Psalm
Select chapter 81

Psalm 81

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

For the choir director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

1Sing for joy to God our strength;
Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he [b]went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a language that I did not know:

6 “I [c]relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [d]basket.
7 “You called in trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I proved you at the waters of Meribah. [e]Selah.
8 “Hear, O My people, and I will [f]admonish you;
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
9 “Let there be no strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 “I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

11 “But My people did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [g]obey Me.
12 “So I gave [h]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices.
13 “Oh that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 “I would quickly subdue their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 “Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 “[i]But I would feed you with the [j]finest of the wheat,
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 81:1 Or according to
  2. Psalm 81:5 Lit went out over
  3. Psalm 81:6 Lit removed his shoulder from
  4. Psalm 81:6 Or brick load
  5. Psalm 81:7 Selah may mean: Pause, Crescendo or Musical interlude
  6. Psalm 81:8 Or bear witness against
  7. Psalm 81:11 Lit yield to
  8. Psalm 81:12 Lit him
  9. Psalm 81:16 Lit He would feed him
  10. Psalm 81:16 Lit fat
Psalm 81