No Other gods Before Me

Today's Reading: Psalm 81

Sing praises to God, our strength.  Sing to the God of Jacob.  Sing!  Beat the tambourine.  Play the sweet lyre and the harp.  Blow the ram's horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival!  For this is required by the decrees of Israel; it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.  He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free.  I heard an unknown voice say, "Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.  You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.  "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.  O Israel, if you would only listen to me!  You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god.  For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt.  Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.  "But no, my people would not listen.  Israel did not want me around.  So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.  Oh, that my people would listen to me!  Oh, that Israel would follow me,  walking in my paths!  How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!  How soon my hands would be upon their foes!  Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever.  But I would feed you with the finest wheat.  I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

     This is a psalm of praise in the beginning (v. 1-5).  Then in verses 6-10, God is speaking directly to Israel.  He is reminding them of the way he has saved and provided for them.  He only asked that they honor him and have no other gods but him.  Israel didn't listen (v. 11-16).  God pours out his heart in these last verses.  You can feel his broken heart in these words.  It all happened because Israel wouldn't listen to her Father.
     What is drawing your attention away from God today?  What has become the idol you worship in the place of the one true God?  Stop.  Be still and listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit urging you to change and come home to the Father like the prodigal son of Luke 15: 11-32.  God will welcome you home with open arms.  All you have to do is come.

Thought for the Day:
      If God wants you to do something, He'll make it possible for you to do it, but the grace He provides comes only with the task and cannot be stockpiled beforehand.  We are dependent on Him from hour to hour, and the greater our awareness of this fact, the less likely we are to faint or fail in crisis. --Louis Cassels

Power Verses:
Ephesians 4:2-3
Always be humble and gentle.  Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.  Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together in peace.

 Matthew 12:34
Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Proverbs 19:21
You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail.