Psalms 81:9

9 a fresh God shall not be in thee; and thou shalt not worship an alien god. (there shall be no new god for thee; and thou shalt never worship any foreign, or strange, god.)

Psalms 81:9 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 81:9

There shall no strange god be in thee
Or in the midst of thee, owned and worshipped as God; or in thine heart, for whatever engrosses the affection, or a man puts his trust and confidence in, that he makes his god, and is a strange one: thus, if any friend or relation, father or mother, wife or children, are loved more than God, they are set up as such in his place; thus the epicure, that seeks the gratification of his carnal lusts, makes his belly his god; and the covetous man his money, in which he trusts, and therefore is called an idolater; and the self-righteous man his righteousness, on which he depends for salvation: hence we read of idols set up in the heart, from which they are disengaged in conversion, and kept from, ( Ezekiel 14:7 ) ( 36:25 ) ( Hosea 14:8 ) ( 1 John 5:21 )

neither shall thou worship any strange god;
only the Lord God is to be worshipped, ( Matthew 28:19 ) ( 2 Corinthians 13:14 ) ( Revelation 1:4 Revelation 1:5 ) and there is but one God; though this is to be understood not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, who are with the Father the one God, and to be worshipped equally with him, and are; see ( Matthew 28:19 ) ( 2 Corinthians 13:14 ) ( Revelation 1:4 Revelation 1:5 ) .

Psalms 81:9 In-Context

7 In tribulation thou inwardly calledest me, and I delivered thee; I heard thee in the hid place of tempest, I proved thee at the water(s) of against-saying. (In trouble thou calledest to me, and I saved thee; I answered thee from my hidden place in the tempest, and I proved thee at the waters of Meribah.)
8 My people, hear thou me, and I shall be witness against thee; Israel, if thou hearest me, (My people, hear thou me, and I shall witness to thee; Israel, if thou wouldest but listen to me,)
9 a fresh God shall not be in thee; and thou shalt not worship an alien god. (there shall be no new god for thee; and thou shalt never worship any foreign, or strange, god.)
10 For I am thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt; make large thy mouth, and I shall fill it. (For I am the Lord thy God, who led thee out of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I shall fill it.)
11 And my people heard not my voice; and Israel gave not attention to me. (But my people would not listen to my voice; yea, Israel would not give their attention to me.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.