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Psalm Eighty-one
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
To the Overseer. -- `On the Gittith.' By Asaph.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 81
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A cf15I Psalm of Asaph. Of
"gittith", See Gill on Psalm 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.'.
Psalm 81:1 Sing aloud to
God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
YLT
1Cry aloud to God our
strength, Shout to the God of Jacob.
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 hold on and out unto
the end; and therefore have reason to sing the praises of God with great
fervour, zeal, and affection:
make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob; or Israel,
being the God that had made a covenant with them, had chosen them for his
peculiar people, and had redeemed them out of the house of bondage, and
bestowed peculiar favours upon them; and therefore were under obligation to
show forth his praise vocally and audibly, and with strong expressions of joy;
and the spiritual Israel of God much more so, who have an interest in the
covenant of grace, and share in electing, redeeming, and calling grace, by all
which he appears to be their God and Father, in a special sense.
Psalm 81:2 2 Raise a song and strike
the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute.
YLT
2Lift up a song, and give
out a timbrel, A pleasant harp with psaltery.
Take a psalm,.... Or "lift one up"F25שאן "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"F26תנו "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 Testament, and were typical of the spiritual joy
and melody in the heart, expressed by vocal singing, under the New Testament;
see Revelation 5:8.
Psalm 81:3 3 Blow
the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast
day.
YLT
3Blow in the month a
trumpet, In the new moon, at the day of our festival,
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 new year, the Gospel
dispensation, when old things passed away, and all things became new. The Jews
say this blowing of trumpets was in commemoration of Isaac's deliverance, a ram
being sacrificed for him, and therefore they sounded with trumpets made of
rams' horns; or in remembrance of the trumpet blown at the giving of the law;
though it rather was an emblem of the Gospel, and the ministry of it, by which
sinners are aroused, awakened and quickened, and souls are charmed and allured,
and filled with spiritual joy and gladness:
in the time appointed; so Aben Ezra, Jarchi,
and Kimchi, interpret the word of a set fixed time; see Proverbs 7:20, the wordF1בכסה "quum tegitur luna", Piscator; "ad
verbum in obtectione", i. e. "eum obtegatur luna a sole", Amama.
used has the signification of covering; and the former of these understand it
of the time just before the change of the moon, when it is covered, which falls
in with the former phrase; and so the Targum,
"in
the moon that is covered;'
though
the Latin interpreter renders it,
"in
the month which is covered with the days of our solemnities,'
there
being many festivals in the month of Tisri; the blowing of trumpets on the
first day of it, the atonement on the tenth, and the feast of tabernacles on
the fifteenth. But De Dieu has made it appear, from the use of the word in the
Syriac language, that it should be rendered "in the full moon", and so
directs to the right understanding of the feast next mentioned;
on our solemn feast day, which must design a
feast which was at the full of the moon; and so must be either the feast of the
passover, which was on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, and was a type of
Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us, on which account we should keep the
feast, Exodus 12:6, or else the feast of
tabernacles, which was on the fifteenth of the month Tisri, kept in
commemoration of the Israelites dwelling in booths, Leviticus 23:34 and which is called the
feast, and the solemn feast, emphatically; see 1 Kings 8:2, and was typical of the state
of God's people in this world, who dwell in the earthly houses of their
tabernacles, and have no continuing city; and of the churches of Christ, which
are the tabernacles in which God and his people dwell, and will abide in this
form but for a time, and are moveable; and also of Christ's tabernacling in
human nature, John 1:14.
Psalm 81:4 4 For this is a
statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob.
YLT
4For a statute to Israel it
[is], An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
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 other is in Leviticus 23:24 and so all the ordinances
of Christ, and of the Gospel dispensation, are to be regarded on the same
account, because they are the statutes and appointments of God; and the feast
of tabernacles is particularly put for them all, Zechariah 14:16.
Psalm 81:5 5 This He established in
Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where
I heard a language I did not understand.
YLT
5A testimony on Joseph He
hath placed it, In his going forth over the land of Egypt. A lip, I have not
known -- I hear.
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"F2בצאתו על
ארץ "in ipsum exeundo", Montanus; "cum
exiret ipse super terram", Pagninus. ; which some understand of Joseph,
who is said to go over all the land of Egypt, to gather in provision against
the seven years of famine, Genesis 41:45 and Jarchi says that his
deliverance from prison was at the beginning of the year, and was advanced in
Pharaoh's court: and the meaning is, either "when he", the Lord,
"went out against the land of Egypt", so Arama, in order to slay
their firstborn; and when he passed over Israel, and saved them; marched
through the land in his indignation, and went forth for the salvation of his
people, Exodus 11:4 then was the ordinance of the
passover appointed: or when Israel went out of Egypt, designed by Joseph, some
little time after, while in the wilderness, and dwelling in tents, the feast of
tabernacles was instituted; but rather this shows that the feast of passover is
before meant, which was instituted at the time of Israel's going out of Egypt,
and was the solemn feast day ordained for a statute, law and testimony in
Israel; and that the new moon, or month rather, on which the trumpet was to be
blown, was the month Abib, the beginning of months, by an ordinance of God, Exodus 12:2.
