Comment – Psalm 81 was written specifically for the so-called hut festival, to celebrate the stay in the desert and the Sinai covenant. On that occasion the people built huts with branches. The song begins with an invitation to praise God in joy, by means of singing and accompanied by musical instruments.
Psalm 81 complete
[1] To the choir master. On "I torchi ...". Asaph
[2] Rejoice in God, our strength, cheer to the God of Jacob.
[3] Tune the song and play the tympanum, the melodious harp with the harp.
[4] Play the trumpet in the full moon, our feast day.
[5] This is a law for Israel, a decree of the God of Jacob.
[6] He gave it as a testimony to Joseph when he left the country of Egypt. A language never understood I hear:
[7] "I freed his shoulder from the weight, his hands laid down the basket.
[8] You cried to me in anguish and I set you free, wrapped in the cloud, I gave you an answer, I tested you in the waters of Meriba.
[9] Listen, my people, I want to warn you; Israel, if you listened to me!
[10] Let there not be another god among you, and do not bow down to a foreign god.
Recommended readings- Psalm 76: complete, commentary
- Psalm 62: complete, commentary
- Psalm 102: complete, commentary
- Psalm 6: complete, commentary
- Psalm 20: complete, commentary
[11] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth, I want to fill it.
[12] But my people did not listen to my voice, Israel did not obey me.
[13] I abandoned him to the hardness of his heart, which would follow his own advice.
[14] If my people listened to me, if Israel walked in my ways!
[15] Immediately I would bend his enemies and I would bring my hand against his adversaries.
[16] The enemies of the Lord would submit to him and their fate would be forever marked;
[17] I would feed them with wheat flower, I would satiate them with rock honey ”.
