What God wants from us
[Psalms 81]
Yesterday before we had a family worship on New Year's night, all of five members of the family sat down against the wall on our bed and read a book. While sitting down, my wife and my first son were reading the Bible, Yeri was reading a princess book to her younger sister Karis. After reading for a while, I told them ‘Let’s have worship now’. Karis seemed she wanted Yeri to read her the princess book little more. After having to put down the princess book, Yeri read the first chapter of Dillon’s Bible. Then I briefly exhorted the Bible verse that was emphasized within that chapter. And I tried to have prayer time with them. But Karis didn’t listen well. So when I asked her if she would pray together, she quietly answered “No”. So I said to her, ‘Then, you can go to your room with the book you were reading.’ She was happy, so she smiled brightly and went to her room with the princess book. Hahaha. Actaully, before we all gathered to read the book, Karis secretly took the Dillon’s book from his bookshelf, sat alone on my and my wife’s bed, and said something about ‘God'. Karis wanted to read more of the princess book she was reading. But when she was asked for family worship, I think she was little uncomfortable. When I talked to my wife this morning, I learned that when Dillon and Yeri were still asleep, Karis got up early and was reading the book again. Hahaha. She really wanted to read it again. Haha. From our point of view as parents, we wanted Karis to have the family worship together with us. But what she wanted was to read more of the princess's book. Although I wasn’t comfortable with it, I let Karis do what she wanted to do and the rest of us have prayer meeting. Although I deliberately delayed the service time and held home worship because Karis liked her sister Yeri to read the book for her, I think Karis needed more time to read the princess book. Haha.
As I thought of this one event, I thought that in our relationship with Heavenly Father, we may have different needs. There must be something that God wants from us, but I think there are many times we may act the way we want. In the end, I think mature faith is a life that lives according to what the Heavenly Father wants as if the mature children understand their parents' hearts and obey the parents’ will. I would like to meditate on what God wants from us in three ways under the heading “What God wants from us” based on Psalms 81. I hope and pray that we will learn three things that God wants from us and live according to the Heavenly Father's will.
First, what God wants from us is “praise”.
Look at Psalms 81:1 – “Sing for joy to God our strength; Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.” The psalmist wrote a poem about the observance of a certain feast in Judah and told the Israelites to praise God (vv. 1-4, Park). The object of the praise is of course God, and the psalmist referred to that God as “God our strength” (v. 1). The God who is our strength is Almighty God. And our Almighty God gives us power. One of the ways to receive that power is to praise God with joy. Dr. Park said: ‘Because a man truly praises God and glorifies Him, it empowers him in his own spiritual life’ (Park). I agree. Praising God with joyful heart not only glorifies God, but also empowers our spiritual life. How should we praise God? We must praise God with joy. The reason is that Nehemiah 8:10 says, “… for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” It is our strength to please God, so we sing praises to God with joy.
The purpose of the praise is for the unity of faith and thought, public confession of godliness, and maturity of spiritual life for those who worship God (Calvin, Park). (1) The first purpose of our praise to God is the union of faith and thoughts with one another of the saints. This is to reaffirm each other that we have one faith as we praise God together. (2) Second, the purpose of praising God is to make public confession of godliness. In other words, as we sing praises to God together, we publicly confess, ‘I love God.’ (3) The third purpose is 'spiritual growth'. As we publicaly confess together ‘I love God’ in our shared faith during our praise , we grow spiritually by giving publicly confessed praise to God. But what is the problem? The purpose of our Christian praise is to please ourselves rather than to please God. If the purpose of praise is to please ourselves and to please the ears of our listeners, this ‘I-centered praise’ can never publicly confess that we are one body of the Lord with one faith in the Lord, and that it doesn’t bring our spiritual growth. Therefore, we must offer the praise that God wants from us, just as the psalmist is teaching us. We must sing with joy (v. 1), with musical instruments (v. 2), and shout joyfully to God our strength (v. 1) in the Lord's Day (v. 3). This is “a statute” that we must observe, and it is God's ordinance (v. 4).
Second, what God wants from us is “prayer”.