where I heard a language that I understood not; here the
prophet represents the people of Israel in Egypt; though the Septuagint,
Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read,
he heard, and he understood not and the language is
either the voice of God out of the fire, which before was never heard in this
unusual manner, nor understood, Deuteronomy 5:24 or the speech of Moses,
who had Aaron for his mouth and spokesman; or rather the Egyptian language,
which was not understood by the Israelites without an interpreter, Genesis 42:23 which sense is confirmed by Psalm 114:1, and this is mentioned as an
aggravation of their affliction in Egypt; see Jeremiah 5:15.
Psalm 81:6 6 “I removed his shoulder
from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets.
YLT
6From the burden his
shoulder I turned aside, His hands from the basket pass over.
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"F3מדוד "a sporta,
a cophino", Gejerus, Amama, Michaelis. ; into which the bricks were put
when made, and carried on their shoulders; or from making of pots, as Kimchi,
who thinks the Israelites were employed in making pots of clay as well as
bricks; see Psalm 68:13, the Targum is,
"his
hands withdrew themselves from casting clay into the pots:'
the
whole is typical of the saints' deliverance by Christ from the bondage of sin,
Satan, and the law.
Psalm 81:7 7 You called in trouble, and
I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at
the waters of Meribah. Selah
YLT
7In 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.
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: or rather this was
done when the Lord looked out of the pillar of cloud at the Red sea upon the
Egyptian host, and troubled them; at which time the voice of his thunder was
heard in heaven, Psalm 77:16. Some think this has reference
to the thunder at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; but the sense before
given is best:
I proved thee at the waters of Meribah; by
withholding water from them to try them, and see whether they would behave
patiently, and put their trust and confidence in the Lord, or not; see Exodus 17:4.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 81:8 8 “Hear, O My people, and I will
admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
YLT
8Hear, O My people, and I
testify to thee, O Israel, if thou dost hearken to me:
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"F4אעידה 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 the word, and which also may be here
meant; for it may be rendered,
I will give a testimony to thee: the law is a testimony
of the will of God to his people, what he would have done, or not done; and the
Gospel is a testimony of his grace, and the whole word testifies of Christ, his
person, offices, obedience, sufferings, and death: some render it,
"testify against thee"F5"Ut testificer contra
te", Schmidt. , for their murmurings, rebellion, and idolatry, as in Psalm 50:7 and they are called upon to hear
the voice of God in his word, and in his providences, being his people; and as
such he addresses them, which bespeaks interest in them, affection to them, and
an acknowledgment of them, and carries in it a reason why they should hear him:
O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; this explains
who are meant by the Lord's people, Israel, the posterity of Jacob, a chosen
and special people, who are exhorted not only to hear, but to hearken and to
obey; suggesting, it would be well with them, if they did as in Psalm 81:13, and someF6So
Michaelis, and Gussetius, and Genevenses, in ib. Comment. Ebr. p. 431. take
these words to be a wish, as there; "Israel, O that thou wouldest hearken
unto me": see Isaiah 48:18.
Psalm 81:9 9 There shall be no foreign
god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
YLT
9There is not in thee a
strange god, And thou bowest not thyself to a strange god.
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.
neither shall thou worship any strange god; only the Lord
God is to be worshipped, Matthew 28:19 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.
Psalm 81:10 10 I am the Lord your God, Who
brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
YLT
10I [am] Jehovah thy God, Who
bringeth thee up out of the land of Egypt. Enlarge thy mouth, and I fill it.
