Psalms 81:1

PSALM 81

A HYMN AND HOMILY AT HARVEST TIME

The title we have chosen is that of McCaw. Addis was sure that this psalm is a composite,[1] with no connection whatever between Psalms 81:1-5 and the rest of the chapter. Other scholars also have raised the possibility that what we have here is two fragments of independent productions. However, its seems to us that Yates' opinion on this is correct.

"The abrupt change at the end of verse 5 has suggested to many commentators that fragments of two psalms are joined together here. However, this view is not imperative, because a solemn festival would be a logical time for such a recital of God's relation to Israel as that which concludes the psalm."[2]

Also, the fact of Israel's record of disobedience would have made such an exhortation as that which concludes the chapter most appropriate. McCaw's title, "Hymn and Homily"[3] supports Yates' view that the latter part of the psalm is actually an appropriate "sermon" that Israel needed to hear, especially at that time.

The psalm is of a general character; and efforts to tie it either to the feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of the Passover are rather futile. It would have been suitable at any of the great public festivals of Israel. However, the blowing of trumpets "at the full moon" (Psalms 81:3) brings to mind both the Passover and the feast of Tabernacles.

The date of the psalm was discussed by Maclaren.

"The evident existence of the full temple ceremonial shows that the psalm was not written in exile ... The warning against idolatry (v. 9) would have been unnecessary after the exile. Beyond these general indications we cannot go. Definiteness as to the date is unattainable."[4]

Psalms 81:1-5

"Sing aloud unto God our strength:

Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

Raise a song, and bring hither the timbrel,

The pleasant harp with the psaltery.

Blow the trumpet at the new moon,

At the full moon, on our feast day.

For it is a statute for Israel,

An ordinance of the God of Jacob.

He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,

When he went out over the land of Egypt."

For a discussion of the use of mechanical instruments of music in the ancient Jewish temple, see a full discussion of this at the end of Psalms 150. For the present, it needs to be remembered that the temple itself was contrary to the will of God, just like the monarchy; and, although God accommodated to both, he twice ordered the destruction of the temple and also repudiated and terminated the monarchy.

"Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob" (Psalms 81:1). "These words refer to the `blare of trumpets' in Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1 ."[5]

"Blow the trumpet at the new moon ... at the full moon" (Psalms 81:3). Leupold tells us that the trumpets were blown both at the feast of Tabernacles and that of the Passover also, adding that the expression, "`Our feast day' could mean `any and every feast day.'"[6] This would mean that the Jews blew the trumpets every time they had any kind of an important celebration.

"It is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob" (Psalms 81:4). "The feast, not the musical accompaniments, is appointed by God."[7] We especially appreciate this comment by Alexander Maclaren.

"Israel ... Jacob ... Joseph" (Psalms 81:4-5). "These words are synonymous,"[8] standing in each usage for all of the Chosen People. If the Passover was the feast in view here, Joseph as a term for all Israel might have been due to the prominent part Joseph had in the Jews' Egyptian sojourn. Otherwise, "Its use might express the psalmist's longing for the restoration of the shattered unity of the nation."[9]

"When he went out over the land of Egypt" (Psalms 81:5a). The marginal reference here for `over' is `against,' but neither rendition seems to make a clear statement. Perhaps Briggs was right who declared that, "This should read, `He went out from the land of Egypt.'"[10]

"Where I heard a language that I knew not" (Psalms 81:5b). This is the most difficult line in the whole psalm, and opinions differ sharply on what it means. Dahood stated that God is the speaker here and that when God said he heard a language unknown to him, it referred, "To the collective Israel in Egypt, before it was chosen by God as his people."[11] In our view this is impossible to accept, because God chose Israel long before their sojourn in Egypt. He chose Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and specifically sent his "Chosen People" into Egypt for four hundred years, prophesying their ultimate departure with great wealth, all of which occurred exactly as God promised.

Barnes held a rather complicated view of the passage, supposing that the speaker here is the psalmist, who identifies himself with the people of Israel, and then projects himself backward in time to the days of Israel's sojourn in Egypt, thus making the strange language that of the Egyptians which Israel heard.[12]

There are other views which we shall not mention. To this writer, we cannot accept the words as the words of God, "Because it is impossible that God could hear anything unknown to him"! The expression therefore must be understood as the words of the psalmist. He could be saying that the current sins, rebellions, and pagan worship at that time being indulged by God's Israel were indeed "a language unknown to him," the same being as hard for him to understand as a foreign language with which he was not familiar. It was such bizarre, straying conduct on Israel's part that inspired the sermon that followed, in which God is indeed the Speaker.