Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 81:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 81:2. Take a psalm — זמרה zimrah. I rather think that this was the name of a musical instrument.

Bring hither the timbrel — תף toph; some kind of drum or tom tom.

The pleasant harp — כנור kinnor. Probably a sistrum, or something like it. A STRINGED instrument.

With the psaltery. — נבל nebel, the nabla. The cithara, Septuagint.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 81:0 A festival song

In the traditions that grew up around the Jewish festivals, this song was sung annually at the Feast of Tabernacles. (For this feast see Leviticus 23:33-36,Leviticus 23:39-43.) The song opens with a reminder of God’s command to keep this joyous festival in remembrance of his goodness in saving his people from Egypt (1-5).

God then recounts how he lifted the burden of slavery from the backs of his people and looked after them as they travelled through the barren countryside (6-7). At Mount Sinai he gave them his law, adding a promise that he would continue to provide for them if they were faithful to him (8-10). But their stubborn disobedience prevented them from receiving God’s blessing (11-12). God still desires his people’s repentance and wholehearted loyalty; then he can pour out more of his blessings upon them. He can give them help and provision far greater than anything their ancestors experienced in the wilderness (13-16).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“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” “These words refer to the `blare of trumpets’ in Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1 .”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-B, p. 167.

“Blow the trumpet at the new moon… at the full moon” 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.’“H. C. Leupold, p. 587. 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” “The feast, not the musical accompaniments, is appointed by God.”Alexander Maclaren, op. cit., p. 417. We especially appreciate this comment by Alexander Maclaren.

“Israel… Jacob… Joseph” “These words are synonymous,”Ibid. 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.”Ibid.

“When he went out over the land of Egypt” 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.’“C. A. Briggs in The International Critical Commentary, Vol. II, p. 211.

“Where I heard a language that I knew not” 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.”Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, Vol. II, p. 265. 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.Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), op. cit., p. 323.

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Take a psalm - literally, “Lift up a psalm; perhaps, as we should say, “Raise the tune.” Or, it may mean, Take an ode, a hymn, a psalm, composed for the occasion, and accompany it with the instruments of music which are specified.

And bring hither the timbrel - For the purpose of praise. On the meaning of this word rendered “timbrel” - תף tôph - see the notes at Isaiah 5:12.

The pleasant harp - On the word here rendered “harp” - כנור kinnôr - see also the notes at Isaiah 5:12. The word translated “pleasant” - נעים nâ‛ı̂ym - means properly pleasant, agreeable, sweet, Psalms 133:1; Psalms 147:1. It is connected here with the word harp, as meaning that that instrument was distinguished particularly for a sweet or pleasant sound.

With the psaltery - On the meaning of the word used here - נבל nebel - see the notes at Isaiah 5:12. These were the common instruments of music among the Hebrews. They were employed alike on sacred occasions, and in scenes of revelry. See Isaiah 5:12.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Let's turn to Psalms 81:1-16 .

On the first day of the seventh month in the Jewish calendar, which, because their calendar begins, the religious calendar begins the first of April, it usually coincides somewhere around the first of October on our calendar. There is a blowing of the trumpets. It's called the Feast of the Trumpets to announce the most holy month of the year, the seventh month. And so the first day of the seventh month the Feast of Trumpets, the blowing of the trumpets to inaugurate this holy month followed then by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is then followed by the Feast of Succoth or Tabernacles. And so this Feast of the Trumpets, the holy day, the sounding of the trumpets for the holy month, gathering the people in a holy convocation before God. Psalms 81:1-16 is the psalm that was read for the Feast of Trumpets. And so the beginning of the psalm is sort of a proclamation for this day that has arrived.

Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, and the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, and in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was the statute for Israel, and a law of God for Jacob. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. So thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah ( Psalms 81:1-7 ).

And so the first section of the psalm is concluded with this: Selah. They just stop and think about that. So it is a call to the holy convocation, of singing unto the Lord with the psalm, the timbrel, the harp. The blowing of the trumpets, for God has established this as a statute in the law of Moses for the people.

God declares in verse Psalms 81:7 , "You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I proved thee at the waters of Meribah." Or, "I was testing thee at the waters of Meribah." So God recounts for them some of their wilderness experiences. How that there in the wilderness they cried unto the Lord because of their thirst. And how that God answered them and proved them, tested them there at the waters of Meribah, which means "waters of strife," because the people did strive with God and with Moses.

