Psalms 81:8-14

8 "¹Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you ²would listen to Me!

9 "Let there be no ³strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

10 "⁴I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; ⁵Open your mouth wide and I will ⁶fill it.

11 "But My people ⁷did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me.

12 "So I ⁸gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices.

13 "Oh that My people ⁹would listen to Me, That Israel would ¹⁰walk in My ways!

14 "I would quickly ¹¹subdue their enemies And ¹²turn My hand against their adversaries.

Psalms 81:8-14 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."

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 50:7
• 2. Psalms 95:7
• 3. Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7; Deuteronomy 32:12; Psalms 44:20; Isaiah 43:12
• 4. Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6
• 5. Job 29:23
• 6. Psalms 37:4; Psalms 78:25; Psalms 107:9
• 7. Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalms 106:25
• 8. Job 8:4; Acts 7:42; Romans 1:24, 26
• 9. Deuteronomy 5:29; Psalms 81:8; Isaiah 48:18
• 10. Psalms 128:1; Isaiah 42:24; Jeremiah 7:23
• 11. Psalms 18:47; Psalms 47:3
• 12. Amos 1:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "bear witness against"
• [b]. Lit "yield to"
• [c]. Lit "him"