1 > Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!
> I love you, Yahweh, my strength. Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy!
> God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we won't be afraid, though the earth changes, Though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas; Though the waters of it roar and are troubled, Though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah. There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, The holy place of the tents of the Most High. God is in her midst. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn. The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted. Yahweh of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
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.