Read
(By Asaph for the music leader.)
God Makes Us Strong
1Be happy and shout to God
who makes us strong!
Shout praises to the God
of Jacob.
2Sing as you play tambourines
and the lovely sounding
stringed instruments.
3 Sound the trumpets and start
the New Moon Festival.
We must also celebrate
when the moon is full.
4This is the law in Israel,
and it was given to us
by the God of Jacob.
5The descendants of Joseph
were told to obey it,
when God led them out
from the land of Egypt.
In a voice unknown to me,
I heard someone say:
6“I lifted the burden
from your shoulder
and took the heavy basket
from your hands.
7 When you were in trouble,
I rescued you,
and from the thunderclouds,
I answered your prayers.
Later I tested you
at Meribah Spring.
8“Listen, my people,
while I, the Lord,
correct you!
Israel, if you would only
pay attention to me!
9 Don't worship foreign gods
or bow down to gods
you know nothing about.
10I am the Lord your God.
I rescued you from Egypt.
Just ask, and I will give you
whatever you need.
11“But, my people, Israel,
you refused to listen,
and you would have nothing
to do with me!
12So I let you be stubborn
and keep on following
your own advice.
13“My people, Israel,
if only you would listen
and do as I say!
14I, the Lord, would quickly
defeat your enemies
with my mighty power.
15Everyone who hates me
would come crawling,
and that would be the end
of them.
16But I would feed you
with the finest bread
and with the best honey
until you were full.”
Reflect
The Psalmist invites Israel to be happy and shout to God who makes them strong. In the first five verses he reminds them that worship is mandatory, a commandment given to Jacob’s descendants when God led them out from the land of Egypt.
His voice shifts in verse six. For the remainder of the psalm he sounds like an aggrieved lover who can’t understand the hard head and stubborn ways of his beloved. That voice is God’s. “Israel, if you would only pay attention to me!” God cries. “But, my people, Israel, you refused to listen and you would have nothing to do with me!”
In Luke 14, Jesus tells the parable of the great banquet. When the day arrives, the host’s invited guests make excuses. Work and family preoccupy them. Furious, the host commands his servant to bring in the city’s poor, crippled, blind and lame – all of them – that his house may be filled.
Those excuses ring true for us today. Our lives are saturated with demands on our time and attention: aging parents, children, illness, school, careers, money, shelter, church work. Worship often seems “a royal waste of time.” Nurturing a relationship feels like too much, even one that promises to make us strong enough to bear the wait and weight of unanswered prayers.
Perhaps when we understand the command to worship as God’s invitation to come and be fed “with the finest bread and the best honey” we’ll be ready to pay attention. God invites us – the poor, crippled, blind and lame – to a table he’s prepared in the presence of the noisy demands that deafen us.
Respond
O Bread of Life, we cannot share what we haven’t received. Please teach us how to pay attention so that we may recognize and pass along your invitation to eat of your word and be strong. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Renee James
Renee James is the communications director for Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec (CBWOQ), and the editor of its award-winning magazine live. An award-winning freelance writer, she’s been published in Faith Today and has been a regular contributor to Leadership Journal and Today’s Christian Woman both published by Christianity Today International (CTI). She's also been a regular contributor to Gifted For Leadership, CTI’s leadership blog written by and for women leaders.