For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.
The psalms of Asaph are generally later than the time of David, some as late as the Babylonian Exile. Here we have a reminder of how to celebrate a feast, most likely the Feast of Tabernacles.
Psalm 81, 1-3, Sing at our festival!
Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Begin the music,
strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre.
Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full,
on the day of our Feast;
This song begins with an enthusiastic statement to "be loud!", to sing, shout, play instruments, blow the ram's horn to celebrate a feast. Alter thinks we are just celebrating a New Moon but Kidner argues that this psalm is celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. (See the emphasis on celebration at the Feast of Tabernacles here: Deuteronomy 16: 13-14.) We begin by recognizing the beginning of the new month (the seventh month at the end of the harvest season?) The full moon, fifteen days later, would be when the Feast of Tabernacles begins.
Psalm 81, 4-5, Decree
this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt,
where we heard a language we did not understand.
The psalmist recalls the time when Joseph (and his descendants) lived in a land whose language was foreign and God stood up for them ("went out") against Egypt.
Every seven years, the people of Israel were to read aloud the Law at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31: 10-13.)
Psalm 81, 6-7, Reminder
He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah.
The people of Israel, enslaved by Pharaoh, called out to God and He responded, bringing them Moses and leading them out into the Wilderness. There they were given the Law at Mount Sinai (where God was hidden in a thunderhead) and then were tested at Massah/Meribah; there the Israelites were thirsty and God provided water for them (Exodus 17: 1-7.)
Psalm 81, 8-10, No God but YHWH
"Hear, O my people, and I will warn you--
if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not bow down to an alien god.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
The emphasis on only one God, and full devotion to Him, a theme of the Exodus, is repeated.
Psalm 81, 11-12, Stubborn hearts
"But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
Protection and security will follow... but only if the people listen to YHWH. Instead, if they insist on not listening, they are free to "follow their own devices." We have in verse 12 a strong statement regarding mankind's "free will" -- that they are allowed to go their own way if they so insist.
Psalm 81, 13-16, If you would but listen
"If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,
how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
Kidner says that parts of this psalm echo the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. Most notably, the last verse echoes parts of Deuteronomy 32:13. This song also has some similarities to Psalm 95, which also breaks out in song and recalls Massah/Meribah. Both psalms remind the people of YHWH to sing out their devotion to him, to enjoy His protection and choose joy over stubborness.
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