Psalms 81

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.#81:TITLE Hebrew according to the gittith.

1Sing praises to God, our strength.

Sing to the God of Jacob.

2Sing! Beat the tambourine.

Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

3Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,

and again at full moon to call a festival!

4For this is required by the decrees of Israel;

it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

5He made it a law for Israel#81:5 Hebrew for Joseph.

when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,

6“Now I will take the load from your shoulders;

I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

7You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;

I answered out of the thundercloud

and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

8“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.

O Israel, if you would only listen to me!

9You must never have a foreign god;

you must not bow down before a false god.

10For it was I, the Lord your God,

who rescued you from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

11“But no, my people wouldn’t listen.

Israel did not want me around.

12So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,

living according to their own ideas.

13Oh, that my people would listen to me!

Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!

14How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!

How soon my hands would be upon their foes!

15Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;

they would be doomed forever.

16But I would feed you with the finest wheat.

I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”

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Psalms 81

An Appeal for Israel’s Repentance

To the Chief Musician. #Ps. 8:titleOn an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.

1Sing aloud to God our strength;

Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.

2Raise a song and strike the timbrel,

The pleasant harp with the lute.

3Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,

At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.

4For #Lev. 23:24; Num. 10:10this is a statute for Israel,

A law of the God of Jacob.

5This He established in Joseph as a testimony,

When He went throughout the land of Egypt,

#Deut. 28:49; Ps. 114:1; Jer. 5:15Where I heard a language I did not understand.

6“I removed his shoulder from the burden;

His hands were freed from the baskets.

7#Ex. 2:23; 14:10; Ps. 50:15You called in trouble, and I delivered you;

#Ex. 19:19; 20:18I answered you in the secret place of thunder;

I #Ex. 17:6, 7; Num. 20:13tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Selah

8“Hear,#(Ps. 50:7) O My people, and I will admonish you!

O Israel, if you will listen to Me!

9There shall be no #(Ex. 20:3; Deut. 5:7; 32:12); Ps. 44:20; (Is. 43:12)foreign god among you;

Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

10#Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6I am the Lord your God,

Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;

#Ps. 103:5Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

11“But My people would not heed My voice,

And Israel would have #Ex. 32:1; Deut. 32:15none of Me.

12#(Job 8:4; Acts 7:42; Rom. 1:24, 26)So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,

To walk in their own counsels.

13“Oh,#(Deut. 5:29; Is. 48:18) that My people would listen to Me,

That Israel would walk in My ways!

14I would soon subdue their enemies,

And turn My hand against their adversaries.

15#Rom. 1:30The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him,

But their fate would endure forever.

16He would #Deut. 32:14have fed them also with the finest of wheat;

And with honey #Job 29:6from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

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