Psalms 81:8-16 - Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

Bible Comments

“If Thou Wouldest Hearken unto Me”

Psalms 81:8-16

God wants our emptiness, which seems to Him like the gaping beak of the young fledgling, Psalms 81:10. Give me room! is his incessant appeal. It must be the wonder of eternity, and it will certainly be our regret when we come to review our life, that we have asked so little. Give me room! cries the river, as it comes with a rush to the plains. Give me room! cries the wind, as it searches into the narrow courts and alleys of the slums. Give me room! says the Spirit of God, as He breathes around the house of our heart, seeking by any tiny crack to enter.

In the closing Psalms 81:13-16, we have an enumeration of all the blessings which would be ours, if only we would open our mouths wide. God would constitute Himself as our champion in subduing our enemies-the temptations from without and the inward warrings of selfishness and passion. He would give us unbroken and enduring blessedness. He would allow us to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, which are meat and drink indeed. He would surely satisfy us with the sweet honey of His love. Let us begin to claim these benefits!

Psalms 81:8-16

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 submittedb themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

16 He should have fed them also with the finestc of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.