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英文原文
This psalm was penned, as is supposed, not upon occasion of any particular providence, but for the solemnity of a particular ordinance, either that of the new-moon in general or that of the feast of trumpets on the new moon of the seventh month, Le 23:24, Nu 29:1. When David, by the Spirit, introduced the singing of psalms into the temple-service this psalm was intended for that day, to excite and assist the proper devotions of it. All the psalms are profitable; but, if one psalm be more suitable than another to the day and observances of it, we should choose that. The two great intentions of our religious assemblies, and which we ought to have in our eye in our attendance on them, are answered in this psalm, which are, to give glory to God and to receive instruction from God, to "behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his temple;" accordingly by this psalm we are assisted on our solemn feast days, I. In praising God for what he is to his people (Ps 81:1-3), and has done for them, Ps 81:4-7. II. In teaching and admonishing one another concerning the obligations we lie under to God (Ps 81:8-10), the danger of revolting from him (Ps 81:11,12), and the happiness we should have if we would but keep close to him, Ps 81:13-16. This, though spoken primarily of Israel of old, is written for our learning, and is therefore to be sung with application.
1-7
An Invitation to Praise
赞美的邀请
交与伶长，用迦特乐器。亚萨的诗。
¹ 你们当向神我们的力量大声欢呼，向雅各的神发声欢乐。
² 唱起诗歌，打手鼓，弹美琴与瑟。
³ 当在月朔并月望我们过节的日期吹角，
⁴ 因这是为以色列定的律例，是雅各神的律法。
⁵ 他出去攻击埃及地的时候，在约瑟中立此为证；我在那里听见我所不认识的言语。
⁶ 神说：我使他的肩头得脱重担，他的手得释筐篓。
⁷ 你在患难中呼求，我就搭救你；我在雷的隐密处应允你，我在米利巴水那里试验你。〔细拉〕
当神的百姓聚集在「节期之日、耶和华的节期」时，必被告知他们有事当作，因为我们到教会不是去睡觉、不是去闲懒；不，每日本分所要求的，就是当日之工，当在那日而作。此处，
