Psalm 81 begins with a call to worship with musical instruments. The call for worship is in reference to a feast day. It is quite possible the feast day in question was the Feast of Tabernacles. The festival began with the sounding of the trumpet on the first of the month at the new moon (Ps. 81:3). The Feast of Tabernacles would be held in the middle of the month, in which Israelite families would dwell in tabernacles made of foliage (Lev. 23:33-43; Deut. 31:10). The Feast of Tabernacles (also called Feast of Booths) was designed to remember the the forty year wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan. Israel’s grumbling, complaining, and unbelief prolonged their journey. When they should have went directly into the Promised Land from Egypt, their lack of faith kept them in the wilderness for forty years, inevitably losing an entire generation.
The wilderness is an important theme in the Bible. In the New Testament the first voice we hear is that of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness (Matt. 3:16). He calls for all of Israel to come to the wilderness to repent and be baptized. Such an event would make Jewish listeners call to mind Moses leading the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus’ first act in public ministry was to go into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil for forty days (Matt. 4:1-11). Just as Moses had led the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years due to their sin, Jesus is driven by the Spirit to the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Echos of Moses’ rebellion of striking the rock at Meribah might be found in the devil tempting Jesus to turn the stones into bread.
If you’re like me, you might imagine the wilderness being like a forest. However, the wilderness in the Bible was in reference to the desert. The desert can’t support human life. You can’t grow, or hunt for much food in the desert. Furthermore, you can’t find a sustainable amount of water. The only reason that Israel didn’t perish in the wilderness was due to God’s provision. He was the cloud by day, and the fire by night. He provided manna from heaven, and gave them water from a rock.
If it hadn’t been for the wilderness, then perhaps Israel would have never known the Lord. Certainly that is true for us as well. Had it not been for the life-draining moments spent in the wilderness of life, then we would have never known God to be the Life Source that we needed. Truly, He has been honey from the rock (Ps. 81:16).