Psalm 81

Psa 81:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: "OF ASAPH". Related Hezekiah.

EXODUS ALLUSIONS: Sustained allusions to the Exodus imply that, as God came to the rescue of His people then, so also will He in the current Assyrian crisis -- ie, if only His people will show a spirit of faithfulness and not of stubborn unbelief. Cp Isa 10:24. Vv 13-16 strongly emphasize this. The emphasis in vv 3-5 is on the Israelite's commemoration ("sign", as in Isa 37:30,31) of the destruction of the Assyrians through their thankful observance of the Year of Jubilee, just as the slaying of the firstborn was to be thankfully remembered in the keeping of the Passover.

Vv 1,2: A ref to the song which Miriam taught to Israel (Exo 15:20,21).

THE GOD OF JACOB: Though Jacob is dead, God is still his God (Exo 3:15; Luk 20:37) -- thereby proving his resurrection.

Psa 81:3

SOUND THE RAM'S HORN... ON THE DAY OF OUR FEAST: The Day of Atonement at the beginning of the Jubilee Year. After the defeat of Sennacherib's host, the many thousands of enslaved Israelites were set free, to return to their homeland (Isa 27:6,12,13; 35:10; 42:6,7; 49:9-26; etc) -- a true Jubilee!

WHEN THE MOON IS FULL: V 5 makes a link with Passover. This connection is prob because Sennacherib's army was slain at Passover (like the Egyptian firstborn), and a marvelous celebration of Jubilee (to begin 6 mo later?) was then commanded as commemoration ("sign" in Isa 37:30,31). Also, the conjunction of new moon (the 1st day of the mo) and full moon (the 15th day) suggests ref to the 7th mo (Tishri). This mo began with the Feast of Trumpets (Num 29:1-6), followed on the 10th day by the Day of Atonement (vv 7-11), and on the 15th day by the week-long Feast of Tabernacles (vv 12-40). At the same time there would be the inauguration of the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:9,10). "New moon" pilgrimages to Zion were common -- and will be again in the Kingdom Age (Isa 66:23).

Psa 81:5

WHEN HE WENT OUT AGAINST EGYPT: The slaying of the firstborn (note the similarity of language in Exo 11:4), which was attributed in Exo 12 to "the destroyer", is here said to be the work of "the God of Jacob".

A LANGUAGE WE DID NOT UNDERSTAND: The tongue of the Egyptians (Psa 114:1).

Psa 81:6

I REMOVED THE BURDEN FROM THEIR SHOULDERS: Sw Exo 1:11.

THEIR HANDS WERE SET FREE FROM THE BASKET: Baskets for carrying clay or bricks. Cp the "brick-kilns" of Psa 68:13 (not sw, but surely same idea). This detail is an addition to the historical narrative of Exo 1.

Psa 81:7

IN YOUR DISTRESS YOU CALLED: See Exo 3:9. (NT) The LXX has sw in 1Pe 1:17; and also in Act 7:59 -- when Stephen was "in distress". This v emphasizes that God heard their voice, and they heard His (see Exo 2:23,24).

I ANSWERED YOU OUT OF A THUNDERCLOUD: That is, from mount Sinai, with its cloud and fire and lightning and thunder and earthquake (Exo 19:18,19).

I TESTED YOU AT THE WATERS OF MERIBAH: Where the smitten Rock yielded water (Exo 17:6,7). There the people were "proving" (testing) God -- "Is the Lord among us or not?" -- while at the same time God was proving them!

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 81:9

This is very much like the Song of Moses: Deu 32:12 (cp), 16 (ct); see also the Decalogue (Exo 20:3).

Psa 81:12

GAVE THEM OVER: May ref to their sin of the golden calf (Exo 32:1-25). Or, since LXX = "sent them away", poss an allusion to their enforced 40 years of wandering, while the whole generation perished (Num 14:33,34).

Psa 81:13

Vv 13,14: A promise for the future esp: When Israel repents, then God will deliver them from their enemies (Lev 26:40-42; Deu 30:1-3; 1Ki 8:44-53; Jer 4:1,2,14-18; Act 3:19,20).

Psa 81:16

WITH HONEY FROM THE ROCK I WOULD SATISFY YOU: Moses' Song again (Deu 32:13). "The wild bee is most common in lonely ravines, where it makes its nests in the clefts of precipitous rocks, often [only] with great difficulty accessible to man" (Hastings Dict of Bible). Here, honey sym wisdom (1Sa 14:27,28; Psa 19:10; 119:103; Pro 24:13; Eze 3:3; Rev 10:9,10). Such wisdom is obtainable only from God their "Rock" (tsur: sw Psa 18:31,46; 28:1; 61:2; 78:35; etc). In Moses' Song (Deu 32), God is called the Rock (tsur) in vv 4,13,15,18,30, 31!