Now God Himself cries unto the people and He declares,

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou will hearken unto me ( Psalms 81:8 );

So God is now calling for His people to listen to what He has to say. First of all,

There shall be no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange God ( Psalms 81:9 ).

God has declared in the law, the first commandment, that, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" ( Exodus 20:3 ). Now we usually think that that sets out a priority; God first, and then all of my little gods afterwards. But, "no other gods before Me," that is, in My presence, not having any other gods around Me. In other words, our heart is to be totally towards Him and our worship given completely to Him. There shall be no strange god.

It is sad and tragic that the people did not hearken to God, and that their history was one of continual idolatry. From the time that they came into the land, they began to turn and to worship the gods of the Canaanites: Baal, Molech, Mammon, Ashtareth, and all of the gods and goddesses of the land. And they began to follow the practices of the people that dwelt in the land before them that God had driven out. And so the commandment of God, "There shall be no strange god in thee; neither shalt thou worship." And yet, they would not hearken.

I am Jehovah thy God, which brought thee out of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it ( Psalms 81:10 ).

God is declaring now the things that He desires to do for His people. And of course, He is addressing Himself to, "O my people." So He's declaring those things that He desires to do for His people. I am certain that we limit that which God would do in our lives so many times.

We are told in Jude, "Keep yourselves in the love of God" ( Jude 1:21 ). Now, by that is meant keep yourself in the place where God can demonstrate His love that He has for you. If you say, "Well, I've got to keep myself in the love of God," thinking, "I've got to keep myself real sweet and kind and generous and nice so that God can't help but love me," you've got the wrong concept of God's love. God loves you good or bad. God's love for you is uncaused by you. God's love for you is because of His nature of love. In reality, I cannot do anything to make God love me more. In the same token, I cannot do anything that would make God love me less. God loves me.

But it is possible for me to remove myself outside of that love of God. To put myself in the position where God really can't demonstrate that love that He has for me. And that's what Jude is telling us. And God is saying here the things that He desired to do for the people. "Just open your mouth wide; I'll fill it. I'll fill your life; just open yourself completely to Me. And I will fill your life."

But [He said] my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would have nothing to do with me ( Psalms 81:11 ).

Those that God had chosen as His people just had nothing to do with God. They were worshipping these other little gods.

So [He said] I gave them up to their own hearts' lust ( Psalms 81:12 ):

In Romans, the first chapter, we read also, "Wherefore God also gave them up" ( Romans 1:24 ). And it's always a tragic thing when God says of a man, "I've given up. Wherefore, I gave him up." God said to Jeremiah, He said, "Look, don't pray any more for their good, because if you do, I'm not going to listen to you." God said, "Ephraim is joined to her idols. Let her alone. They joined themselves to idolatry. Just forget it." For God says, "I've given them up. I'm no longer going to deal with them." And, of course, we are told that God's Spirit will not always strive with a man. And when God gives a man up, it's always a very tragic thing. God gave them up to their own hearts' lust.

You think that you want it so bad. You think that that's going to be the answer of your life and you do everything you can to achieve or to attain. And sometimes God just gives you up to go ahead and says, "All right, if you want to eat it, eat it, you know. But it's going to make you sick." And He gives you up to your own heart's lust. But that can be one of the most tragic things that ever happened, for you to get your own heart's desire. Because many times we desire things that aren't really beneficial for us. God knows that they're not good for us. And when God gives us up to our own heart's desires, many times we find that the most bitter experience of our lives.

they walked [He said] in their own counsels ( Psalms 81:12 ).

They wouldn't have anything to do Me. They wouldn't follow Me.

Oh [God said] that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! ( Psalms 81:13 )

Now God is lamenting over the people that would not walk in His ways. Oh, if they would only have listened.

I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries ( Psalms 81:14 ).

If they'd only have listened to Me.

The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: and their time would have endured for ever ( Psalms 81:15 ).

They would have remained in the land. They wouldn't have gone into captivity. I would have subdued their enemies.

And I would have fed them with the finest of wheat: with honey out of the rock I would have satisfied them ( Psalms 81:16 ).

But they would not hearken to God, and that's the cry of God. Because they would not hearken to Him, instead of knowing God's best, instead of experiencing the fullness of the demonstration of God's love, because they would not hearken unto God, they went into captivity. And then they were destroyed by their enemies.