一、敬拜神的人被激发去作他们的工，并借唱此篇受教激发自己、又彼此激发（诗81:1-3）。我们的差事，就是将神名下当得的荣耀归给他，在我们一切宗教聚集中，我们必须以这为业。1. 我们如此行时，当仰望神为「我们的力量」，为「雅各的神」（诗81:1）。他是以色列的力量——作为百姓；因为他是与他们立约的神，必大有权能地保护、扶持、拯救他们——为他们争战，使他们英勇得胜。他是每个以色列人的力量；借他的恩典我们能行过一切事奉、受苦与争战；我们当向他——我们的力量——祷告，又当赞美他作为雅各一切摔跤后裔的神，我们与他有属灵的相通。2. 我们当借圣洁喜乐与夸胜的一切表达来行这事。那时是借乐器——「鼓、琴与瑟」——并借吹「角」而作；有人以为吹角是纪念西奈山上的角声，那声音「渐渐高而又高」。那时如此，如今则借唱诗篇——「大声」歌唱，「发声欢乐」。琴的悦耳与角的可畏向我们暗示：神当以喜乐与欢呼敬拜，也当以敬畏与敬虔的惧怕敬拜。大声歌唱、发声欢呼暗示我们赞美神必须火热恳切，必须出于衷心乐意表明他的赞美，如同不以倚靠他、对他尽责为耻的人；又当有多人同作此工；越多越好；越像天堂。3. 这必须在所定的日期而作。赞美神无不合之时（「我要一日七次赞美你」；不，「我在半夜必起来称谢你」）；但有些是所定的日期——不是为神来会见我们（他随时都预备好了），而是为我们会见彼此，好同来赞美神。严肃的节期当日当为赞美之日；我们在领受神丰盛的恩赐而喜乐之时，便正合歌唱赞美他。
二、他们在此受指导所当尽的工。1. 他们当仰望他们所遵守的神圣制度。在一切宗教敬拜中，我们必须着眼于命令（诗81:4）：「这是为以色列定的律例」，为在他们中间维持宗教的体面；这是「雅各神的律法」，凡雅各后裔都受其约束，必须顺服。注意：赞美神不仅是一件当作便当作的美事，更是我们不可推诿的本分；我们若忽略它，便自取危险；在一切宗教操练中，我们必须着眼于设立之命，作为我们的凭据与法则：「我如此行，是因为神所命的；所以我也盼望他悦纳我」；如此便是凭信而作。2. 他们当回顾他们所记念的神圣护理之工。这严肃的事奉「立此为证」（诗81:5），作一种常存的传统证据，以证实那些事实。这是对以色列的见证，使他们知道、记念神为他们列祖所行的事；他们若无知忘记，这便成为对他们不利的见证。（1）诗人以百姓的名，提醒自己记念神为以色列所行的总作为——这是借这节期和其他严肃集会所记念的（诗81:5）。当神出去攻击埃及地，要使其荒凉，以迫使法老让以色列去，那时他便设立严肃的节期，命他们世世代代永远遵守，作为其纪念——尤其是逾越节，或许就是「严肃的节期」（诗81:3）；逾越节正是神巡行埃及地击杀长子、越过以色列人之家时所设立的（出12:23-24）。借这节期，那奇妙的工要永远记念，使各世代在其中看见神的良善与严厉。诗人以百姓的名，记念他们在埃及作奴的加重情节——他们在那里「听见我所不认识的言语」；他们在那里是异乡的客。埃及人与希伯来人互不相通言语；因约瑟对弟兄们「借翻译说话」（创42:23），埃及人对雅各家被称为「异言的民」（诗114:1）。要使拯救显得更恩惠、更荣耀，最好观察一切使我们所脱离的苦楚显得更可悲的事。（2）诗人以神的名，提醒百姓记念他们拯救的几样细节。此处他换了人称（诗81:6）。神借他说：「我使他的肩头得脱重担。」让他记念这事——在节期之日——〔1〕神已把他们从为奴之家领出来，使他们的肩头脱离压迫的重担——他们原在它之下几乎下沉——又「使他的手得释筐篓」——他们用以抬泥抬砖的筐。脱离奴役的拯救，是十分具体可感的怜悯，是当永远记念的。但还不止此。〔2〕神已在红海搭救了他们；那时他们在患难中呼求，他便搭救他们，又使他们仇敌对他们的计谋落空（出14:10）。那时他用实际的应允，从「雷的隐密处」应允他们；即从火柱之中——神借它观看埃及的军兵，又使其混乱（出14:24-25）。或可指西奈山颁布律法——那是隐密之处，因观望便是死（出19:21），且神在雷中说话。连西奈的可畏对以色列也是恩惠（申4:33）。〔3〕神在旷野容忍了他们：「『我在米利巴水那里试验你』；你在那里显出你的性情，显出你是个不信发怨言的民，但我仍继续向你施恩。」「细拉」——留意这事；把神的良善与人的邪恶相比，二者互为衬托。如今他们若在严肃的节期上如此记念出埃及的救赎，我们岂不更当在基督徒的安息日记念那借耶稣基督为我们所成、比出埃及更荣耀的救赎——脱离比埃及更糟的奴役——以及他所赐给我们的许多恩惠应允，尽管我们屡次惹他发怒？
英文原文
An Invitation to Praise
To the chief musician upon Gittith. A psalm of Asaph.
