PSALM 81: THE LORD ANSWERS

 Call To Worship

81:1-5a

This is a call to worship. The psalmist tells Israel to: 

1. Sing to God with all their strength;
2. Shout for joy to God, who is in covenant with them, the God of Jacob;
3. Play instruments, the tambourine, the lyre, and the harp.

The call to worship includes blowing a trumpet to announce the beginning of the festival, which begins on a full moon. The psalm does not tell us what feast is contemplated. But it is one of the feasts required by God, as the psalmist says it is a statute for Israel and a rule of God. 

There is a Feast of Trumpets proscribed in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 19. However, the psalmist said God made it a decree when he went out over the land of Egypt. That refers to the Passover. 

Exodus 12 describes God’s instructions to Israel before he was to kill all of the firstborn of Egypt (the last of the 10 plagues). They were to kill a lamb and put the blood on their door posts. The Lord would see the sacrificial blood and Passover the house, not killing the firstborn. Then they were to prepare a meal, including the lamb roasted on the fire. The Lord declared that they celebrate it as a memorial on the 14th day the 1st month of the Jewish new year. He called it the LORD’s Passover. 

So, it could be that the sounding of the trumpet was just to call attention to the feast so the Israelites would recognize and celebrate as part of their repentance and return to the Lord. The Lord did not command it. 

The Lord Recalls The Exodus 

81:5b-7

The psalmist said he heard a language he had not previously known, and is referring to the voice of the Lord. The voice of the psalm then changes in verse 6 from the psalmist to the Lord. The Lord reminds them that he relieved them from slavery. He referred to the shoulder of burden and hands on the basket, recalling the work they did in making bricks and hauling them around. 

Israel had called to him in distress. (7) Moses wrote:

During those many days the king of Egypt dies, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, withIsaac, and with Jacob. (Exodus 2:23-24)

God delivered them. He answered them in the secret place of thunder. (7) This may refer to God bringing them to the mountain, where God spoke to Moses about making a covenant with them. This is detailed in Exodus 19. God descended on Mount Sinai with thundering and lightenings and a trumpet blast. 

God also tested them at Meribah. (7) At Rephidim, where the Israelites camped in the wilderness, there was no water. They complained and quarreled with Moses. It got violent and Moses was afraid they would stone him. When he asked the Lord, the Lord told him to take his staff and strike a rock and water would come out of it. Moses did so and water came out. Moses named the place Meribah, meaning “quarreling” in Hebrew. 

God said he tested them (7) because he took them to a place where they had a need and they did not trust him to provide it.

God’s Warning

80:8-10

God tells them to pay attention while he admonishes them. To admonish is to warn or reprimand. God admonishes them that there is to be no foreign god or strange god for Israel to worship. This is not new; it is a summary of the first two commandments. The very first commandment is that Israel will have no gods other than YHWH. It is the first and most important commandment. The second commandment prohibits the making of idols. (Exodus 20: 3-4)

Verse 8 is the center verse of this psalm. In the English speaking world, the most important sentence is usually at the beginning or end of a poem or paragraph. But the Jews often put the most important line in the middle. This line, verse 8, is also the center verse of the Psalms. So, Israel’s duty to worship the Lord alone is their most important duty.

The reason God gives for his demand for exclusive worship is that he is their redeemer. He redeemed them from Egypt. He is ready to bless them if they will obey him. (10) This is the same reason given for the command in the Ten Commandments. The Commandments begin with God saying “I am the LORD (YHWH) your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Exodus 20:1)

It is the same for believers today. Christ is the one who redeemed us. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. (Ephesians 1:7) Therefore, we obey, follow, and worship him only. We do not follow other gods, including extra-Biblical definitions of God. We do not have the privilege of defining God in any way other than as the Bible defines him. That is making an idol. And it happens frequently today. It usually starts with someone saying “well, my God would not…”. 

God’s Lament

80:11-16

God said that his people did not listen to his voice. In the Old Testament, God spoke to Israel through the law and the prophets. Many prophets rebuked Israel in the name of God for their idolatry. Israel responded by killing them or putting them in prison, or ignoring them. 

Jesus told the Jews that they would be accountable to God for the prophets they killed. He said “…the blood all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.” (Luke 11:50-51)

As punishment for their disobedience, God gave them over to their stubborn hearts and their own counsel, or wisdom. (12) Usually the worst thing God can do is let us go our own way rather than his way. Certainly, for Israel, it was devastating. Their city was destroyed, along with the temple, and the survivors were taken away into captivity. 

Mankind in general rejects God, does not listen to him, and does not obey him. Romans 1 speaks of this. As humanity rejected God, they became futile in their thinking and their hearts were darkened. They became foolish and turned to idols. (Romans 1:21-22)  Because of this, God gave them up to their sin and unrighteousness. This applies to Jews and to Gentiles (non-Jews). The only remedy is Christ, who died for our sins. Because of our faith in him, God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:13)

God still offered grace to Israel at the time of this psalm. He said that if Israel would listen to him and walk in his ways (obey him), he would again defend them against their enemies and provide the best for them. 

God provides grace for humanity today also. He sent his son to die for our sins so that we may have eternal life by believing in him. (John 3:16)