If only I invested in Apple stock all those years ago…

If only I passed on that pizza at midnight…

If only I studied…

If/Only statements usually point to regret. But sometimes they point to promises at hand in danger of slipping away. Read the words of God through Asaph the psalmist:

If only you would listen to me, Israel!

If my people would only listen to me…

If Israel would only follow my ways…

Asaph goes on to underscore that if only the children of Israel obeyed the Lord, their enemies would collapse and evil would be punished. Better still, the finest of harvests awaited. My favorite promise he makes? Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

The Lord lays out the welcome mat to me and you. If only I listen to him, if only I follow, if only I turn my attention to the quiet, inexorable ways of the Lord, then I might open my mouth to be filled.

Psalm 81 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jordan Nix