¹ Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
² Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
³ Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
⁴ For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
⁵ This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
⁶ I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
⁷ Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
When the people of God were gathered together in the solemn day, the day of the feast of the Lord, they must be told that they had business to do, for we do not go to church to sleep nor to be idle; no, there is that which the duty of every day requires, work of the day, which is to be done in its day. And here,
I. The worshippers of God are excited to their work, and are taught, by singing this psalm, to stir up both themselves and one another to it, Ps 81:1-3. Our errand is, to give unto God the glory due unto his name, and in all our religious assemblies we must mind this as our business. 1. In doing this we must eye God as our strength, and as the God of Jacob, Ps 81:1. He is the strength of Israel, as a people; for he is a God in covenant with them, who will powerfully protect, support, and deliver them, who fights their battles and makes them do valiantly and victoriously. He is the strength of every Israelite; by his grace we are enabled to go through all our services, sufferings, and conflicts; and to him, as our strength, we must pray, and we must sing praise to him as the God of all the wrestling seed of Jacob, with whom we have a spiritual communion. 2. We must do this by all the expressions of holy joy and triumph. It was then to be done by musical instruments, the timbrel, harp, and psaltery; and by blowing the trumpet, some think in remembrance of the sound of the trumpet on Mount Sinai, which waxed louder and louder. It was then and is now to be done by singing psalms, singing aloud, and making a joyful noise. The pleasantness of the harp and the awfulness of the trumpet intimate to us that God is to be worshipped with cheerfulness and joy with reverence and godly fear. Singing aloud and making a noise intimate that we must be warm and affectionate in praising God, that we must with a hearty good-will show forth his praise, as those that are not ashamed to own our dependence on him and obligations to him, and that we should join many together in this work; the more the better; it is the more like heaven. 3. This must be done in the time appointed. No time is amiss for praising God (Seven times a day will I praise thee; nay, at midnight will I rise and give thanks unto thee); but some are times appointed, not for God to meet us (he is always ready), but for us to meet one another, that we may join together in praising God. The solemn feast-day must be a day of praise; when we are receiving the gifts of God's bounty, and rejoicing in them, then it is proper to sing his praises.
