Psalm 81: Open Mouths for Jesus! Psalm 81:1-7

Text: “Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a Psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet…”

Psalm 81:1-3.

          “And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

Psalm 40:3-4.

 

Good morning, loud-mouthed Christian!  Being called a ‘loud-mouth’ is traditionally thought of as being a derogatory description of a person, and often suits the label.  However, seeking sincerely to be a ‘loud-mouth’ for the Lord Jesus Christ, in joyful singing of praise to His Holy Name; and in the public and church witness of Gospel preaching/teaching, is deemed to be an absolute necessity.  If the Lord’s Cause and the Gospel of Salvation is to be proclaimed loud and clear for every hearer to hear, you and I must seek to be ‘loud-mouthed’ in the service of the risen Lord. 

Praise God for such loud-mouthed Christians!  Let us raise our voices, brethren: HALLEUJAH!  OUR GOD REIGNS!

“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peach (peace between a Holy Lord God, and sinful mankind), and bring glad tidings of good things!”  (Romans 10:13-15)

First thing we learn in verse one of Psalm 81 is that, we should, at all times, have a song in our mouths to the Lord God Who supplies our strength to do so, in the service of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Verse 1. “Sing aloud. No dullness should ever stupefy our Psalmody or half-heartedness cause it to limp along.  Sing aloud, ye debtors to Sovereign grace.  Your hearts are profoundly grateful; let your voices express your thankfulness.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, page 350)

The second thing we learn in verse one of Psalm 81 is that, our song should not be some type of dirge of woefulness, no, our song is to be filled with Holy Spirit joy.  Glory to the Lamb!

Verse 1. “Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. It is to be regretted that the niceties of modern singing frighten our congregations from joining lustily in the hymns.  For our part, we delight in full bursts of praise and had rather discover the ruggedness of a want of musical training that miss the heartiness of universal congregational song.  The gentility, which lisps the tune in well-bred whispers or leaves the singing altogether to the choir, is very like a mockery of worship.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 350)

The third thing we learn from verse one of Psalm 81is that, our songs of praise and worship must at all times be directed in ONE direction: unto the Lord God of Jacob, Jehovah God.

We cannot sing a song of worship to Mary, the mother of Jesus as some beguiled religionists are willing to do: for it flies in the face of the First Commandment of God: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3) Mariolatry is a most dangerous heresy indeed.

Dead so-called ‘saints’, mere sinners who are, by other sinners ‘beatified’, are never to receive worship, prayer, or songs of adoration or praise.  Our Holy Lord God is a jealous God, and will not tolerate such practices, no matter how religiously practiced.

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments.”  (Exodus 20:5-6)

Verse 2 of Psalm 81 also promotes the use of musical instruments being played in church buildings – a song needs the support of good professional musicians, and here are timbrels, and harps, and the psaltery to accompany voices raised loud in the worship and praise of Jehovah Lord God. (The psaltery was an ancient and medieval stringed instrument like the zither, played by plucking.)

Verse 2. “Take a Psalm. When we open our mouths wide to sing aloud worship and praise to our Living Lord God, in Christ Jesus, we are prudent to sing a correct theology when we do so; for the Lord God will not countenance the babblings of those misguided in their knowledge of Him and the Gospel truths of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dictionary Definition: “Theology – the study of God, religion and revelation; a system of theological doctrine.” (The Chambers Dictionary, page 1719) 

In layman’s terms: theology is the knowledge (ology) of Theo, which is God.  Basically, theology is our knowledge of God, as revealed in our KJV Bibles, which is the inspired Word of Jehovah Lord God.  Therefore, theology is knowledge of God, not some high-brow concept that Christians should spurn, or ignore.  Without theology (knowledge of God as He has revealed it in His Word) we sinners could never even know there was an Eternal Salvation and forgiveness of sins to be had!  Sound Christians, NEED a sound theology.

When we have a sound knowledge of God, we should write it into our songs of praise and worship to Him, otherwise our church-music sessions become ‘just another gig’ for some.

Verse 7. “Thou calledst in trouble and I delivered thee. You and I were wallowing in sin and on our way to a Christ-rejecter’s Hell, when the Lord God in His mercy ‘quickened’ us by His Spirit, showed us Christ, and Him Crucified for to pay the penalty for our sins; and redeemed us by His own sinless and precious Blood.  Open your mouths wide in thanksgiving, worship, and praise to our Triune Lord God. We have Victory, in Christ Jesus.

Thought: Those devoid of worshipful praise, have nothing of Salvation to sing about.  Let His praises ring out in loud anthems!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!