A Psalm 81 Prayer

"Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob. Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp. Blow the ram’s horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival! For this is required by the decrees of Israel; it is a regulation of the God of Jacob. He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free. I heard an unknown voice say, “Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me! You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. For 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. “But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths! How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever. But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.” Psalm 81 NLT

O Lord my God, I sing praises to You for You are my strength. I sing and play music in my heart for You. O God, You are worthy of it all! I praise You for Your faithfulness and for all the ways You have been there for me in my past. You have set me free from my slavery to sin and from my enemies. I hear Your voice saying You will take the load from my shoulders and You will free my hands from their heavy tasks. Praise You, Jesus! I cried to You in trouble, and You saved me. You answered me and tested my faith when I've been without. You've given me warnings so that I may not go in certain directions with my life. I will listen to You. I will not follow any other gods, not even myself. For it was You, Lord my God, who rescued me from my troubles and from a life of destruction. I open my mouth wide so that You will fill it with good things. I know there have been times that I denied Your presence and didn't want to listen and wanted to live my own life. I'm sorry, Lord. I turn to You again to follow You, to walk in Your paths for me. Come quickly to subdue my enemies. Bring doom upon them, Lord. Feed me with Your finest wheat and satisfy me with wild honey from the Rock. You are my God forever. Amen.