II. They are here directed in their work. 1. They must look up to the divine institution which it is the observation of. In all religious worship we must have an eye to the command (Ps 81:4): This was a statute for Israel, for the keeping up of a face of religion among them; it was a law of the God of Jacob, which all the seed of Jacob are bound by, and must be subject to. Note, Praising God is not only a good thing, which we do well to do, but it is our indispensable duty, which we are obliged to do; it is at our peril if we neglect it; and in all religious exercises we must have an eye to the institution as our warrant and rule: "This I do because God has commanded me; and therefore I hope he will accept me;" then it is done in faith. 2. They must look back upon those operations of divine Providence which it is the memorial of. This solemn service was ordained for a testimony (Ps 81:5), a standing traditional evidence, for the attesting of the matters of fact. It was a testimony to Israel, that they might know and remember what God had done for their fathers, and would be a testimony against them if they should be ignorant of them and forget them. (1.) The psalmist, in the people's name, puts himself in mind of the general work of God on Israel's behalf, which was kept in remembrance by this and other solemnities, Ps 81:5. When God went out against the land of Egypt, to lay it waste, that he might force Pharaoh to let Israel go, then he ordained solemn feast-days to be observed by a statute for ever in their generations, as a memorial of it, particularly the passover, which perhaps is meant by the solemn feast-day (Ps 81:3); that was appointed just then when God went out through the land of Egypt to destroy the first-born, and passed over the houses of the Israelites, Ex 12:23,24. By it that work of wonder was to be kept in perpetual remembrance, that all ages might in it behold the goodness and severity of God. The psalmist, speaking for his people, takes notice of this aggravating circumstance of their slavery in Egypt that there they heard a language that they understood not; there they were strangers in a strange land. The Egyptians and the Hebrews understood not one another's language; for Joseph spoke to his brethren by an interpreter (Ge 42:23), and the Egyptians are said to be to the house of Jacob a people of a strange language, Ps 114:1. To make a deliverance appear the more gracious, the more glorious, it is good to observe every thing that makes the trouble we are delivered from appear the more grievous. (2.) The psalmist, in God's name, puts the people in mind of some of the particulars of their deliverance. Here he changes the person, Ps 81:6. God speaks by him, saying, I removed the shoulder from the burden. Let him remember this on the feast-day, [1.] That God had brought them out of the house of bondage, had removed their shoulder from the burden of oppression under which they were ready to sink, had delivered their hands from the pots, or panniers, or baskets, in which they carried clay