Introduction: When I was in grade 12 the teacher put the following ‘goble’d’goop’ sentence on the board and told us to punctuate it! Smith where Jones had had had had had had had had been correct! It was an interesting exercise. What has that got to do with this Psalm? In the red section (which I have made red because I think that God is speaking – also as in a red letter Bible this is in red!) because of the pronouns I am about 100% certain that God is the speaker. The ‘my’ and ‘I’ can only refer to God Himself when He is claiming that His people, the Israelites, turn a deaf ear to Him when He admonishes them. God reiterates that He alone is their God and that to worship any other god is ‘taboo’. He states that He, when He brought them into the promised land had promised to satisfy their every need. They were pigheaded and refused to listen to Him and, because of their stubborn disobedience God let them have their own way! He pleads with them, ‘Oh, that my people would listen to me‘ and promises that if they do He will fight for them and quickly subdue their enemies!
But at the beginning of verse 15 the pronouns change to ‘him’ and ‘he’! So it must not be God speaking, and I opt for thinking that it is Asaph. The commenter says that to continue refusing to listen to God (cringe toward Him) would have a permanently sealed fate. The commentator reaffirms that God’s desires are to do/be good towards His people and ends up missing the the phrase ‘God even says’ before quoting God’s own words to Israel. “with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and ‘God even says’ “with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(Smith, where Jones had ‘had had’, had ‘had’. ‘Had had’ had been correct!)
Jeremiah 25: 7 – Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.
Prayer: Please help me not to be a fool in Your sight.