Word for the day by Christina Education Forum

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Lord: Who Led into and out of Egypt
Psalms 81
Subi Rachel Mathew (W/O Rev. Denny Philip)

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.
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?

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