Psalms · psalm 81 of 150
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Psalm 81 is a festival song by Asaph that moves from praise with trumpet and tambourine to the voice of God, who reminds his people that he delivered them from Egypt and asks them to have no other gods. Israel would not listen to him, and God gave them over to their own counsel. The psalm ends with God's longing that his people listen, so that he can satisfy them with the finest wheat and honey from the rock.
The title says it is a psalm of Asaph, for the choirmaster, according to the Gittith. It is in Book III. It seems meant for an annual feast, because it mentions the new moon and the full moon, and in the law of Moses those times included celebrations such as the feast of trumpets and the feast of booths. The psalm begins with music and ends with a warning, so it joins worship and obedience.
The psalm begins with an invitation to sing aloud to God our strength and to shout for joy to the God of Jacob. It calls for taking up the tambourine, the lyre and the harp, and blowing the trumpet at the new moon and at the full moon, on our feast day. This is a statute for Israel and an ordinance of the God of Jacob, which he made a testimony in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. There he heard a language he did not know.
In verses 6 to 10, God himself speaks. He relieved their shoulder of the burden and their hands were freed from the basket. In distress they called, and he delivered them; he answered in the secret place of thunder and tested them at the waters of Meribah. He asks them to hear his testimony: there shall be no strange god among them, nor shall they bow down to a foreign god, for he is the Lord their God who brought them out of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Verses 11 to 16 reflect a warning. My people did not listen to my voice and Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. But God still longs: oh, that my people would listen to me! If 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. God would feed them with the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock he would satisfy them.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The psalm begins with an invitation to sing aloud to God, who is our strength. Joyful worship and the recognition of God's strength go together.
God presents himself as the Lord who brought his people out of Egypt and asks them to open their mouths wide so that he may fill them. The picture is of a generous father who waits for his children's trust.
Israel did not listen to God's voice and would have none of him, and God gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts. It is a startling judgment: sometimes the punishment is that God lets us follow our own way.
God exclaims: oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! At the center of the judgment is the heart of a God who longs to bless his people.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Singing aloud, shouting for joy, taking the tambourine, the lyre and the harp, and blowing the trumpet. — Psalm 81:1-3
Answer: At the new moon, at the full moon, on the day of the feast. — Psalm 81:3
Answer: The burden. — Psalm 81:6
Answer: At the waters of Meribah. — Psalm 81:7
Answer: Their mouth: he will fill it. — Psalm 81:10
Answer: With the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock. — Psalm 81:16
Psalm 81 joins festival with obedience. Music and celebration are good, but they do not replace listening to God. In a Sunday school class you can ask: how much of our worship time do we spend singing and how much in silence and listening? A good exercise is to read a portion of the Bible in silence before starting the songs.
It also warns that hardness of heart is real. The psalm shows a God who keeps waiting with open arms, even after sin. For someone who feels they have ignored God's voice, verse 13 is a door: God still wants us to listen to him and wants to fill us.
Psalm 81 ends with the promise of the finest wheat for those who listen to God. Psalm 82 changes the scene: God appears as judge among the powerful of the earth and calls them to defend the weak.
The psalm mentions the new moon and the full moon, the day of the feast. It could be the feast of trumpets, in the seventh month, or the feast of booths, which began at the full moon. The text does not name it, and scholars debate which it is.
It is a picture of trust and of asking. Like a chick that opens its beak to receive food, the people should expect provision from God. The psalm joins that promise with obedience: God will fill those who listen to him and walk in his ways.