I am the Lord thy God,.... The true Jehovah,
the Being of beings, in whom all live and move and have their beings, the
covenant God of his people; and is a reason why they should hear him, and
worship him, and no other:
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; this, with
what goes before, is the preface to the ten commands, the first and principal
of which is urged in the preceding verse; and this is another reason why the
Lord God should be had and worshipped, and not a strange god; and redemption
from worse than Egyptian bondage, from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law,
and a deliverance from worse than Egyptian darkness, and from a state of
wickedness and impiety, should lay under greater obligations still to serve the
Lord, and worship him only; who adds, as a further reason for it,
open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it; which may be
understood of opening the mouth either in prayer or in praise: to open the
mouth wide in prayer is to pray with great freedom, to pour out the soul to
God, lay open its whole case, and tell him all his mind and wants; to pray with
great boldness, and with much importunity and fervency, and in full assurance
of faith, pleading with great strength the promises of God, and asking in faith
for much, according to them; and God may be said to fill this wide mouth of
faith in prayer, when he grants the desires of the heart, gives his people what
they will, even very largely and abundantly, yea, more than they can ask or
think: to open the mouth wide in praise is to be abundantly thankful for
mercies received; and when persons are so, the Lord fills them with more
abundant matter for praise and thanksgiving; see Psalm 71:8, or this may be interpreted of
opening the mouth wide in expressions of desire after spiritual food, hungering
and thirsting after spiritual things, when the Lord fills or satisfies the
mouths of his people with good things, Psalm 103:5, with the sincere milk of the
word which they desire, and with the ordinances, the breasts of consolation
they long for, and so satisfies them with the goodness and fatness of his
house, Psalm 64:4, the metaphor seems to be taken
from the young of birds, which open their mouths, and are filled by the old
ones: the Targum is,
"open
thy mouth to the words of the law, and I will fill it with every good thing.'
Psalm 81:11 11 “But My people would not
heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me.
YLT
11But, My people hearkened
not to My voice, And Israel hath not consented to Me.
But my people would not hearken to my voice,.... Neither
as exhorting them to the above duties, nor as promising the above favours;
would neither hearken to the voice of the law, nor to the voice of the Gospel;
but were like the deaf adder, which stops its ear to the voice of the charmer,
charming never so wisely:
and Israel would none of me; would not attend to his
word, acquiesce in his will, nor delight themselves in him, and in his worship
and service; would have none of his salutary doctrines, or wholesome reproofs,
nor of his laws and government; would not have him to reign over them, nor to
be their Saviour, though the only one, and there is none beside him; though the
chiefest good, and from whom all good things come, and is the portion and
exceeding great reward of his people: see Proverbs 1:25.
Psalm 81:12 12 So I gave them over to
their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.
YLT
12And I send them away in the
enmity of their heart, They walk in their own counsels.
So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust,.... Sometimes
God gave them up, when they sinned, into the hands of the Moabites, or
Ammonites, or Philistines, or other neighbouring nations, for their
chastisement; but to be delivered up unto their own hearts' lust is worse than
that; nay, than to be delivered to Satan: salvation may be the consequence of
that, but damnation of this; and yet it is a righteous judgment; for as men
like not to retain God in their knowledge, it is but just with him to give them
up to vile affections, to a reprobate mind, to do things not convenient, Romans 1:24 there is nothing men are more
desirous of than to have their hearts' lusts; and there is no greater judgment
can befall them than to be left to the power of them, which must unavoidably
issue in their ruin here and hereafter: and they walked in their own counsels;
which were bad; after the imagination of their own evil hearts, and not after
the counsels and directions of God in his word, and by his servants.
Psalm 81:13 13 “Oh, that My people would
listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!
YLT
13O that My people were
hearkening to Me, Israel in My ways would walk.
O that my people had hearkened unto me,.... This
might have been expected from them, as they were his professing people; and it
would have been to their advantage if they had hearkened to him, as well as it
would have been well pleasing to him; for that is what is designed by this
wish, which does not express the purposing will of God; for who hath resisted
that? if he had so willed, he could have given them ears to hear; but his
commanding will, and what is his approving one: to hearken to him is not only
to hearken to what he commands, but to what he approves of; it is the good and
acceptable will of God that men should hearken to the declarations of his will
in the law, and to the declarations of his grace in the Gospel; and indeed it
is the voice of Christ, the Angel of God's presence, who went before the
children of Israel in the wilderness, which they were to hearken to and obey,
that is here meant; see Exodus 23:20, and Hebrews 3:6,
and Israel had walked in my ways; which he marked out and
directed them unto, meaning his ordinances and commandments; which to walk in,
as it denotes progress and continuance, and supposes and requires life and
strength, so it is both pleasant and profitable.
Psalm 81:14 14 I would soon subdue their
enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries.
YLT
14As a little thing their
enemies I cause to bow, And against their adversaries I turn back My hand,
I should soon have subdued their enemies,.... The
Canaanites, and others: this he would have done in a very little time, or at
once, and that easily, and without any trouble; he would quickly have humbled
them, and brought them on their knees, as the wordF7אכניע "flecterem", Cocceius. signifies, to terms
of peace; for when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes his enemies to be at
peace with him, Proverbs 16:7 so those that hearken to the
voice of Christ, and walk in his ways, he subdues their iniquities, and will
bruise Satan under their feet shortly, and make them more than conquerors:
through himself, over the world; the men and things of it he has overcome:
and turned my hand against their adversaries; that
troubled, distressed, and oppressed them; and it is a righteous thing with God
to render tribulation to them that trouble his people; he turns his chastising
hand off of them, which sometimes is heavy upon them, and presses them sore,
and turns it in a way of wrath and vindictive justice against their
adversaries; and so the Targum,
"and
turned the stroke of my power against their adversaries;'
this
is the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, which is
intolerable, Isaiah 30:30.
