Psalm 81:1-16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 81:1-7

When the people of God were gathered together in the solemn day, the day of the feast of the Lord, they must be told that they had business to do, for we do not go to church to sleep nor to be idle; no, there is that which the duty of every day requires, work of the day, which is to be done in its day. And here, I. The worshippers of God are excited to their work, and are taught, by singing this psalm, to stir up both themselves and one another to it, Ps. 81:1-3. Our errand is, to give unto... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 81:8-16

God, by the psalmist, here speaks to Israel, and in them to us, on whom the ends of the world are come. I. He demands their diligent and serious attention to what he was about to say (Ps. 81:8): ?Hear, O my people! and who should hear me if my people will not? I have heard and answered thee; now wilt thou hear me? Hear what is said with the greatest solemnity and the most unquestionable certainty, for it is what I will testify unto thee. Do not only give me the hearing, but hearken unto me,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:1

Sing aloud unto God our strength ,.... The strength of Israel, who, by strength of hand, and a mighty arm, brought Israel out of Egypt, protected and upheld them in the wilderness, and brought them to, and settled and established them in the land of Canaan; and who is the strength of every true Israelite, from whom they have both their natural and spiritual strength; so that they can exercise grace, perform duty, bear afflictions, withstand temptations, fight with and conquer enemies, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:2

Take a psalm ,.... Or "lift one up" F25 שאן "attollite", Piscator; "tollite", Cocceius, Amama, Gejerus. ; hold up the book, and read and sing it; or rather, lift up the voice in singing a psalm: and bring hither the timbrel ; or "give one" F26 תנו "date", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.; , put the hand to one: the pleasant harp with the psaltery ; make use of all these musical instruments in singing, and so make an agreeable melody: these were used in the times of the Old... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:3

Blow up the trumpet in the new moon ,.... Either in every new moon, or first day of the month, which was religiously observed by the Jews, 2 Kings 4:23 or rather the new moon, or first day of the seventh month, the month Tisri, which day was a memorial of blowing of trumpets, Leviticus 23:34 , and so the Targum, "blow the trumpet in the month of Tisri,' when their new year began, and was typical of the year of the redeemed of the Lord, of the acceptable year of our God, of the famous... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:4

For this was a statute for Israel ,.... It was not a piece of will worship, or device of the children of Israel, but was of divine institution; that the passover should be kept at the time it was; and that the trumpets should be blown on the new moon, or first of Tisri; and that the feast of tabernacles should be kept on the fifteenth of the same month: and a law of the God of Jacob ; and therefore to be observed by Jacob's posterity: the law for the one is in Exodus 12:18 and for the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:5

This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony ,.... That is, this law concerning the blowing of trumpets on the new moon, and the keeping the solemn feast at the full of the moon, was made to be observed by all Israel, who are meant by Joseph, for a testimony of God's good will to them, and of their duty and obedience to him: when he went out through the land of Egypt , or "over it" F2 בצאתו על ארץ "in ipsum exeundo", Montanus; "cum exiret ipse super terram", Pagninus. ; which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:6

I removed his shoulder from the burden ,.... These are the words of God, declaring how he had delivered the Israelites from the oppression and cruelty of the Egyptians; who made their lives bitter in hard bondage, and obliged them to carry heavy loads of bricks upon their shoulders: his hands were delivered from the pots , or "baskets" F3 מדוד "a sporta, a cophino", Gejerus, Amama, Michaelis. ; into which the bricks were put when made, and carried on their shoulders; or from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:7

Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee ,.... That is, when Israel were in trouble in Egypt, as the Targum adds, and they cried unto the Lord in their distress, he heard them, and answered them, and sent them a deliverer, and brought them out of all their troubles, Exodus 3:7 . I answered thee in the secret place of thunder ; by bringing the plague of thunder and lightnings upon the Egyptians, when the Israelites were hidden from them; a sense given by some, as Kimchi observes:... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 81:8

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee ,.... Of himself, his being, and perfections; what he was unto them, had done for them, and would do for them, as in the following verses: or "testify in thee" F4 אעידה בך "testificabor in te", Gejerus. , bear witness to their spirits, that they were his people, and he was their God; this is a witness which the people of God have in themselves; it is the inward testimony of the Spirit; besides which, there is the outward testimony of... read more

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