Psalm 81:8-16
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."
Are we willing to listen to the Lord? It is easy to say "of course we'll listen", but in practice how much effort do we put into listening to God? The problem with listening to God is that we may not like what He has to say. He might want us to do something different than what we want to do. To truly listen means to submit to God (verse 11). If we're not willing to do that then God will give us over to our stubborn hearts, to let us learn the hard way what happens when we follow our own counsel (verse 12). But if we do listen to God and follow His ways (verse 13) then He will help us and feed us (verses 14-16).
Speak Lord, I am listening.
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."
Are we willing to listen to the Lord? It is easy to say "of course we'll listen", but in practice how much effort do we put into listening to God? The problem with listening to God is that we may not like what He has to say. He might want us to do something different than what we want to do. To truly listen means to submit to God (verse 11). If we're not willing to do that then God will give us over to our stubborn hearts, to let us learn the hard way what happens when we follow our own counsel (verse 12). But if we do listen to God and follow His ways (verse 13) then He will help us and feed us (verses 14-16).
Speak Lord, I am listening.