Day 81.
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 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. “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways! (Psalm 81:8-13 ESV)
It is heart breaking when I tell something to my children and they ignore me. I can only imagine the heartbreak we cause God when we don’t listen to what he tells us. We know that he only tells us that which is good for us. He has proved his love in the most demonstrative way in the giving of Jesus. And yet, we turn deaf ears to the one who gave us ears to hear with.
Can you hear the heartbreak and longing of God in this psalm? “Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!”
It is not just that God made us with ears, he has also opened our deaf ears by giving His Holy Spirit and a mind to understand spiritual things. And yet still, we close our ears to hear those things that challenge our comfort. Let us repent of our voluntary deafness and tune in to the one who loves us most!
Chronological Reading Plan plus Psalms: Dt 32-34, Ps 81, 91
When we choose sin and not listen to our Lord he hides his face and does not hear when we pray. (Is. 59:1-2) Our sin makes a separation. This is why I must get more serious about my sins in order to have a richer prayer life and relationship with him.I want a sorrow over sin not just because it causes me problems but because it offends my holy God.I’m discouraged with how far I need to go but encouraged that I know what to do and where my Help is.
Individually and as a church we want “good” provision from our Lord but he often chooses to withhold good because we choose to not listen. Jer. 5:21-25