Psalm 81

Psalm 81

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Psalm 81

To the Chief Musician; set to Philistine lute, or [possibly] a particular Gittite tune. [A Psalm] of Asaph.

 ¹SING ALOUD to God our Strength! Shout for joy to the God of Jacob!    ²Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet lyre with the harp.
    ³Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.
    ⁴For this is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
    ⁵This He ordained in Joseph [the ^[a]savior] for a testimony when He went out over the land of Egypt. The speech of One Whom I knew not did I hear [saying],
    ⁶I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.
    ⁷You called in distress and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^{(A)
    8}Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you--O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
    ⁹There shall no strange god be among you, neither shall you worship any alien god.
    ¹⁰I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
    ¹¹But My people would not hearken to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me.
    ¹²So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will, that they might follow their own counsels.^{(B)
    13}Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!
    ¹⁴Speedily then I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries.
    ¹⁵[Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever.
    ¹⁶[God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 81:5 Joseph had once gone out over Egypt with the title "Zaphenath-paneah," meaning, according to some, "Savior of the Age," to bring deliverance from famine to the Egyptians (Gen. 41:45). Later they forgot their benefactor and severely oppressed his family and their descendants. "Then Joseph's God arose and went forth over the land [of Egypt] in righteous judgment, yet still as Savior of that people [Israel], in whom dwelt the germ of blessing for all nations." (David M. Kay, cited by James C. Gray and George M. Adams, Bible Commentary).

Cross references:

1. Psalm 81:7 : Num 20:3, 13, 24
2. Psalm 81:12 : Acts 7:42, 43; 14:16; Rom 1:24, 26