Psalm 81
Read verse 6
Ever have a callus?
I have.
Have you ever looked at, or picked at, that callous while remembering how it got there?
I have.
Did you read verse 6 of Psalm 81 already, or did you ignore that instruction and keep reading down to here?
Just in case you didn’t look at it in your Bible. Here it is:
I relieved his shoulder of the burden, His hands were freed from the basket.
God is recounting what He has done for Israel.
They were in Egypt, a land whose language they did not know (verse 5). They were there as slaves, shouldering burdens for the Egyptian work projects and filling baskets for their task masters (verse 6).
I am sure they had calluses. Lots and lots of them. I bet you they were thick, tough ones too. Those Hebrews worked hard, harder than we ever do, and their shoulders showed it.
And then God stepped in. Redemption. Deliverance. Salvation.
He relieved their shoulder of the burden. He freed their hands from the basket. Those finger calluses could eventually heal. That sore shoulder would finally get to rest.
What a striking description of their salvation.