July 16, 2023

Psalm 81: 10 “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” (NIV)

We take no credit for accepting what we could never earn.*

A friend who had been single for several years really wanted to meet someone and get married again. The first time I visited her home, all I could think was, “Where will you put him?” There was no room in her house for another person or his things. Too much furniture and too many keepsakes sent a message that contradicted her expressed desire to include a man in her life.

In this passage, the psalmist quotes God’s recalling of all he did to get his people out of Egypt. It is a reminder of all that he is willing to do again – if we will only prepare ourselves to receive. The mama bird can’t feed her baby if he doesn’t open his mouth; my friend couldn’t fit a man into her life if she couldn’t let go of her things and her past; and God can’t bless us if our hearts aren’t receptive.

What in your life is preventing you from receiving all that God wants to bless you with? What is keeping your mouth closed? Will God give you over to your stubborn heart, to follow your own devices (verse 12)? Or will you listen to him and follow his ways (verse 13) so that you may be fed with the finest of wheat and with honey from the rock to satisfy you (verse 16)?

When a soul sets out to seek God, God sets out to meet that soul.*