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Psalms 81:2

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Take a psalm,.... Or "lift one up" (y); hold up the book, and read and sing it; or rather, lift up the voice in singing a psalm: and bring hither the timbrel; or "give one" (z), put the hand to one: the pleasant harp with the psaltery; make use of all these musical instruments in singing, and so make an agreeable melody: these were used in the...

Psalms 81:3

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Blow up the trumpet in the new moon,.... Either in every new moon, or first day of the month, which was religiously observed by the Jews, 2 Kings 4:23 or rather the new moon, or first day of the seventh month, the month Tisri, which day was a memorial of blowing of trumpets, Leviticus 23:34, and so the Targum, "blow the trumpet in the month of...

Psalms 81:4

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

For this was a statute for Israel,.... It was not a piece of will worship, or device of the children of Israel, but was of divine institution; that the passover should be kept at the time it was; and that the trumpets should be blown on the new moon, or first of Tisri; and that the feast of tabernacles should be kept on the fifteenth of the same...

Psalms 81:5

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony,.... That is, this law concerning the blowing of trumpets on the new moon, and the keeping the solemn feast at the full of the moon, was made to be observed by all Israel, who are meant by Joseph, for a testimony of God's good will to them, and of their duty and obedience to him: when he went out through...

Psalms 81:6

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

I removed his shoulder from the burden,.... These are the words of God, declaring how he had delivered the Israelites from the oppression and cruelty of the Egyptians; who made their lives bitter in hard bondage, and obliged them to carry heavy loads of bricks upon their shoulders: his hands were delivered from the pots, or "baskets" (c); into...

Psalms 81:7

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee,.... That is, when Israel were in trouble in Egypt, as the Targum adds, and they cried unto the Lord in their distress, he heard them, and answered them, and sent them a deliverer, and brought them out of all their troubles, Exodus 3:7. I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; by bringing the...

Psalms 81:8

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee,.... Of himself, his being, and perfections; what he was unto them, had done for them, and would do for them, as in the following verses: or "testify in thee" (d), bear witness to their spirits, that they were his people, and he was their God; this is a witness which the people of God have in...

Psalms 81:9

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

There shall no strange god be in thee,.... Or in the midst of thee, owned and worshipped as God; or in thine heart, for whatever engrosses the affection, or a man puts his trust and confidence in, that he makes his god, and is a strange one: thus, if any friend or relation, father or mother, wife or children, are loved more than God, they are set...

Psalms 81:10

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

I am the Lord thy God,.... The true Jehovah, the Being of beings, in whom all live and move and have their beings, the covenant God of his people; and is a reason why they should hear him, and worship him, and no other: which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; this, with what goes before, is the preface to the ten commands, the first and...

Psalms 81:11

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

But my people would not hearken to my voice,.... Neither as exhorting them to the above duties, nor as promising the above favours; would neither hearken to the voice of the law, nor to the voice of the Gospel; but were like the deaf adder, which stops its ear to the voice of the charmer, charming never so wisely: and Israel would none of me;...

Psalms 81:12

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust,.... Sometimes God gave them up, when they sinned, into the hands of the Moabites, or Ammonites, or Philistines, or other neighbouring nations, for their chastisement; but to be delivered up unto their own hearts' lust is worse than that; nay, than to be delivered to Satan: salvation may be the...

Psalms 81:13

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

O that my people had hearkened unto me,.... This might have been expected from them, as they were his professing people; and it would have been to their advantage if they had hearkened to him, as well as it would have been well pleasing to him; for that is what is designed by this wish, which does not express the purposing will of God; for who...

Psalms 81:14

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

I should soon have subdued their enemies,.... The Canaanites, and others: this he would have done in a very little time, or at once, and that easily, and without any trouble; he would quickly have humbled them, and brought them on their knees, as the word (g) signifies, to terms of peace; for when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes his enemies...

Psalms 81:15

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him,.... Or, "lied unto him" (h); feignedly submitted to him, flattered him, pretended friendship to him, and entered into a league with him; either Israel, mentioned Psalms 81:13, our God, whom and whose worship and people they hated; as every natural man is an hater of God, and all...

Psalms 81:16

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat,.... Or the "fat of the wheat (y)"; see Deuteronomy 32:14, with the finest flour of it: the Targum is, "with the best bread of wheat;'' with the best of wheat, and the best bread that can be made of it: Aben Ezra interprets it of the manna, which was better than the fat, or finest, of the...

Psalms 82

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 82 A Psalm of Asaph. This psalm was written for the use of persons in power, for the instruction of kings and princes, judges and civil magistrates; according to Kimchi, it was written about the times of Jehoshaphat, who appointed new judges throughout the land; those that were before having been very corrupt, to whom he...

Psalms 82:1

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

God standeth in the congregation of the mighty,.... The Syriac version renders it, "in the congregation of angels"; they are mighty, and excel in strength, and there is a large company of them, even an innumerable one, and who surround the throne of the Majesty on high. Christ, who is God over all, was among those on Mount Sinai, and when he...

Psalms 82:2

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

How long will ye judge unjustly,.... These are the words not of the psalmist, but of the divine Person that stands in the congregation of the mighty, and judges among the gods; calling the unjust judges to an account, and reproving them for their unrighteous proceedings and perversion of justice, in which they had long continued, and which was an...

Psalms 82:3

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Defend the poor and fatherless,.... Or, judge (d) them; such as have no money to enter and carry on a suit, and have no friends to assist and advise them, and abide by them; these should be taken under the care and wing of judges; their cause should be attended to, and justice done them; their persons should be protected, and their property...

Psalms 82:4

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Deliver the poor and needy,.... From his adversary and oppressor, who is mightier than he, and draws him to the judgment seat; when it is not in his power to defend himself against him, and get out of his hands, unless a righteous judge will show a regard to him and his cause; and sometimes even an unjust judge, through importunity, will do this,...