I. God showed His love to the Israelites by giving them a law more strict than any which had gone before it; He revealed Himself as a jealous God, who would be obeyed; He curbed all their actions, and He punished them severely for all transgressions of His law. It was only as a last step, when the people were determined to rebel, that He granted to them that prime blessing, as a worldly mind would consider it, namely leisure to follow their own hearts' lust and to do according to their own imaginations.
II. God's principles of government are ever the same; He changes not: and if it was only in being governed by Him, in wearing His yoke, in carrying His burdens, that the people of Israel could escape bondage, and be lifted up, and be noble and free, then beyond doubt the same is true of ourselves, and we too shall be slaves as long as we are free, and shall only be free when we become in heart and soul the servants of God.
III. The man who wears Christ's yoke feels that he must keep a watch over his life and over his thoughts. (1) He bridles his tongue; (2) he is particular in the choice of his company; (3) he puts a curb upon his appetite; (4) he thinks it right to be particular about his devotions and his attendance on ordinances.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons,2nd scries, p. 50.
References: Psalms 81:13. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxi., No. 1221.Psalms 81 J. R. Macduff, Communion Memories,p. 159.