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Psalms 81:8

⁸Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

In this psalm, God is speaking to the remnant of Israel. He reminds the people of how He delivered them from Egypt. He longed to bless them with abundance. The problem was that they held on to their foreign gods. He continued to show them signs and wonders and provide for them, but they would not listen and act on what they heard.

Nothing has changed! The church today would like to think it is not like Israel. When we read of the continual rebellious acts of Israel in the wilderness, we often marvel at how people could be so stubborn. Yet today, we have the account of what God did throughout history, the Word of God, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, yet we still will not listen and change.

The Word of God is so clear on so many issues: divorce, sex outside of marriage, abortion, division, the role of elders, and many other things. But in our arrogance we declare that those things were for another culture or just don't apply to us. We assume we can refuse to hear the voice of the Lord from His inspired Word and not suffer the same consequences as Israel. God longs to bless us. We see that blessing in past times of obedience, but even as His hand of blessing lifts from us, as suffering and loss disciplines our lives, we, too, refuse to listen.

Consider: Do I need to repent and change my attitude toward the Word of God?