Open Wide

Psalm 81

“Open up!  Come on, now.  Open up, big and wide!”, a mother encourages her baby as he sits in the highchair, being spoon fed his meal.  We like to see our children, as babies, opening up to eagerly eat the good food we offer them. In our psalm today we see God saying the same thing to His people.  Let’s take a look at this Scripture passage and see what blessings the Lord wishes to give His children.

Our psalm begins, as many psalms do, with a call to worship (vs 1-5). This is important to remember when believers gather together, that worship of the Lord God is primary. This psalm was probably sung at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is a festival that follows shortly after the Day of Atonement.  The festival reminded the people of their wilderness wanderings, and God’s care for them then.

The psalm then switches to God speaking in the first person (vs 6-16).  He calls out to people, that if they will only listen to Him, He will pour out His blessings on them.  These verses not only follow the experiences of the people of Israel and their repeated straying from Yahweh during the years in the wilderness, but that of mankind in general who have forsaken the true God.

The descendants of Jacob had become slaves in Egypt.  They were slaves and foreigners in a country whose language they did not speak (vs. 5).  As we read in the Book of Exodus, God provided an amazing miracle of deliverance when He parted the Red Sea, bringing the people free from their bondage to the Egyptians (vs 6).  God proceeds to give reference to His presence on Mt. Sinai, where the Law was given (vs 7). Meribah was where the Israelites tested God (Exodus 17:1-7).

In verse 10 we hear God telling us how much He desires to bless us. Just as the mother tells the baby she is feeding to open up wide, God wants us to open wide to receive His blessings.  Sometimes, like stubborn little children, we don’t listen to God, and then miss out on His blessings. Many times babies, being spoon fed some strained peas and carrots or some other vegetable, clamps their jaws closed, refusing to take a bite.  They’d rather have the strained applesauce. However, mommy knows her baby needs a well-balanced diet, and keeps trying to get the vegetables down. God desires to bless us beyond our imagination. To receive what He has to offer, though, we must submit ourselves to Him.  We are filled only when we obey what He says. Throughout this psalm we read of all the Lord has done for His people, yet they failed to obey. If we don’t “open up”, He can’t bless.

God sometimes lets us continue on in our stubborn ways to bring us to our senses (vs 11-12).  Sometimes He wants us to learn the consequences of sin. God can use these experiences to draw us to faith in Him, and away from greater sin.  Just like a loving parent wants what is best for their child, God so desires to bless us. If we will only listen to God and return to Him, He will restore us (vs 13-16).

True satisfaction, peace, and joy comes to us only through Jesus, and nothing or no one else.  Don’t be like the stubborn child, refusing his vegetables. Open wide, and receive God’s blessings!