or bricks. Deliverance out of slavery is a very sensible mercy and one which ought to be had in everlasting remembrance. But this was not all. [2.] God had delivered them at the Red Sea; then they called in trouble, and he rescued them and disappointed the designs of their enemies against them, Ex 14:10. Then he answered them with a real answer, out of the secret place of thunder; that is, out of the pillar of fire, through which God looked upon the host of the Egyptians and troubled it, Ex 14:24,25. Or it may be meant of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, which was the secret place, for it was death to gaze (Ex 19:21), and it was in thunder that God then spoke. Even the terrors of Sinai were favours to Israel, De 4:33. [3.] God had borne their manners in the wilderness: "I proved thee at the waters of Meribah; thou didst there show thy temper, what an unbelieving murmuring people thou wast, and yet I continued my favour to thee." Selah—Mark that; compare God's goodness and man's badness, and they will serve as foils to each other. Now if they, on their solemn feast-days, were thus to call to mind their redemption out of Egypt, much more ought we, on the Christian sabbath, to call to mind a more glorious redemption wrought out for us by Jesus Christ from worse than Egyptian bondage, and the many gracious answers he has given to us, notwithstanding our manifold provocations.
8-16
Expostulation with Israel
与以色列的辩论
⁸ 我的民哪，你当听，我要劝戒你；以色列啊，你肯听从我吗？
⁹ 在你当中不可有别的神；外邦的神你也不可敬拜。
¹⁰ 我是耶和华你的 神，曾把你从埃及地领上来；你要大大张口，我就给你充满。
¹¹ 无奈我的民不听我的声音；以色列全不理我。
¹² 我便任凭他们心里顽梗，随自己的计谋而行。
¹³ 甚愿我的民肯听从我，以色列肯遵行我的道！
¹⁴ 我便速速治服他们的仇敌，反手攻击他们的敌人。
¹⁵ 恨耶和华的人必在他面前自卑，他们的日子必永远长存；
¹⁶ 他也必拿上好的麦子给他们吃，又从磐石中赐蜂蜜使他们饱足。
神借着诗人在此对以色列说话，并借着他们对末世临到的我们说话。
一、他要求他们留心、郑重地听他即将说的话（诗81:8）：「我的民哪，你当听！」若我的百姓不肯听，还有谁肯听呢？我既已听允你，现今你肯听我吗？请听这以最庄重、最无可置疑的确定性所说的话，因为这是「我要劝戒你」的。不要只给我听而不从，更要「听从我」，就是接受我的劝戒，受我的治理。再没有比这更合理、更公义的指望了，然而 神却在其上加了一个「若」：「你肯听从我吗？」这本是你的益处，然而你肯不肯仍属疑问；因为「你的颈项是铁的筋」。
二、他使他们记念自己作为主他们的 神和救赎者当尽的义务（诗81:10）：「我是耶和华你的 神，曾把你从埃及地领上来」；这是十诫的序言，是守十诫的有力理由，表明我们在本分、益处和感恩上都受此约束；我们若不顺从，就是把这一切的纽带都挣断了。
三、他将他们出埃及时 神所赐诫命与应许的纲要，作为主他们的 神所颁布的，陈明在他们面前。1. 最大的命令，就是不可在 神之外有别的 神（诗81:9）：「在你当中不可有别的神」，除你自己的 神之外再无别神。别的神尽可恰如其名地称为「外邦的神」，因为任何以又真又活的 神为自己 神的百姓，竟还贪恋别的神，这实在奇怪。 神在这事上是嫉妒的，因为他不容自己的荣耀归给别神；因此他们在这事上必须格外谨慎（出23:13）。2. 最大的应许，就是 神自己作为全足的 神，必在他们一切求告的事上临近他们（申4:7）；他们若持守他作他们有大能的保护者和治理者，就必常发现他作他们厚赐恩惠的恩主：「你要大大张口，我就给你充满」，正如小乌鸦张口，老乌鸦便充满它们。请看：（1）我们的本分是什么——就是从 神那里提高我们的期望，向着他扩充我们的欲望。我们不能指望从受造之物得太多，更不能指望从造物之主得太少。我们在他里面并不受局限；那么为何要局限在我们自己的心里呢？（2） 神的应许是什么：「我必用美物使你口中得以饱足」（诗103:5）。「 神里面够使我们的宝库充满」（箴8:21），「使每一个饥饿的灵魂得饱足」（耶31:25），供应我们一切所需，应允我们一切所愿，使我们全然福乐。感官之乐必叫人厌倦，却永不能满足（赛55:2）；属 神之乐必叫人满足，却永不厌倦。我们若凭信心祈求，就必从 神得着丰盛。「你们祈求，就给你们。」他「厚赐与众，也不斥责人」。 神向他的百姓以色列保证：若非他们自取其咎，他必为他们行出与他们列祖同样伟大、同样美善的事。只要他们紧紧跟随 神，没有什么能算为太好、太多而不肯赐给他们。「我也必将这样那样赐给你」（撒下12:8）。
