying Him is my ultimate desire.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
Ok…#1 can you hear the excitement to worship God? I can!
#2 this feels like worship before a sunday service….They start praising with music…and then they get into what God is saying…..I just thought that was really cool to see…what else is really cool to see is how there isn’t a definate stop to this musical praise….it rolls right into God’s word….the aditude of praise isn’t suposed to stop when you start reading from verse 4 on…. It reminds me of a podcast I listened to where this guy talked about old puritan or methodist services where there would be up to two hours or so of Bible reading and preaching…and he said someone asked what time did that leave for worship…he replied that they reading was the worship…that leads to this….when it comes to worship…sometimes the most important worship…is after the music stops…I need to keep my heart focused on worship…with and without music…
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.
Mmmm, worship!!! This reminded me (and totally convicted me) of something that I need to be doing ALL THE TIME– not just on Sunday mornings. It’s easy to get distracted and caught up in our days. But a good reminder and heart check for me is to see if I’m praising God in my life throughout the day, every day. And when I see that I’m not, I know I’ve let the things of this earth get in the way. No matter what the circumstances, it’s a powerful and convicting lesson to learn that we need to be praising God all the time.
I didn’t really have a verse that stuck out to me, but I liked how it descibed the Israelites having God, but then turning away. Then going back to Him.I can relate to that. I stray from God, but then I go back and I try not to do it again.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
I’ve been thinking about this verse a lot today, and I think that if I thought about this verse more, I would sin less. God wants to satisfy his people and is offering something so much better than the world could possibly provide!
The first chapter reminded me of Bobby’s sermon of The Deadly Sin of High School, which is not listening. It made me think of how I’ve been doing with listening since that sermon, and lately I’ve been doing a mediocre job. I need to get back into the Word without laziness or procrastination, and be a “doer” of what it commands me to do. Prayer is also necessary for living a life of no compromise, and Col. 4:2 tells us to devote ourselves to prayer.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
God has blessed me so much in my life and i need to praise him and thank him for that!! Singing and shouting thanks to him and praising him for being soooo holy!! I love God and i will forever & always trust in him<3
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud
This is a verse in which God tells us that he will protect us. It makes me feel so good to know that God can protect me. He even sometimes answers us in miraculous ways (out of a thundercloud). This verse can give me courage when I’m feeling afraid. I can be bold! Of course, I need to be bold when evangelizing. And evangelism makes me think: MARANATHA!
Hahaha Pastor Bobby I loved what you said about the New Moon trailer!! hahah :)
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
One part of this verse makes me happy and hopeful, and the other just makes me want to evangelize more! One day on that glorious day we will all be met up in the sky-and EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! That will be the most amazing day…where everyone who called us freaks for being radical Chrsitians will see us and know for sure that we were right all along. Second, the other part makes me sad. Their punishment in the Lake of fire and eternal torture will never end! All this makes me want to do is evangelize! So that my friends WONT have to endure that pain!
13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
The Lord is so compassionate to Isreal. He requires one thing and that is obedience but with obedience comes great love and blessings. When I read this I could picture the Lord ready to scoop them up in his mighty hand and rescue them from there enemy and his heart breaking because they would not listen to him. How I am so like the Israelites. I have my ideas and my ways and the whole time the Lord is saying if you will listen and obey me I will take care of it all. How I need to remember that God is gracious and loving and wants to rescue me.
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
Even though we have had some good leaders in our history, ultimately all are human and will make mistakes. And nowadays it seems that the world is getting more and more unjust and farther from God’s intended purpose for it. But even though human rulers make mistakes now, God never does and He will soon come to rule the nations. I shouldn’t stress about what is going on now, but rather trust that God will soon come and establish righteousness and justice forever. I need to be looking forward to it and also trust that it is all in God’s time, realizing that God has a purpose for coming when He does and I need to be serving and trusting Him in the meantime.
Psalm 81
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
This psalm really made me think about how foolish we can be as Christians. We hear the Word of God but we fail to listen and learn from it. We claim that the Lord is our God but we put other god’s before Him. If God is our Lord than why is He receiving the smallest portion of our time each day? Why do we put the things of this world higher in priority than our relationship with Christ?
11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
If we are Christians and we continue to be stubborn people like Israel than should we expect a different fate? I pray that we will listen to God’s Truth and follow its instruction as if our live depended on it.
Isaiah 55:2-3 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.
8 “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
this reminds how important the bible is to us. god gives us His instruction in the bible and he warns us of what to do and what not to do, and we believe him to be the almighty ruler of all things, yet we choose to go against His commands over and over again. i need to focus on doing as he commands us in the bible so that i may be an obedient child of His
9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.
gods come in all different shapes sizes and forms. They could be anything. Lord help me to watch out and flee from any gods in my life, if there are any, and help me to focus on you.