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Tuesday 25 October 2011

Psalm 81 - Respond with trust

This is a real  mixture of a Psalm. It begins with a declaration of praise to God, calling on the nation to praise the Lord  and announcing that this is an everlasting decree.
Then we get a reminder of how God brought Israel out of Egypt, and also how He tested them at Meribah. Meribah was one of the many places where Israel complained  against Moses (and so against God) when there was no water. Here, in response to God's command, Moses struck the rock and water came forth.
The Israelites were a ransomed people, a rescued people, but it did them no good because they refused to listen to God, they refused to trust in Him. If only they would listen to God, then all would go well with them. This is as true for Israel today as it was then.
We also need to learn from this. We can especially learn from the Meribah incident. There was indeed no water, but complaining and grumbling was the wrong response. God would have brought water when they needed it. It would have been far better for them to trust God. We need to do the same. We so easily get all uptight about situations, demanding that God, or someone, do something about it. Sometimes, a little patience, a little trust, would be a far better response.

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