Psalms 81

A Call to Worship

1 Sing out loud to God our strength; Cheer to the God of Jacob.

2 Start a song and hit the tambourine, The nice guitar with the harp.

3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, At the full moon, on our feast day.

4 Because it is a law for Israel, A rule of the God of Jacob.

5 He put it as a promise in Joseph When he went out over the land of Egypt. I heard a language I did not know.

God’s Promise

6 “I took the load from his shoulder; His hands were free from the basket.

7 You called in trouble, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret spot of the thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

8 Listen, My people, and I will warn you; Israel, if you would only listen to Me!

9 Do not let there be a fake god among you, And do not bow down to a foreign god.

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.

A Rebuke to God’s People

11 But My people did not listen to My voice; Israel did not want Me.

12 So I handed them over to their stubborn hearts, To walk in their own plans.

13 I wish My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

14 I would fast bring down their enemies, And turn My hand against their haters.

15 Those who hate the Lord would be fake to Him, And their future would last forever.

16 But He would feed them with the best of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would fill you.”