Read Psalm 81:5-10. 5He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known: 6“I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. 7In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 9There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 10I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Everything God gives is his mercy.
Everything God withholds is his mercy.
As many of the psalms do, Psalm 81 takes us back to the Exodus. From Egypt to Sinai to the wilderness. From God hearing, to God speaking, to God silent, everything is his mercy. His mercy revealed in the testing of our hearts. Will you trust in your strange god or in me, the one true God?
Have you created a strange god? Is your version of God starting to look different from the God of the Bible? Does your god require a bribe? Does he demand placation? Are you mostly just trying to stay on his good side? Do you use him for your own gain? What about your version of Jesus? Is he simply an add-on to your life to make it better? Easier? Is he your life coach without being your savior-king?
Five hundred years after this psalm was written the Jews still couldn’t pass the test. They stood in the thousands before Jesus on a hillside having just been fed with a child’s lunch, and their response was, “We need a better miracle than this” (Jn. 6:30) and, “Tell us what works we have to do to please God” (Jn. 6:28).
Jesus’ response? Open your heart and receive me. Eat my flesh. Drink my blood.
To live is Christ is to live open hearted before him, ready to receive his grace and mercy. To receive his test of faith without putting him to the test. To trust that everything he gives and everything he withholds is for our good.
You: What “strange gods” have you made? Are you looking for miracles beyond your union with Christ?
You in Christ: How does understanding your union with Christ allow you to trust all that God allows in your life?
Christ in you: How might you live open-hearted today, ready to receive grace?
Pray: Father, I want to trust you in all things. I want to open up and let you fill me with the love of your Son. Amen.
To Live is Christ 