Psalm 81:10 “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
Earl Widner, my great-grandfather, was a godly businessman who, like other successful people, overcame a great deal of adversity. He had a motto by which he lived, which was this: “I am. I can. I will. I do.” It was a self-declaration which said, “I am” as opposed to “I’m not”; “I can” instead of “I can’t”; “I will” instead of “I won’t”; and “I do” instead of “I don’t.” This motto characterized his attitude in life. He was not a big man, nor a gifted orator; but he was a savvy businessman that enjoyed God’s blessing on his life and work. In fact, he was one of the men who pioneered the perpetual care (park-like) cemetery. All joking aside, he never ran out of business! Earl Widner lived each day in light of “I am. I can. I will. I do.”
God gives us a similar self-declaration in Psalm 81: “I am . . . I did . . . I will.” First, He said, “I am the LORD thy God . . .” In the New Testament, Jesus claimed to be the eternally existent One of the Bible. He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58) Higher critics may explain away His claim, but the Jewish people of His day knew full well what He meant because they tried to kill him for it! In Psalm 81, God says, “I am the LORD,” which means the self-existent, eternal Jehovah God. And God also says, “the LORD thy God.” That makes all the difference between living a day of futility and a day of power. God is, and He is my God!
God’s second declaration is “I did”: ” . . . which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. . . .” Though we do not need to stick around in the past, it does us good to take a look back at what God has done. If you want to know what God can do, look at what He has done. You can’t compare Him to anyone else; you must compare God to God. But often, we compare what God can do to what we can do or what day we live in. That type of thinking brings big trouble! God is not a victim of our culture, our day, or our political system.
His third statement in Psalm 81 is “I will”: ” . . . open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.” Most of us have seen the effects of a little spoon on the mouth of a small child! What happens when a kid sitting in a high chair has a spoon pointed at his mouth? He opens it wide! We need to open our mouths wide, not to say something, but to allow God to give us what we need.
In spite of God’s declaration, the people of Psalm 81 “would not hearken . . . would [have] none of me.” (verse 11) They didn’t have an open heart because they didn’t have an open ear! What began as “I am. I did. I will” ended up as “I am. I did. I will. I would have.” (verses 12-14) God can lead you and feed you this morning; it is a sin against God to not ask Him for what you need. What you choose today makes all the difference between living in “I will” and living in “I would have.” There is confidence for life and supply for your every need in God’s declaration of “I am. I did. I will.”
Prayer Requests:
– Ranch evangelists traveling to services this weekend in Bradenton, FL (Bill Rice III and team) and Livonia, MI (Nathan McConnell)