Psalms 81:4-14

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.

11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would not obey me.

12 So I gave them up to their own hearts lust: [and] they walked in their own counsels.

13 O that my people had hearkened to me, [and] Israel had walked in my ways!

14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.

Psalms 81:4-14 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."