To An Unknown God

Psalm 81:1-10

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

1Sing praises to God, our strength.

Sing to the God of Israel.

2Sing! Beat the tambourine.

Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

3Sound the trumpet for a sacred feast

when the moon is new,

when the moon is full.

4For this is required by the laws of Israel;

it is a law of the God of Jacob.

5He made it a decree for Israel

when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice that said,

6“Now I will relieve your shoulder of its burden;

I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

7You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;

I answered out of the thundercloud.

I tested your faith at Meribah,

when you complained that there was no water.

Interlude

8“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.

O Israel, if you would only listen!

9You must never have a foreign god;

you must not bow down before a false god.

10For it was I, the LORD your God,

who rescued you from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.”

Can you imagine the apostle Paul walking through the streets of Athens? He was to speak before the city’s philosophy council that night, and he had to find some way of explaining his faith to them. In most cities he built his case for Jesus’ messiahship from the Hebrew Scriptures, because he usually addressed Jews in synagogues. But these Greek philosophers cared little for Jewish beliefs. They were more intrigued by strange mixes of modern ideas and ancient mythologies.

Paul walked past shrines to all sorts of gods, but then he came to a shrine that was different from the rest. “To an Unknown God,” the inscription read. Apparently the people built it in case they had failed to honor any other deities. This gave Paul his hook. Some of the Athenian philosophers were already talking about one nameless god who existed above all the others. Paul knew this was his God.

So Paul told them: “You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him” (Acts 17:22-31).

Verse 5 of this psalm speaks of an “unknown voice” that reminds the people of what has been done for them. This “unknown” voice belonged to the Lord, the same God whom Paul spoke about in his address.

We serve this same God, who has done great things for us. Let us gladly receive his offer to relieve us of our heavy tasks (verse 6).

And that a higher gift than grace

Should flesh and blood refine,

God’s presence and His very self,

And essence all-divine.

JOHN H. NEWMAN

Bible Networking

The New Testament agrees with the Old Testament on the place of music in true worship. See Ephesians 5:19. But notice in Colossians 2:16-17 that feasts or fasts are “merely a shadow” of the real thing, Christ himself.

Notable Quotable

“Happy the child who in thunder-claps detects the Father’s voice. There is no fear in love, because perfect love casteth out the fear that hath torment.”

F. B. MEYER