When we get over to Israel this year, for the hearty ones I am planning to take a hike from Gihon Springs on up to the Dung Gate, because a lot of new archaeological excavations have been going on this past year. And some of the most exciting archaeological discoveries around the city of Jerusalem have been made on this hillside, as they have uncovered areas that date back to David's time. Areas that date back, actually, to the Canaanite period when the Jebusites had the city. But the interesting thing, as they have gone back in the various times of the history of Israel, they have uncovered many houses that were torn down by Nebuchadnezzar's army when he besieged Israel at the rebellion of Zedekiah. And in the debris of the houses of the people, they have found multitudes of little gods that the people had carved out.

Astarte, the goddess of fertility with her exaggerated breasts, and all of these little idols that they've uncovered. In all, it seems, in all of the houses they were just full of these little idols. The very thing that the scripture cried out against, the very thing that God was crying out against here. "Don't serve strange gods. Hearken unto Me. Oh, if they would only have hearkened unto Me, then I would have kept them in the land. I would have preserved them. I would have subdued their enemies. But they would not have anything to do with Me." And so God was weeping because the people were going to go into captivity. God was weeping because of all of the hardship that they were bringing upon themselves because they would not walk in the ways of the Lord.

And I'm certain that as God looks at us and He sees us as we so often follow our own self-willed path. And God can see where that path is leading. That God just weeps as we refuse to listen, as we stubbornly say, "But I want this," and I'm pursuing the desire of my own heart. The tragic thing when God gives me over to my own lust, my own heart's lust. And He just has to stand there and weep as I go into captivity, as I am bringing all of the sorrow and hurt upon myself because I won't hearken to Him, because I won't listen to Him, because I don't want anything to do with His law.

And so God's lament. It's a very beautiful psalm as we see God really just His heart broken over the failure of the people, over the worshipping of these little gods. And how, actually, even in this last year, God has allowed evidence to be uncovered that just so vitally proves this psalm and makes the whole thing so real, as they have uncovered the houses that were destroyed by the Babylonians and found all of these strange gods. And we understand how the people had turned from Him.

As David said, you know, they've taken and they've carved gods out of stone. Eyes they have but they cannot see. Ears they have but they cannot hear. And David talked about the things that people were doing even in his time and the folly of them. And so we hope to look at these ruins when we're over there this time. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Asaph summoned the Israelites to sing joyfully to God their strength with musical accompaniment.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. A call to the celebration 81:1-5

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 81

This psalm is a joyful celebration of God’s deliverance of His people. The Israelites probably sang it at the Feast of Tabernacles, since it is a review of God’s faithfulness and focuses especially on the wilderness wanderings. [Note: A. Ross, p. 853.] The Feast of Tabernacles reminded the Israelites of this period in their history.

"Psalms 81 is a close companion to Psalms 50. If anything, the lines of the argument are even clearer here." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 92.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Take a psalm,.... Or "lift one up" y; 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" z, 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.

y שאן "attollite", Piscator; "tollite", Cocceius, Amama, Gejerus. z תנו "date", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician upon Gittith. A psalm of Asaph.

      1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.   2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.   3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.   4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.   5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.   6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.   7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

      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, Psalms 81:1-3; Psalms 81:1-3. Our errand is, to give unto God the glory due unto his name, and in all our religious assemblies we must mind this as our business. 1. In doing this we must eye God as our strength, and as the God of Jacob,Psalms 81:1; Psalms 81:1. He is the strength of Israel, as a people; for he is a God in covenant with them, who will powerfully protect, support, and deliver them, who fights their battles and makes them do valiantly and victoriously. He is the strength of every Israelite; by his grace we are enabled to go through all our services, sufferings, and conflicts; and to him, as our strength, we must pray, and we must sing praise to him as the God of all the wrestling seed of Jacob, with whom we have a spiritual communion. 2. We must do this by all the expressions of holy joy and triumph. It was then to be done by musical instruments, the timbrel, harp, and psaltery; and by blowing the trumpet, some think in remembrance of the sound of the trumpet on Mount Sinai, which waxed louder and louder. It was then and is now to be done by singing psalms, singing aloud, and making a joyful noise. The pleasantness of the harp and the awfulness of the trumpet intimate to us that God is to be worshipped with cheerfulness and joy with reverence and godly fear. Singing aloud and making a noise intimate that we must be warm and affectionate in praising God, that we must with a hearty good-will show forth his praise, as those that are not ashamed to own our dependence on him and obligations to him, and that we should join many together in this work; the more the better; it is the more like heaven. 3. This must be done in the time appointed. No time is amiss for praising God (Seven times a day will I praise thee; nay, at midnight will I rise and give thanks unto thee); but some are times appointed, not for God to meet us (he is always ready), but for us to meet one another, that we may join together in praising Do. The solemn feast-day must be a day of praise; when we are receiving the gifts of God's bounty, and rejoicing in them, then it is proper to sing his praises.