Look at Psalms 81:7 – “You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.” This is an important word that applies especially to those of us who want to devote ourselves to prayer. The psalmist recalls the events at the time of the Exodus in the past, reminding the Israelites that at the time of the Exodus the Israelites cried out to God during their hardships and that God answered their prayers. Why is the psalmist reminding the Israelites of his day, recalling that God heard the prayers of the Israelites at the time of the Exodus? The reason was because he wanted the Israelites to pray to God. In other words, the psalmist was exhorting the Isralites to cry out to God, just as the Israelites cried out to God during their hardships in Exodus. The concrete word of that exhortation was this: “… Open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (v. 10). The meaning of this word is to long for God’s grace and salvation (Park).
We must also long for God’s grace and salvation. Just as the Israelites cried out to God in suffering, so we must cry out to Him as well. We must cry out to Him for His grace and salvation. And when we cry out to God, we must pray with assurance of God answering our prayers. In the Bible Psalms 81:10, God promised to us, “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” As we hold onto this promised word, we must cry out to God. Our God is the God who fills it. But in order to be filled, our responsibility is to empty it. What should be emptied? It’s our sin. What kind of sin? Look at verse 11: “"But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me” (v. 11). What was God's voice (word) that the Israelites didn’t hear? Look at verse 9: “"Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.” However, the Israelites violated this word and committed the sin of idolatry. When we repent of this sin and cry out to God with determination and dedication to listen to His word, God will hear our prayers and will give us His grace and salvation. Our God is the God who hears our prayers. The surprising fact is that despite countless times when we don’t listen to God and don’t want Him (v. 11), our God is the God who still wants us and wants to hear our prayers. To this God, who is rich in grace, we must devote ourselves to pray to Him more and more.
Third and last, what God wants from us is “obedience”.
Look at Psalms 81:8, 13 – “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! … Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!” What God wants from us is that He wants us to hear His voice and obey Him. But at the time of Exodus, the Israelites didn’t want to hear God. They disobeyed God's voice. What was the result? Look at verse 12: “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices.” There are two ways in which God punishes a sinner: “One is to leave the sinner to continue their sins, and the second is to actively cause the sinner to suffer or to be destroyed (Park). Of these two ways, I personally think the first is more scary. The reason is because if God leaves us to our harden hearts, we will endlessly violate God's word and live a life of disobedience. In the end, God disciplined the disobedient Israelites and let them be subdued to their enemies (v. 14). But God promised that if the Israelites repent and return to God, He would also bless them. The psalmist speaks two promises: (1) The first promise was that God would quickly subdue the enemies of the Israelites (v. 14). God's disciplinary hand that was toward the guilty Israelites would turn toward their enemies when the Israelites repent. (2) God’s second promise is written in verse 16: “But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” This promise refers to material blessings (Park). Although the Israelites broke the word of God and committed the sin of worshiping foreign gods when they were living in abundance in the land of Canaan, it is God’s promise that if they repent of their sin and return to God, God would make it more abundant in that abundant land.
I hope and pray that we will hold on to this promise word of God and pray. Let’s hold on to the Lord’s promise of Matthew 16:18, “I … will build My church ...” and cry out to God. Not only that, just as the 120 members of the early church gathered and prayed earnestly together as they held onto the promise of Acts 1:8, let us do the same. In doing so, if we refuse to listen to God's word, disobey and sin against God, we must hold onto the promise of Psalms 81:14, 16 and repent our sins and return to Him. Then our God will forgive our sins and turn the hand of punishment that has been on us to our enemies, and will be with us with abundant blessings.
Yesterday, on New Year's day, all the family members gathered at my older brother's house to have a family worship. The word of God that was proclaimed through a pastor (a husband of my aunt) was 1 Thessalonians 5:18. I wanted to make an effort to be the year of being grateful in all circumstances. Although my third uncle, Pastor Andrew Kim, was suffering from cancer, we all decided to thank God and prayed for him after worship. And we decided to do family fasting prayer relay and began to put it into practice. Later, before we all departed, Pastor Andrew Kim, who was lying on the bed in a room, came out to the living room and praised God in front of all the family members. He sang the hymn that he loves, which is “How Great Thou Art”, just verse 1 and chorus. Although he was in pain, we prayed together for him and praised God and committed ourselves to obey the message that we heard, which was “give thanks in all circumstances.” When I saw this, I feel that this is what our God wants from our family members.
As I desire “Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,”
James Kim
(After New Year’s first Wednesday morning prayer)