514_Oh, that my people would listen to me

Psalm 81 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.”

A father once shared a story about his teenage son. The boy had grown increasingly distant, and was always with undesirable friends. The father warned him again and again—“Be careful. That road will only lead to pain.” But the son believed he knew better. Months later, the father received the kind of phone call every parent dreads. His son was in trouble with the law. Broken, guilty, and ashamed, the boy sat in the police station, wishing he had listened to his father. The father’s heart ached for his son. His pain was not because his son had flouted his authority, but for the loss of his son’s innocence, freedom, and inner sense of worth.

That story echoes the cry of God in Psalm 81. This psalm is the cry of a Father longing for His children to listen and walk in His ways, and enjoy their rest and blessing. It is a lament, but also a promise. God’s voice speaks the same words to us today: “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!”

Psalm 81 was sung during a feast, most likely the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a time of remembrance of the marvelous deliverance from Egypt and God’s provision in the wilderness. Israel’s people gathered with joy to sing praise to God. The psalm begins: “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp!”

God Himself begins to recount His faithfulness to His people. “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder.” He heard their cries and set them free. He led them through the wilderness, rained down manna on them every day for 40 years, and gave them water from the rock. Finally, he led them to the land He had promised.

Yet God laments: “Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!” The prophets repeat the same refrain —God pleading with His people to turn from idols, to trust in Him, to walk in His ways.

The reason he gives is: “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.” What a picture of generosity and care! God longs to provide, to bless, to satisfy His people fully. “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. “

And therefore, he says, in one of the most sobering verses in Scripture, “I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.” When his people insist on their own way, God lets them do as they want, even though it breaks His heart. The worst of all punishments is to have our own way, when it leads us away from Him. Like the father watching his son make destructive choices, God does not force obedience. Love cannot be coerced. He gives freedom—even the freedom to walk into ruin.

But how different things could have been! “If only my people would listen to me, if Israel would walk in my ways, I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes… I would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” The promise is overwhelming: protection, security in His presence, and an abundance of provision. What they forfeited through stubbornness could have been theirs in full measure.

God’s lament is not locked in history. He still speaks with the same longing: “Oh, that my people would listen to me!” We so often hear it in Scripture, in the conviction of the Spirit, in the counsel of wise believers. Yet we think we know better. We pursue our ambitions and our dreams even if they do not align with his will. We are too busy, too distracted, too caught up with ourselves, to pay attention to his voice.

And failing to listen and learn and know, we lose the joy of His fellowship. We lose the peace that surpasses understanding. We lose the satisfaction of being fed with His finest wheat, of tasting honey from the rock. And, like the father in the story, His heart breaks not because His authority is diminished, but because His children forfeit the abundant life He longs to give them.

The writer of Hebrews rightly challenges us: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Christ has done everything to secure our salvation. Why would we settle for our stubborn counsels and discard the joy of walking with Him?

Let us heed God’s voice: “Oh, that you would listen to me!” Maybe we have to let go of a weight we have been carrying, a close-clinging sin. Maybe He is summoning us into actual fellowship, into deeper trust and obedience. He is not angry with us, but he longs to experience our love. He longs to fill us with his goodness, to protect us, to give us peace.

The call of Psalm 81 is as relevant now as it was then. It is not enough to follow a namesake churchianity. It is not enough to sing God’s praises. We are to listen to him, to let our hearts be molded by his word, to shape our attitudes and actions according to his loves and dislikes. The blessing of the Lord is not a pipe dream but realities for those who listen and obey.

Let us not be unfaithful. Let us love the Father who longs for our fellowship. Let us run with patience, our eyes on our Captain Jesus. So our lives will satisfy us and bring true delight to God’s heart.

The invitation is simple, yet profound: listen. Let us listen to His Word. Let us listen to His Spirit. Let us lay aside stubbornness, pride, and distraction. Open your mouth wide, and He will fill it. And as you do, you will discover that the Father’s heart, which once lamented, will now rejoice. God bless.