Psalms 81:1-10

1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, [A Psalm] of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength: make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.

2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

3 Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

4 For this [was] a statute for Israel, [and] a law of the God of Jacob.

5 This he ordained in Joseph [for] a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: [where] I heard a language [that] I understood not.

6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee; O Israel, if thou wilt hearken to me;

9 There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

10 I [am] the LORD thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Psalms 81:1-10 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."