Psalms 81
The psalmist calls the people to rejoice and sing to God, who freed them from slavery in Egypt. God reminds them of his power and provision, and warns them to remain faithful and not worship foreign gods. However, the people did not listen, and as a result, God allowed them to follow their own desires. If they had obeyed, God would have defeated their enemies and provided for them abundantly.
Unto the end. For the wine and oil presses. A Psalm of Asaph himself. Exult before God our helper. Sing joyfully to the God of JacobTake up a psalm, and bring forth the timbrel: a pleasing Psalter with stringed instrumentsSound the trumpet at the new moon, on the noteworthy day of your solemnityfor it is a precept in Israel and a judgment for the God of JacobHe set it as a testimony with Joseph, when he went out of the land of Egypt. He heard a tongue that he did not knowHe turned the burdens away from his back. His hands had been a slave to basketsYou called upon me in tribulation, and I freed you. I heard you within the hidden tempest. I tested you with waters of contradictionMy people, listen and I will call you to testify. If, O Israel, you will pay heed to methen there will be no new god among you, nor will you adore a foreign godFor I am the Lord your God, who led you out of the land of Egypt. Widen your mouth, and I will fill itBut my people did not hear my voice, and Israel was not attentive to meAnd so, I sent them away, according to the desires of their heart. They will go forth according to their own inventionsIf my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my waysI would have humbled their enemies, as if it were nothing, and I would have sent my hand upon those who troubled themThe enemies of the Lord have lied to him, and their time will come, in every ageAnd he fed them from the fat of the grain, and he saturated them with honey from the rock
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