Psalms 81:8-13

8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel!

9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.

10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

13 “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways,

Psalms 81:8-13 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A [Psalm] of Asaph. Of "gittith," See Gill on "Ps 8:1." The Targum renders it, "upon the harp which came from Gath;" and so Jarchi says it was a musical instrument that came from Gath. The Septuagint, and the versions which follow that, render it, "for the winepresses." This psalm, according to Kimchi, is said concerning the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt; and was composed in order to be sung at their new moons and solemn feasts, which were typical of Gospel things in Gospel times; see Colossians 2:16 and so the Syriac version, "a psalm of Asaph, when David by him prepared himself for the solemnities."

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 50:7; Psalms 78:1
• 2. S Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 32:12; Isaiah 43:12
• 3. S Exodus 6:6; S Exodus 13:3; S Exodus 29:46; Exodus 20:2
• 4. Ezekiel 2:8
• 5. Psalms 107:9
• 6. Exodus 32:1-6
• 7. Ezekiel 20:25; Acts 7:42; Romans 1:24
• 8. S Deuteronomy 5:29; Isaiah 48:18