81
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
To the Chief Musician; set to the Philistine lute. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Shout for joy to the God of Jacob (Israel).
2 Raise a song, sound the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our feast day.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When He went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard the language [of One whom] I did not know, saying,
6 “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 “You called in [the time of] trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. [Num 20:3, 13, 24] Selah.
8 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
9 “Let there be no strange god among you,
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 “I am the Loʀᴅ your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me.
12 “So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in [the path of] their own counsel. [Acts 7:42, 43; 14:16; Rom 1:24, 26]
13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 “Then I would quickly subdue and humble their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries;
15 Those who hate the Loʀᴅ would pretend obedience to Him and cringe before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 “But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”