四、他控告他们大大藐视他作为赐律者的权柄，并藐视他作为恩主的恩惠（诗81:11）。他为他们已经作了许多，并计划要作更多；但都归于徒然：「无奈我的民不听我的声音」，对我所说的一切充耳不闻。他控诉两件事：——1. 他们不顺从他的命令。他们确实听见了他的声音，是别的百姓从未如此听见的；但他们不肯听从，不肯受其治理，既不服从律法，也不服从律法的理据。2. 他们不喜悦他与他们所立的圣约关系：「以色列全不理我。」「他们不悦纳我的话」（迦勒底译本如此）； 神愿意作他们的 神，他们却不肯作他的子民；他们不喜欢他的条件。「我愿招聚他们，他们却不肯。」他们不与他相干；为何不与他相干呢？不是因为不能——他们大可蒙召进入与 神所立的约中；也不是因为不能——因为这道离他们甚近，就在他们口中、在他们心里。完全是因为他们不肯。 神仍称他们为「我的民」，因为是他们被他买赎、被他系住，借着千万条纽带属他，然而连他们也未曾听从、未曾顺服。「以色列——我朋友雅各的后裔——藐视我，全不理我。」请注意，恶人世界一切的恶，都源于恶人意志的固执。人不敬虔，是因为他们不肯敬虔。
五、他在所降属灵的刑罚上为自己辩明（诗81:12）：「我便任凭他们心里顽梗」，这比邻近列国中任何一国都更是危险得多的仇敌、为害更甚的压迫者。 神收回他的灵，卸下约束之恩的辔头，任凭他们偏行己路，并且是公义地如此行；他们要怎样行就怎样行，所以任凭他们怎样行。「以法莲亲近偶像，任凭他吧。」 神将那些放纵私欲、任由私欲引导自己的人交出，任凭他们随从自己心里的贪欲，这是 神公义的作为；因为他的灵为何要常常争战呢？他的恩典是他自己的，他不欠任何人；并且正如他从未将恩典赐给任何能说自己配得的人，他也从未从任何人收回恩典，除非那人首先失了资格：「他们全不理我，我便任凭他们」；任凭他们走自己的路。请看后果：「他们随自己的计谋而行」，顺着心里的方向、眼中所见的而行，无论在敬拜上还是在为人上都如此。「我任凭他们随意而行，于是他们就行了一切的恶」；他们随从自己的计谋，并不照 神的计谋和他的劝戒而行。因此 神并非他们犯罪的源头；他任凭他们随从自己心里的贪欲和自己头脑里的计谋；他们若不行善，过错必归到他们自己心里，血也必归在他们自己头上。
六、他表明对他们的善意，巴不得他们为自己行了善事。他看见他们被交在自己私欲手中时，境况何等可悲，结局何等必然——这比被交给撒但更糟，因为后者可能是为了悔改（提前1:20）和拯救（林前5:5）；而被交给自己心里的贪欲，便是被盖印在定罪之下。「污秽的，叫他仍旧污秽吧。」这要叫人冲向何等致命的深渊！在此 神以怜悯的眼光看他们，并表明他如此弃绝他们于愚妄与命运之中，是有所不甘。「以法莲哪，我怎能舍弃你？」（何11:8-9）。此处也是：「甚愿我的民肯听从我！」见赛48:18。基督也曾为耶路撒冷的顽梗而哀叹：「你若知道」（路19:42）。此处的表达极其动人（诗81:13-16），为要表明 神何等不愿任何人灭亡，并愿人人都来悔改（他并不以罪人或罪邦的灭亡为乐），同时也表明罪人是何等与自己为敌，并且他们的痛苦将何等加重——因为他们本可在如此轻易的条件下得着福乐。请看：
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神为他的百姓所存留的大怜悯，这怜悯在他们顺从之时本要为他们成就。（1）他本要使他们胜过仇敌，并速速完成对他们的制伏。他们本可不仅守住阵地，更要制胜残余的迦南人，并那些屡屡侵扰、令人厌烦的邻邦（诗81:14）：「我便速速治服他们的仇敌」；而制伏仇敌惟独可倚靠的，乃是 神。他也不叫他们耗费心力、疲于冗长的战事：他「必速速」成全这事；因为他「反手攻击他们的敌人」，他们便不能在他面前站立得住。这表明他将何等轻易、毫无困难地作成这事。他只需一转手，「他以口中的气便杀戮恶人」（赛11:4）。他只要一转手，「恨耶和华的人必在他面前自卑」（诗81:15）；他们虽未被领到爱他，却必被引导敬畏他，并承认他实在过于他们所能敌挡，与他相争终归徒然。即使那是被迫、虚假的降服，那些从前悖逆之人的归服，也使 神和他的以色列得着尊荣。（2）他本要坚立他们的后裔直到永远，并将其建立在稳固而持久的根基上。尽管仇敌百般攻击，「他们的日子必永远长存」，他们必永不受扰于 神所赐那美地的产业，更不至被驱逐、被夺去产业。（3）他本要赐给他们各样美物的丰盛（诗81:16）：「他也必拿上好的麦子给他们吃」，就是最好的谷物，也是那类中最好的。麦子是迦南的特产，他们大量输出（结27:17）。他不仅为他们预备最好的粮食，更「从磐石中赐蜂蜜使他们饱足」。除了那肥沃土壤所出的宝贵产物之外，叫他们遍地没有一处荒芜之地，连磐石的裂缝也可当作蜂房，他们要在其中寻得丰盛的蜂蜜。见申32:13-14。简言之， 神定意要使他们各方面都安逸、都福乐。
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神向他们所要的本分，作为这一切怜悯的条件。他所期望的，不过是他们「听从他」——如学生听从老师以领受教诲，如仆人听从主人以领受命令；并且他们「遵行他的道」——就是那又正又可悦的耶和华之道，并谨守他典章的制度，留意他护理的指引。这并无任何不合理之处。
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请看怜悯之所以未赐，其原因正是在于本分的疏忽：「他们肯听从我，我便速速治服他们的仇敌。」国家的罪恶或不顺从，正是阻滞、拦阻国家拯救的惟一大事。「我医治以色列的时候」（原文为「我愿医治以色列」，欲使其中一切归正之时），「以法莲的罪孽就被显明」，于是医治便被止住（何7:1）。我们易于说：「若采取某种方法、使用某种工具，我们便早已制伏仇敌了」；但我们错了；我们若曾听从 神、守住本分，这事早已成就；正是罪使我们的患难延长，使拯救迟缓。这正是 神自己所抱怨、所巴不得是另外一番光景的。请注意，因此 神要我们向他尽本分，好叫我们配从他领受恩惠。他喜悦我们事奉他，并非因他由此得益，而是因我们由此得益。
英文原文
Expostulation with Israel
⁸ Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
⁹ There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
¹⁰ I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
¹¹ But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
¹² So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
¹³ Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
¹⁴ I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
¹⁵ The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
¹⁶ He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
God, by the psalmist, here speaks to Israel, and in them to us, on whom the ends of the world are come.
