Today's Psalm is Psalm 81, another Psalm of Asaph. This Psalm is associated with a Feast (my study Bible says the Feast of Booths), a call for repentance, and a lament that the call for repentance has not been heeded.
The Psalmist begins with a call for the people to praise God, and recounts God's calling them out of Egypt, when they did not know the language of God's call to liberation. God's deliverance in times of trouble is remembered.
The Psalmist continues by quoting God speaking in the first person, and pleading with the people to put away their foreign gods, and worship Him alone:
"Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."
The Psalm continues with God still speaking, and lamenting that the people did not listen, and recounting some of the blessings they are forgoing by ignoring His call:
"But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of Me.
So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
"Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure forever.
He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."
Do you or I have any foreign gods separating us from God? Let them go! Enjoy the blessings that God has in store for you, the first of which is the blessing of God's fellowship when we walk closely with Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.