Word for the day by Christina Education Forum
Carmel MTC, Boston MA
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.
Psalm 81 is a song arranged in a melody called Gittith, a music style of Gath. The song was meant to be sung together on a festival day (v. 3). It evokes varied feelings and experiences that are essential for spiritual growth. The song portrays a God, worthy to be praised and adored. Adoration has to be a natural response resulting from an exceptional experience. We are sometimes filled with awe and wonder on seeing a beautiful landscape which may find its expression through acclamations, verbal or nonverbal. Similarly, adoration to God shall also come from a spiritual experience. Here, we see two experiences in the life of Israel that fill the heart of the psalmist as well as the later singers as they adore the God of Jacob, Joseph and Moses.
Psalm 81 is a song arranged in a melody called Gittith, a music style of Gath. The song was meant to be sung together on a festival day (v. 3). It evokes varied feelings and experiences that are essential for spiritual growth. The song portrays a God, worthy to be praised and adored. Adoration has to be a natural response resulting from an exceptional experience. We are sometimes filled with awe and wonder on seeing a beautiful landscape which may find its expression through acclamations, verbal or nonverbal. Similarly, adoration to God shall also come from a spiritual experience. Here, we see two experiences in the life of Israel that fill the heart of the psalmist as well as the later singers as they adore the God of Jacob, Joseph and Moses.
1. Adoration to God who led them to the land of Egypt: The psalmist is praising God for
what He is and for what He has done (v.1-7). The call to sing aloud, playing
different musical instruments show the overwhelming joy in the presence of God.
Adoration and Thanksgiving comes in remembrance of the hand of God which
led Israel into the land of Egypt following the famine. God, in His
mercy, sends Joseph beforehand to prepare the land for famine. Through Joseph,
He uses the political power of Pharaoh to save the people. So the journey into
Egypt shows the pervading protection that God offers His people and through them to
the people of Egypt.
2. Adoration to God who led them out of Egypt: Irony of history is that the very
same place of shelter that was intended for protection becomes a place of
slavery. Those who are to be the protectors turn out to be the persecutors.
They put innocent people into misery. God hears the cry of His people and
intervenes in history through Moses and liberates the slaves from the land of
bondage into the land of freedom which He had promised.
God
protects and uses His people to protect the world. God through His people
intervenes when the defenders become the oppressors.
PRAYER
Dear God, we praise You for Your
wonderful interventions and submit ourselves to be Your instruments of
protection and liberation. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Do we often oppress others instead of protecting them?
Do we often oppress others instead of protecting them?