Psalms 81:1-16 KJV To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. (2) Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. (3) Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. (4) For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. (5) This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. (6) I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. (7) Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. (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.
This Psalm reminds Israel of the ancient ordinance to sound the trumpets in the new moons, on the appointed times, and in the solemn feasts. It contains important truths, spiritual lessons for us, that are especially suited for this upcoming Day of Trumpets.
Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
That phrase, "make a joyful noise", is the word "ruah", which is a verbal form of "teruah". A teruah is a loud noise, and to ruah is to make a loud noise. It means "make teruah". We are invited by the Psalmist to sing aloud, and to "make teruah" to the God of Jacob. This is to be done in the new moon, in the appointed time, in the solemn feasts that God has ordained. This was a statute, an ordinance, a command given to His people. Why? Why was this commanded to be done?
This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt:
There follows a brief summary of the Exodus and deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. God's people are exhorted to make a loud, joyful noise to their God because He has redeemed them from bondage, and taken them to be His people! Their shoulder has been removed from the burden! They called when they were in trouble, and He answered them! If that doesn't inspire a person to rejoice, to shout, to get loud in praise to God, then perhaps such a one hasn't realised the depths from which they have been delivered. Or perhaps they have forgotten.
Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
The noise of this Day of Teruah is to remind us that not only has God delivered us and made us a nation in His sight, a people for His name, but that our duty is to serve and worship Him alone. He called us out to be a people for HIS Name, not anyone else's. We are to have no foreign god in us, we are not to worship or serve or give homage or respect to any foreign god. The heathen nations have their gods, but we have our own - the One, True, Living God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who was manifested in flesh for our deliverance in fulfillment of His promises to Abraham.
A genuine "shouter", one who
genuinely gets "loud for Jesus", is one who has turned his or her back on the gods of the nations. We have no time for them. We have no interest in them, or their ways, or what they supposedly claim to offer us. Our God, the Lord, has redeemed us and saved us, and He promises to meet our every need. We have but to "open our mouth wide", to lift up the shout of praise, to cry aloud in need, to proclaim the Words of our Sovereign, and He will "fill it". He will meet the needs, He will glorify His Word and confirm it with signs and wonders, He will make our praises of Him manifested in reality. We praise Him as the Deliverer, and by faith He delivers! We cry aloud to Him in need, and by faith He succours! We declare and proclaim His Word, His threatenings of judgment and His promises of mercy, and by faith we see them come to pass! This Day of Trumpets is a reminder our God is a faithful, covenant-keeping God to those who abandon the gods of the earth and who keep faith with the True and Living God.
But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Unfortunately, Israel did not listen. They paid no heed to the trumpet sounding alarm, warning of apostasy. They failed to raise a genuine, faith-filled shout of praise and obeisance to the Lord. they didn't want anything to do with God. They chose their own ways, and God let them have what they wanted. Backsliding and apostasy is a dangerous thing, because you may very well get what you want. So this Day of Trumpets reminds us to beware of seeking after our own counsels, our own plans, our own ways.
Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
When God's people are faithful to Him, He moves on their behalf, to defend them and give them victory over all their enemies. Those who despise God will be brought to submission to Him. God's people would enjoy permanent, lasting victory. If we see problems, if the church of the Lord does not seem to be enjoying permanent, lasting victory over the haters of God, over our enemies, it is because the churches have failed to walk in His ways. But if God's people desire to see real victory over the enemy, not just in one's personal life, but in the corporate sense, it will require repentance, and returning to God's ways, and abandoning the gods of the heathen.
Today, the forces of antichrist seem to be running roughshod over the people of God. It is not necessary to list examples, we hear more outrages every day. The stupidity running rampant in society is near mind blowing, and certainly can be disheartening. What is the answer? Is there an answer? Do we just wait for Jesus to come and take us away from it all, like that old commercial, "Calgon, take me away"?
No! Raise the shout! Return to the Lord, seek after His ways. Cast out the gods of the nations, their religious idols, their political gods, their economic deities, their educational abominations, all the things the world looks to for guidance and salvation. Cast them away! Return to the Lord, seek HIS ways, follow Him alone. Put His Word into action in your life, let Him write His laws and commandments on your heart, and follow Him to the end, no matter what comes your way. He has redeemed us, He has testified to us that we can choose life, or death.
Which do you choose?