Psalm 81 - Begin the music

Read: Psalm 81 vs 1-16

Psalm 81 begins with a summons for those gathered in God’s name to sing to Him, and to do so with joy. There is a reason for this (He is our strength) and a way that it is be done, with music, a timbrel, a harp and a lyre. A timbrel was a kind of tambourine, when it was played people often danced. The strings of a harp would have given body and volume to what was being played, while the lyre was a smaller stringed instrument played like a guitar. 

So there is a real ‘festival’ feel (vs 3) to what is happening here. At times music can express how we feel but music that is alive and joyful can also affect how we feel. It is good to sing for joy to God, good to strike the timbrel, to play the harp and the lyre (or modern equivalents … listening to others, if like me you can’t play anything yourself!)

The first five books of the Bible (Genesis – Deuteronomy), and the story which they tell, provide so much of the backdrop for the book of the Psalms. 

Verse 6 begins a run of looking back to stories, told in these books, when God removed burdens from His people, and when He rescued them in His distress. Every nation has moments in the past that they remember, often in annual events of commemoration and remembering. However when we are in Christ it is the stories of what God has done, as told in Holy Scripture, that become the key, defining stories, that we want to shape our lives. In the fullest sense, for the believing person, history as told in the Bible is our history.

As Psalm 81 reminds us this history is not just one of God’s deliverance, but it is one where his people often failed to trust God (vs 7) and failed to listen to Him (vs 11). God tests our hearts (vs 7 refers to an incident from Numbers 20:1-13) yet so often these wilderness tests led to the people wandering away from God. He longs for them to return. He wants to provide (vs 16), in ways that are more than we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20). As the music plays on the God of Psalm 81 calls to His people to listen and to turn around to Him (vs 13).   

Prayer: Father thank You for stories of Your deliverance told time and again in the Bible. When life is difficult and You test me, help me to stay close to, to trust You and to know Your daily provision. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.