Psalm 81

What's Happening?

Psalm 81 was meant to be sung during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Psalm 81:3). This feast calls all of Israel to remember the power and provision of God when he led them out of slavery in Egypt and guided them through the wilderness (Psalm 81:1-2). God personally removed their heavy burdens (Psalm 81:6). So every year all of Israel stops to remember the story of how God rescued and provided for them (Psalm 81:4-5; Leviticus 16:29-34).

But the Feast of Tabernacles also remembers how God tested Israel and how they failed. Right after God rescued his people from Egypt and spoke in thunder from the top of Mt. Sinai, God tested them for several days in the wilderness without water (Psalm 81:7). And this test was supposed to teach them to trust that he would always provide for them (Psalm 81:8-9). But after arriving at a place called Meribah, Israel wished they could go back to Egypt. They even accused God of rescuing them just so he could kill them in the desert (Numbers 20:1-13). But then, God miraculously split open a dry rock, made water gush out of it, and provided for them (Psalm 81:10). But after receiving this provision, Israel kept stubbornly rejecting and doubting God’s goodness. They failed the test (Psalm 81:11-12). 

The psalmist warns them not to repeat the mistakes of their past as they celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Israel must trust and obey her God, and if they do, God will not hand them over to stubborn hearts (Psalm 81:13-14). Instead, he will rescue them like he did before and give them the finest foods and drinks (Psalm 81:15-16).

Where is the Gospel?

God’s provision of water in the desert became central to celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. By the time Jesus was an adult, each day of this week-long festival was marked by a parade. The priests of Israel would gather gallons of water from a nearby pool and parade it through the streets of Jerusalem. Once they arrived at the temple, a large crowd would watch as the water was poured on the altar as a reminder that God still provides for his people.

And it’s exactly at this moment that Jesus stands up in the temple courtyard and says that the water they’re pouring out and the provision they’re celebrating are about him (John 7:1-44). The hearts of God’s people are still as stubborn and dry as rocks, but if they come to him, he will strike and turn their stubborn hearts so that they flow with willing and joyful trust in God’s provision (John 7:37). Jesus exposes that while Moses quenched a nation’s thirst he did not change their hearts. So, Jesus announces that he has come to transform the hearts of God’s people like Moses never could. Jesus hasn’t come to pass out cups of water, but to make the rocky hearts of God’s people trust that God will always provide (John 7:38).

Like Israel in the desert, all humans are stubborn and ungrateful, especially when it seems as if God is testing us. But Jesus promises that if we come to him, he will transform our doubts and stubbornness into trust and obedience. And like the rock that satisfied the thirst of a stubborn Israel, Jesus also promises that our once-rocky hearts will stream with living water for the benefit and transformation of the stubborn and rock-hearted around us. So, come to Jesus. Let him make waters flow from you so that you may trust God for the good of others.

See For Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who graciously gives water in the desert to his grumbling and forgetful people. And may you see Jesus as the one who transforms our rocky hearts into springs of living water. 

‍