Psalm 81:8 ¶
Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt
hearken unto me; 9 There shall no
strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10 I am the LORD thy God, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 But my people would not hearken to my voice;
and Israel would none of me. 12 So I
gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own
counsels. 13 Oh that my people had
hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! 14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and
turned my hand against their adversaries. 15
The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but
their time should have endured for ever. 16
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with
honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
If the Israelites will just listen to God, if
they will just listen. They were told not to worship foreign gods, but the God
who led them out of Egypt. For strange as foreign see;
The word stranger is used to denote a foreigner,
an alien to a people, who lives among that people.
Genesis
15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a
surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Genesis
17:12 And he that is eight days old
shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is
born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of
thy seed.
Leviticus
24:22 Ye shall have one manner of law,
as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the
LORD your God.
Jacob put away his strange gods.
Genesis
35:1 ¶ And God said unto Jacob, Arise,
go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that
appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to
all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be
clean, and change your garments: 3 And
let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who
answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
4 And they gave unto Jacob all the
strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in
their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was
upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the
sons of Jacob.
Remember
the Law given to Moses;
Exodus
20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
See
verse 12 and how God will give people over to their own delusions. See the
religious history of mankind summarized by Paul in Romans.
Romans 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith. 18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 ¶
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath
shewed it unto them. 20 For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so
that they are without excuse: 21 Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, 23 And changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and
to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
bodies between themselves: 25 Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile
affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is
against nature: 27 And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not convenient; 29 Being
filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the
judgment of God, that
they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but
have pleasure in them that do them.
If the Israelites had
obeyed God would have done good things for them as He says here in this Psalm.
Let this be a warning to you that your life will go much better, even though
you will have persecution and tribulation just by virtue of living in a fallen
world in a fallen body, but life will go much better and the Lord God will
bless you if you obey Him and stay close. Let God speak to you through His word
daily and often and do what you understand from the Bible what God wants you to
do. Praise God and don’t make the mistake of the Israelites in ignoring His
admonitions and commands on your life.
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