Sermon – Psalm 81 – Sound the Rams Horn

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Psalm 81 – Sound the Rams Horn

September 1, 2013

This is Labor Day Weekend, what some call the last Sunday of summer. Crowds have gathered in Ocean City to celebrate one last time before back to school and back to work. Vacations are almost over. Even though the kids have already been back to school for a week, Labor Day Weekend is a time to have fun. So enjoy the long weekend.

Today we will look at another annual festival from twenty five hundred years ago. The people were summoned to the festival by the sounding of the Ram's horn. We will see what happened, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

^NIV Psalm 81:1 For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! ² Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. ³ Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast; ⁴ this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

^{The time has come for a great celebration. A runner leaves the temple in Jerusalem and goes up the nearest mountain. He tells the horn player to sound the shofar, the Ram's horn. He blows into it and a deafening sound goes out to all surrounding villages. The horn player on the next mountain hears the sound. He blows into his shofar alerting his villages and the next mountain. The sound of the shofar is heard from mountain to mountain, and village after village is alerted. Everyone knows that it is time to come to Jerusalem for a great celebration, and the pilgrimage begins.}

^{When they arrive at the temple in Jerusalem the priests are waiting. Their purpose is to remind the people of their place in the history of God's salvation. They remind the people how God has blessed the nation in the past, and how much God was blessing them today. Here is what the priests told them.}

⁵ He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard a language we did not understand. ⁶ He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. ⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

^{The people were reminded that God had freed them from slavery in Egypt and had guided them for forty years in the desert. God had provided them with food and water, and had protected them from their enemies.}

^{This is God's side of the covenant with his people. He promised to be their God and to provide them all that they need. This promise is made to us also. God promises to be our God and bless us richly. He already has blessed us. He already is our God. God has already done what he promised to do. So what is our side of the covenant? What are we to do in response to all that God has done for us? Listen in to the priests from the ancient festival.}

⁸ "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you-- if you would but listen to me, O Israel! ⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.

^{And so the people are reminded of the first commandment of the ten Moses had brought down from the mountain. They are told never to worship foreign gods.}

^{They worship that which they valued most intensively. We also worship that which we value most intensively. And if we put our greatest value in our money, or our house, or our job, or even our family, then we are not worshiping God. The commandment tells us that if we value anything greater than God, then that thing is a idol. And we are not to worship idols. So put God at the top of the list of things you value. Set God as the object you value the greatest. This is you obligation given the covenant you have made with God and God has made with you. God has already blessed you richly, your obligation is now to worship him as the most important thing in you life.}

^{Back at the ancient festival, a prophet proclaimed the word of God.}

¹⁰ I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. ¹¹ "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. ¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

^{The stain of sin had enslaved God's people. They wanted to put away their idols and worship God, but they couldn't. They wanted to obey God's commands, but they couldn't. They wanted to love God with all their hearts, souls, and minds, but they couldn't. The stain of sin had corrupted all humankind. And there was nothing they could do about.}

^{Lord knows, we try. We try to value God more than anything else, but we can't. We try to obey God's commands, but we can't. We try to love God just as God loves us, but we can't. We are stained by the same sin that stained the people of God centuries ago. It seems as if we have no hope, but we do. Listen to God.}

¹³ "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, ¹⁴ how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! ¹⁵ Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. ¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

If we just repent, just change directions from turning our back to God to facing him, then God will act to save us from our sin and restore us to covenant relationship with him. His promise is that he will feed us just as he fed the people in the wilderness with manna from heaven and water from a rock and brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey.

And this promise was fulfilled by God in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who we remember as we gather around this table today. God nourishes us in the bread and wine. He forgiveness our sin. And in the resurrection of Jesus Christ promises us eternal life. In joy and gratitude let us value God more than anything else. Let us uphold our end of the covenant and obey God's commands. And let us rejoice for all that God has done for us. Let us pray.

Father in heaven we thank you for all the blessings we have received. We are sorry for valuing things more than we value you. As we are nourished around this table we promise that this will change. We will worship and obey you alone. In your son's name we pray. Amen.