Psalm 81:15 15 The haters of the Lord would pretend
submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever.
YLT
15Those hating Jehovah feign
obedience to Him, But their time is -- to the age.
The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him,.... Or, "lied
unto him"F8יכחשו
"mentientur", Montanus; "mentiti fuissent", Vatablus;
"mentirentur", Musculus, Cocceius, Gejerus; "mendaciter se
dedissent", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; feignedly submitted to
him, flattered him, pretended friendship to him, and entered into a league with
him; either Israel, mentioned Psalm 81:13, our God, whom and whose
worship and people they hated; as every natural man is an hater of God, and all
that is good, and enmity itself unto him; but these shall all submit to Christ,
sooner or later, in one way or another, and acknowledge him Lord, and that he
is superior to them, and themselves not a match for him; as Julian the emperor
when wounded, said, Thou hast overcome me, O Galilean:
but their time should have endured for ever; which Jarchi
and Aben Ezra interpret of the calamities and vengeance that should come upon
the haters of God, who will be punished with everlasting destruction; their
worm will never die, nor their fire be quenched; it is everlasting, and the
smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever; in which sense the word
is used, Isaiah 13:22 or rather this is to be
understood of the time, or happy state and condition, of the Israelites, which
would have been of long continuance, had they hearkened to the Lord, and walked
in his ways; particularly, they would have long enjoyed the land of Canaan,
which was given to Abraham and his seed for an everlasting possession, and
which they held by the tenure of their obedience, Genesis 17:8, and so all truly gracious
souls, that hearken to the voice of Christ, and walk in his ways, are in a
happy state, which will endure for ever; they are blessed with all spiritual
blessings, and those are for ever; the heavenly land of Canaan they shall dwell
in for ever; their mansions or habitations in Christ's Father's house are
everlasting; their house, not made with hands, is eternal in the heavens; their
estate, possession, and inheritance is an eternal one; it is incorruptible, and
fades not away; their being with Christ is for ever; and their happiness is
often expressed by eternal life and eternal glory.
Psalm 81:16 16 He would have fed them
also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have
satisfied you.”
YLT
16He causeth him to eat of the
fat of wheat, And [with] honey from a rock I satisfy thee!
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat,.... Or the
"fat of the wheatF25מחלב חטה "ex adipe frumenti", V. L. Pagninus,
Montanus, Musculus; "adipe tritici", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator; so Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. "; see Deuteronomy 32:14, with the finest flour of
it: the Targum is,
"with
the best bread of wheat;'
with
the best of wheat, and the best bread that can be made of it: Aben Ezra
interprets it of the manna, which was better than the fat, or finest, of the
wheat, being the corn of heaven, and angels' food, Psalm 78:24, but it rather respects what
the Israelites would have been continued to be fed with in the land of Canaan,
which was a land of wheat, Deuteronomy 8:8, and such who hearken to
the Lord, and walk in his ways, are fed by him with the Gospel, which is
comparable to wheat, and the finest of it, for its choiceness and excellency,
for its solidity and substantiality, for its purity and cleanness, and for its
being of a nourishing and strengthening nature, see Jeremiah 38:28, and especially Christ, the
sum and substance of the Gospel, may be figuratively meant, with whom the
saints are fed, and who is compared to a corn of wheat, John 12:24 for his preciousness and
excellency, for his purity and fruitfulness, and for being the food of his
people, the bread of life, for which he was prepared by his sufferings and
death; which may be fitly expressed by the threshing, winnowing, and grinding
of wheat, and then of kneading the flour, and baking the bread:
and with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee; the land of
Canaan abounded with hills and rocks, in which bees had their hives, and from
whence honey dropped to lower places; and hence the land is said to flow with
milk and honey, Exodus 3:8, nor is it unusual in other
places to find honey in rocks; at Guadaloupe, in the West Indies, we are toldF26P.
Martyr. Decad. 3. lib. 9. , honey was found in trees and caves of rocks. Aben
Ezra interprets this of the water which flowed out of the rock at Horeb, which
was sweeter than honey; but the former sense is best: the rock spiritually and
mystically designs Christ, the Rock of salvation, 1 Corinthians 10:4, the honey out of the
rock, the fulness of grace in him, and the blessings of it, the sure mercies of
David, and the precious promises of the everlasting covenant; and the Gospel,
which is sweeter than the honey or the honeycomb; and with these such are
filled and satisfied, who hearken to Christ, and walk in his ways; for, as the
whole of what is here said shows what Israel lost by disobedience, it clearly
suggests what such enjoy who hear and obey.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)