Psalms 81:5-15

5 A testimony on Joseph He hath placed it, In his going forth over the land of Egypt. A lip, I have not known -- I hear.

6 From the burden his shoulder I turned aside, His hands from the basket pass over.

7 In distress thou hast called and I deliver thee, I answer thee in the secret place of thunder, I try thee by the waters of Meribah. Selah.

8 Hear, O My people, and I testify to thee, O Israel, if thou dost hearken to me:

9 There is not in thee a strange god, And thou bowest not thyself to a strange god.

10 I [am] Jehovah thy God, Who bringeth thee up out of the land of Egypt. Enlarge thy mouth, and I fill it.

11 But, My people hearkened not to My voice, And Israel hath not consented to Me.

12 And I send them away in the enmity of their heart, They walk in their own counsels.

13 O that My people were hearkening to Me, Israel in My ways would walk.

14 As a little thing their enemies I cause to bow, And against their adversaries I turn back My hand,

15 Those hating Jehovah feign obedience to Him, But their time is -- to the age.

Psalms 81:5-15 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."