I. He demands their diligent and serious attention to what he was about to say (Ps 81:8): "Hear, O my people! and who should hear me if my people will not? I have heard and answered thee; now wilt thou hear me? Hear what is said with the greatest solemnity and the most unquestionable certainty, for it is what I will testify unto thee. Do not only give me the hearing, but hearken unto me, that is, be advised by me, be ruled by me." Nothing could be more reasonably nor more justly expected, and yet God puts an if upon it: "If thou wilt hearken unto me. It is thy interest to do so, and yet it is questionable whether thou wilt or no; for thy neck is an iron sinew."
II. He puts them in mind of their obligation to him as the Lord their God and Redeemer (Ps 81:10): I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt; this is the preface to the ten commandments, and a powerful reason for the keeping of them, showing that we are bound to it in duty, interest, and gratitude, all which bonds we break asunder if we be disobedient.
III. He gives them an abstract both of the precepts and of the promises which he gave them, as the Lord and their God, upon their coming out of Egypt. 1. The great command was that they should have no other gods before him (Ps 81:9): There shall no strange god be in thee, none besides thy own God. Other gods might well be called strange gods, for it was very strange that ever any people who had the true and living God for their God should hanker after any other. God is jealous in this matter, for he will not suffer his glory to be given to another; and therefore in this matter they must be circumspect, Ex 23:13. 2. The great promise was that God himself, as a God all-sufficient, would be nigh unto them in all that which they called upon him for (De 4:7), that, if they would adhere to him as their powerful protector and ruler, they should always find him their bountiful benefactor: "Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it, as the young ravens that cry open their mouths wide and the old ones fill them." See here, (1.) What is our duty—to raise our expectations from God and enlarge our desires towards him. We cannot look for too little from the creature nor too much from the Creator. We are not straitened in him; why therefore should we be straitened in our own bosoms? (2.) What is God's promise. I will fill thy mouth with good things, Ps 103:5. There is enough in God to fill our treasures (Pr 8:21), to replenish every hungry soul (Jer 31:25), to supply all our wants, to answer all our desires, and to make us completely happy. The pleasures of sense will surfeit and never satisfy (Isa 55:2); divine pleasures will satisfy and never surfeit. And we may have enough from God if we pray for it in faith. Ask, and it shall be given you. He gives liberally, and upbraids not. God assured his people Israel that it would be their own fault if he did not do as great and kind things for them as he had done for their fathers. Nothing should be thought too good, too much, to give them, if they would but keep close to God. He would moreover have given them such and such things, 2Sa 12:8.
IV. He charges them with a high contempt of his authority as their lawgiver and his grace and favour as their benefactor, Ps 81:11. He had done much for them, and designed to do more; but all in vain: "My people would not hearken to my voice, but turned a deaf ear to all I said." Two things he complains of:—1. Their disobedience to his commands. They did hear his voice, so as never any people did; but they would not hearken to it, they would not be ruled by it, neither by the law nor by the reason of it. 2. Their dislike of his covenant-relation to them: They would none of me. They acquiesced not in my word (so the Chaldee); God was willing to be to them a God, but they were not willing to be to him a people; they did not like his terms. "I would have gathered them, but they would not." They had none of him; and why had they not? It was not because they might not; they were fairly invited into covenant with God. It was not because they could not; for the word was nigh them, even in their mouth and in their heart. But it was purely because they would not. God calls them his people, for they were bought by him, bound to him, his by a thousand ties, and yet even they had not hearkened, had not obeyed. "Israel, the seed of Jacob my friend, set me at nought, and would have none of me." Note, All the wickedness of the wicked world is owing to the wilfulness of the wicked will. The reason why people are not religious is because they will not be so.
