Psalm On Demand - Psalm 81

Psalm 81

For the choir director:

A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

¹ Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob.
² Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
³ Blow the ram's horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival!
⁴ For this is required by the decrees of Israel; it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
⁵ He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free. I heard an unknown voice say,
⁶ "Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
⁷ You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.

Interlude

⁸ "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
⁹ You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god.
¹⁰ For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
¹¹ "But no, my people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want me around.
¹² So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.
¹³ Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
¹⁴ How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever.
¹⁶ But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

 

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