Psalm 81:13-16 - August 19, 2009

Ps 81:13-16 "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." NIV

Oh, the blessings that we miss because we don’t take the time to listen to God! Our loving heavenly father has such abundance in store for us. The riches of God in heavenly realms are appointed to us but we must surrender to His directing hand so that He can lead us into our inheritance. This passage is powerful for its sense of timing. “How quickly would I subdue their enemies…” It is not that we have to persuade God to act… we must surrender to His leadership and yield to His ways!
God is ready to judge the wicked. He is ready to deliver His beloved people. His greatest hindrance from pouring out this intended blessing is the stubborn self-will of a people who choose to follow their own devices instead of humbling themselves before His sovereign guidance. Paul spoke of this principle in 2 Cor 10:6 as he said “And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” The intended punishment that was to come upon the disobedient had to be withheld until God’s people demonstrated their own obedience. How can God justly judge the disobedience of the one who hates Him when the one who claims to love Him is living in the same disobedience?
Psalm 81 is rich in its comforting hope as it reflects upon not only our deliverance by the hand of the Lord but the intimate blessings that await us as we come to this place of yielding before God in accordance with His word. In verse 16 the psalmist writes, “you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." How can we resist such an invitation? God himself offers us the very finest of His substance. God Himself extends His gracious hand with the guarantee that we will be satisfied once we have tasted of the honey of His presence, for this wheat and this honey are not the substance of material food but rather the sweetness and fulfillment that come from tasting of the Lord Himself. When our ways are pleasing to God and we turn and seek after Him as He has invited us our reward is the very nearness of God Himself. We must choose between the passing pleasures of this world whose taste grows dull and pale in our mouths or the eternal pleasure of enjoying God. He has promised that once we have tasted of Him we will be satisfied!