      II. They are here directed in their work. 1. They must look up to the divine institution which it is the observation of. In all religious worship we must have an eye to the command (Psalms 81:4; Psalms 81:4): This was a statute for Israel, for the keeping up of a face of religion among them; it was a law of the God of Jacob, which all the seed of Jacob are bound by, and must be subject to. Note, Praising God is not only a good thing, which we do well to do, but it is our indispensable duty, which we are obliged to do; it is at our peril if we neglect it; and in all religious exercises we must have an eye to the institution as our warrant and rule: "This I do because God has commanded me; and therefore I hope he will accept me;" then it is done in faith. 2. They must look back upon those operations of divine Providence which it is the memorial of. This solemn service was ordained for a testimony (Psalms 81:5; Psalms 81:5), a standing traditional evidence, for the attesting of the matters of fact. It was a testimony to Israel, that they might know and remember what God had done for their fathers, and would be a testimony against them if they should be ignorant of them and forget them. (1.) The psalmist, in the people's name, puts himself in mind of the general work of God on Israel's behalf, which was kept in remembrance by this and other solemnities, Psalms 81:5; Psalms 81:5. When God went out against the land of Egypt, to lay it waste, that he might force Pharaoh to let Israel go, then he ordained solemn feast-days to be observed by a statute for ever in their generations, as a memorial of it, particularly the passover, which perhaps is meant by the solemn feast-day (Psalms 81:3; Psalms 81:3); that was appointed just then when God went out through the land of Egypt to destroy the first-born, and passed over the houses of the Israelites, Exodus 12:23; Exodus 12:24. By it that work of wonder was to be kept in perpetual remembrance, that all ages might in it behold the goodness and severity of God. The psalmist, speaking for his people, takes notice of this aggravating circumstance of their slavery in Egypt that there they heard a language that they understood not; there they were strangers in a strange land. The Egyptians and the Hebrews understood not one another's language; for Joseph spoke to his brethren by an interpreter (Genesis 42:23), and the Egyptians are said to be to the house of Jacob a people of a strange language,Psalms 114:1. To make a deliverance appear the more gracious, the more glorious, it is good to observe every thing that makes the trouble we are delivered from appear the more grievous. (2.) The psalmist, in God's name, puts the people in mind of some of the particulars of their deliverance. Here he changes the person, Psalms 81:6; Psalms 81:6. God speaks by him, saying, I removed the shoulder from the burden. Let him remember this on the feast-day, [1.] That God had brought them out of the house of bondage, had removed their shoulder from the burden of oppression under which they were ready to sink, had delivered their hands from the pots, or panniers, or baskets, in which they carried clay or bricks. Deliverance out of slavery is a very sensible mercy and one which ought to be had in everlasting remembrance. But this was not all. [2.] God had delivered them at the Red Sea; then they called in trouble, and he rescued them and disappointed the designs of their enemies against them, Exodus 14:10. Then he answered them with a real answer, out of the secret place of thunder; that is, out of the pillar of fire, through which God looked upon the host of the Egyptians and troubled it, Exodus 14:24; Exodus 14:25. Or it may be meant of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, which was the secret place, for it was death to gaze (Exodus 19:21), and it was in thunder that God then spoke. Even the terrors of Sinai were favours to Israel, Deuteronomy 4:33. [3.] God had borne their manners in the wilderness: "I proved thee at the waters of Meribah; thou didst there show thy temper, what an unbelieving murmuring people thou wast, and yet I continued my favour to thee." Selah--Mark that; compare God's goodness and man's badness, and they will serve as foils to each other. Now if they, on their solemn feast-days, were thus to call to mind their redemption out of Egypt, much more ought we, on the Christian sabbath, to call to mind a more glorious redemption wrought out for us by Jesus Christ from worse than Egyptian bondage, and the many gracious answers he has given to us, notwithstanding our manifold provocations.