1 {To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. [A Psalm] of Asaph.} Sing ye joyously unto God our strength, shout aloud unto the God of Jacob;
2 Raise a song, and sound the tambour, the pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the set time, on our feast day:
4 For this is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob;
5 He ordained it in Joseph [for] a testimony, when he went forth over the land of Egypt, [where] I heard a language that I knew not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8 Hear, my people, and I will testify unto thee; O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 There shall no strange ùgod be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any foreign ùgod.
10 I am Jehovah thy God, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people hearkened not to my voice, and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' stubbornness: they walked after their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, that Israel had walked in my ways!
14 I would soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of Jehovah would have come cringing unto him; but their time would have been for ever.
16 And he would have fed them with the finest of wheat; yea, with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 81
Commentary on Psalms 81 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 81
Ps 81:1-16. Gittith—(See on Ps 8:1, title). A festal Psalm, probably for the passover (compare Mt 26:30), in which, after an exhortation to praise God, He is introduced, reminding Israel of their obligations, chiding their neglect, and depicting the happy results of obedience.
1. our strength—(Ps 38:7).
2. unites the most joyful kinds of music, vocal and instrumental.
3. the new moon—or the month.
the time appointed—(Compare Pr 7:20).
5. a testimony—The feasts, especially the passover, attested God's relation to His people.
Joseph—for Israel (Ps 80:1).
went out through—or, "over," that is, Israel in the exodus.
I heard—change of person. The writer speaks for the nation.
language—literally, "lip" (Ps 14:1). An aggravation or element of their distress that their oppressors were foreigners (De 28:49).
6. God's language alludes to the burdensome slavery of the Israelites.
7. secret place—the cloud from which He troubled the Egyptians (Ex 14:24).
proved thee—(Ps 7:10; 17:3)—tested their faith by the miracle.
8. (Compare Ps 50:7). The reproof follows to Ps 81:12.
if thou wilt hearken—He then propounds the terms of His covenant: they should worship Him alone, who (Ps 81:10) had delivered them, and would still confer all needed blessings.
11, 12. They failed, and He gave them up to their own desires and hardness of heart (De 29:18; Pr 1:30; Ro 11:25).
13-16. Obedience would have secured all promised blessings and the subjection of foes. In this passage, "should have," "would have," &c., are better, "should" and "would" expressing God's intention at the time, that is, when they left Egypt.