A few months ago, one of my daughters sent me a link to a song that she’d been loving. It kind of grabbed me too. Kind of a country vibe (kind of my thing), but more importantly very much a promise land verity — there’s honey from the rock.

Honey. From its first introduction, that’s how God chose to describe the land He had promised to give His people, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

(Exodus 3:7-8a ESV)

Honey. Sweet to the taste. But when heaven-sent, satisfying to the soul. The taste of the goodness of God. The provision of a faithful God. The essence of God’s word (Ps. 119:103).

When we are in the place God has promised, there’s gonna be honey. And, as my daughter shared with me months ago, and, as my reading in Psalm 81 reminds me this morning, it’s honey from the rock.

But as I hover over the psalm, even in a land flowing with honey, honey is not a gimme, it needs to be appropriated. And that, through obedience.

“But My people did not listen to My voice;
Israel would not submit to Me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
that Israel would walk in My ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward Him,
and their fate would last forever.
But He would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

(Psalm 81:16 ESV)

They were in the promised land with the God of their deliverance in their midst. But they also welcomed among themselves “strange” gods. They worshiped the one true God, yes, but they also bowed down to “foreign” gods (Ps. 81:9). And so, God pleads with His people, “O Israel, if you would but listen to Me!” (Ps. 81:8)

“Listen to Me,” says the LORD. Yes, there’s honey in the land, but you’re feasting at strange and foreign tables. Quit gorging yourself from the world’s menu. Instead, says the LORD your God, He who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps. 81:10). Look to me for sweetness. Make me your exclusive provider of soul satisfying nourishment. Open wide your mouth. And I will fill it with honey from the rock.

Honey from the rock, says our Deliverer, though always present in the land of promise is only appropriated by those who listen to Me. By those who walk in My ways.

Not that it’s simply a quid pro quo — you do then I do. Not that it’s just submitting for the right to access the sweetness. Rather, it’s in listening and walking in God’s ways where we access the depths and abundance of all the sweetness life has to offer — independent of particular circumstances, situations, and seasons. It’s in hearing the voice of the Creator and walking in the ways laid out by our Designer, that we find a shalom and a satisfaction that transcends understanding. A sweet peace in the world that doesn’t come from the world. A sweetness found only in honey from the rock — the Living Rock of our salvation, the Cornerstone of our firm foundation.

There’s honey in the rock, water in the stone
Manna on the ground, no matter where I go
I don’t need to worry now that I know
Everything I need You got

There’s honey in the rock, purpose in Your plan
Power in the blood, healing in Your hands
Started flowing when You said it is done
Everything You did is enough

There’s honey from the rock

(Honey From the Rock
Brooke Ligertwood / Michael Brandon Lake / Mitchell Daniel Wong)

To quote another hymn writer, Louisa Stead, . . .

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.