Psalm 81

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. 2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute. 3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.

4 For a this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob. 5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
b Where I heard a language I did not understand. 6 "I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets. 7 c You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
d I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I e tested you at the waters of 1 Meribah. Selah 8 "Hear, f O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me! 9 There shall be no g foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god. 10 h I am the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
i Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

11 "But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have j none of Me. 12 k So I gave them over to 2 their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels. 13 "Oh, l that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways! 14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries. 15 m The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their 3 fate would endure forever. 16 He would n have fed them also with 4 the finest of wheat;
And with honey o from the rock I would have satisfied you."

  1. Cross References
    Leviticus 23:24
    Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath- rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
    Numbers 10:10
    "Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God."
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:49
    The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand.
    Psalms 114:1
    When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language.
    Jeremiah 5:15
    Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 2:23
    Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
    Exodus 14:10
    And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.
    Psalms 50:15
    Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 19:19
    And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.
    Exodus 20:18
    Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 17:6
    Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
    Exodus 17:7
    So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?
    Numbers 20:13
    This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 50:7
    Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God!
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 20:3
    You shall have no other gods before Me.
    Deuteronomy 5:7
    You shall have no other gods before Me.
    Deuteronomy 32:12
    So the LORD alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him.
    Psalms 44:20
    If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god.
    Isaiah 43:12
    I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses," Says the LORD, "that I am God.
  8. Cross References
    Exodus 20:2
    I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
    Deuteronomy 5:6
    I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 103:5
    Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 32:1
    Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
    Deuteronomy 32:15
    But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
  11. Cross References
    Job 8:4
    If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.
    Acts 7:42
    Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
    Romans 1:24
    Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.
    Romans 1:26
    For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 5:29
    Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
    Isaiah 48:18
    Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
  13. Cross References
    Romans 1:30
    Backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:14
    Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.
  15. Cross References
    Job 29:6
    When my steps were bathed with cream, And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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