Psalms

This Psalm is a call to worship to the people of Israel.  This Psalm doesn't fit comfortably in any category.  The reference to the trumpet may make this Psalm suitable for the Feast of Trumpets and the Feasts of Booths.  The Feast of trumpets was the first day of the seventh month.  This would be a new moon.    See Lev. 23:23-25.  The Feast of booths was the middle of the month (the 15th) and would be marked with a full moon.  See Lev. 23:33-36.  Between these two feasts was the Day of Atonement.  This was a solemn day for the atoning of sins. 

To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.

 ¹ Sing aloud to God our strength;
         Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
 ² Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
         The pleasant harp with the lute.
 ³ Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
         At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
The call to worship was to sing loud, shout, play music and blow the trumpet.  There was no reason for restraint.  Our worship should wholly and completely committed to God. Our lives should be opened up before Him, holding nothing back and our worship should reflect what is happening in our heart.

⁴For this is a statute for Israel,
         A law of the God of Jacob.
This Psalm is about the covenant relationship of Israel to God. 

 ⁵ This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
         When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
         Where I heard a language I did not understand.
 Joseph was the first in the land of Egypt.  It was a strange land of a language they didn't know.  Within that land God grew a nation.  They went there as a family and left four hundred years later as a nation of millions.

       
 ⁶ "I removed his shoulder from the burden;
         His hands were freed from the baskets.
 ⁷ You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
         I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
         I tested you at the waters of Meribah.  Selah  
The Israelites called to God and He delivered them.  He freed them from the bondage of slavery.  He freed them from the burden of making bricks to build Pharaoh's cities.  God used men to lead His people from that place.  The secret place of thunder is likely a reference to the Mt. Sinai.  The glory of God descended there and He gave his people the law and the covenant to live by.  See Exodus 19:16.  Meribah is where the people didn't trust the Lord and test Him.  The Lord met their need by having Moses strike the rock and water ran from the rock to meet the thirst of all the people.  This is a model for us.  Jesus is our rock and He was struck once for all transgressions.  He provided living water to meet all our needs.  The pattern is broken later when Moses struck the rock twice in anger.  God responded to this by not allowing him to enter the promise land.

         
 ⁸ "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
         O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
 ⁹ There shall be no foreign god among you;
         Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
 ¹⁰ I am the LORD your God,
         Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
         Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
God met his people and laid out the covenant for them.  They would be His people and He would be their God.  They would trust in Him and He would protect them and deliver them and do what was best for them.  But the people of Israel had a choice.  They had freewill.  Would they listen?  Verse nine sounds like the beginning of the Ten Commandments.  Putting away their foreign gods and not worshiping them in any way was the beginning of looking the Living God.  There is no other.  He is God and He delivered them.  If they failed in this point then all the rest of the law of God didn't matter.  Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  They had been exposed to many gods that worshiped for many reasons.  YHWH said He alone is God and all others are nothing.

         
 ¹¹ "But My people would not heed My voice,
         And Israel would have none of Me.
 ¹² So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
         To walk in their own counsels.
Our sovereign God seeks a relationship because he loves us.  He doesn't owe us anything.  He doesn't need us in any way.  The Israelites are no different than we continue to be.

We don't heed the voice of God.  Israel would have none of God.....they rejected the relationship.  God doesn't force Himself on us.  He allows us to reject His love and care.  He will let us walk in our own counsel.  And if our own counsel doesn't kill us, he'll be waiting there for us.

 ¹³ "Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
         That Israel would walk in My ways!
 ¹⁴ I would soon subdue their enemies,
         And turn My hand against their adversaries.
 ¹⁵ The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
         But their fate would endure forever.
 ¹⁶ He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
         And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."

God desired a relationship with His people.  They were His, not because they were special in any way, but they were the race chosen by Him through which He would reveal Him self.  He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  The Jews continually rejected walking with Him.  In much the same way, we see people every day reject God and who he is.  How do you go through life on your own?  How can you face illness and heartache and death without God?  God promised Israel to bring them all the tight places in their lfe.  They didn't have to do anything but seek Him and submit to Him.  For those that hated the Lord, they pretended.  They played a part and religiously did what they thought was right.  This, in essence, was to do what was right in their own eyes and would result in an eternal judgment.