V. He justifies himself with this in the spiritual judgments he had brought upon them (Ps 81:12): So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts, which would be more dangerous enemies and more mischievous oppressors to them than any of the neighbouring nations ever were. God withdrew his Spirit from them, took off the bridle of restraining grace, left them to themselves, and justly; they will do as they will, and therefore let them do as they will. Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. It is a righteous thing with God to give those up to their own hearts' lusts that indulge them, and give up themselves to be led by them; for why should his Spirit always strive? His grace is his own, and he is debtor to no man, and yet, as he never gave his grace to any that could say they deserved it, so he never took it away from any but such as had first forfeited it: They would none of me, so I gave them up; let them take their course. And see what follows: They walked in their own counsels, in the way of their heart and in the sight of their eye, both in their worships and in their conversations. "I left them to do as they would, and then they did all that was ill;" they walked in their own counsels, and not according to the counsels of God and his advice. God therefore was not the author of their sin; he left them to the lusts of their own hearts and the counsels of their own heads; if they do not well, the blame must lie upon their own hearts and the blood upon their own heads.
VI. He testifies his good-will to them in wishing they had done well for themselves. He saw how sad their case was, and how sure their ruin, when they were delivered up to their own lusts; that is worse than being given up to Satan, which may be in order to reformation (1Ti 1:20) and to salvation (1Co 5:5); but to be delivered up to their own hearts' lusts is to be sealed under condemnation. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. What fatal precipices will not these hurry a man to! Now here God looks upon them with pity, and shows that it was with reluctance that he thus abandoned them to their folly and fate. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? Ho 11:8,9. So here, O that my people had hearkened! See Isa 48:18. Thus Christ lamented the obstinacy of Jerusalem. If thou hadst known, Lu 19:42. The expressions here are very affecting (Ps 81:13-16), designed to show how unwilling God is that any should perish and desirous that all should come to repentance (he delights not in the ruin of sinful persons or nations), and also what enemies sinners are to themselves and what an aggravation it will be of their misery that they might have been happy upon such easy terms. Observe here,
1. The great mercy God had in store for his people, and which he would have wrought for them if they had been obedient. (1.) He would have given them victory over their enemies and would soon have completed the reduction of them. They should not only have kept their ground, but have gained their point, against the remaining Canaanites, and their encroaching vexatious neighbours (Ps 81:14): I should have subdued their enemies; and it is God only that is to be depended on for the subduing of our enemies. Not would had have put them to the expense and fatigue of a tedious war: he would soon have done it; for he would have turned his hand against their adversaries, and then they would not have been able to stand before them. It intimates how easily he would have done it and without any difficulty. With the turn of a hand, nay, with the breath of his mouth, shall he slay the wicked, Isa 11:4. If he but turn his hand, the haters of the Lord will submit themselves to him (Ps 81:15); and, though they are not brought to love him, yet they shall be made to fear him and to confess that he is too hard for them and that it is in vain to contend with him. God is honoured, and so is his Israel, by the submission of those that have been in rebellion against them, though it be but a forced and feigned submission. (2.) He would have confirmed and perpetuated their posterity, and established it upon sure and lasting foundations. In spite of all the attempts of their enemies against them, their time should have endured for ever, and they should never have been disturbed in the possession of the good land God had given them, much less evicted and turned out of possession. (3.) He would have given them great plenty of all good things (Ps 81:16): He should have fed them with the finest of the wheat, with the best grain and the best of the kind. Wheat was the staple commodity of Canaan, and they exported a great deal of it, Eze 27:17. He would not only have provided for them the best sort of bread, but with honey out of the rock would he have satisfied them. Besides the precious products of the fruitful soil, that there might not be a barren spot in all their land, even the clefts of the rock should serve for bee-hives and in them they should find honey in abundance. See De 32:13,14. In short, God designed to make them every way easy and happy.
2. The duty God required from them as the condition of all this mercy. He expected no more than that they should hearken to him, as a scholar to his teacher, to receive his instructions—as a servant to his master, to receive his commands; and that they should walk in his ways, those ways of the Lord which are right and pleasant, that they should observe the institutions of his ordinances and attend the intimations of his providence. There was nothing unreasonable in this.
3. Observe how the reason of the withholding of the mercy is laid in their neglect of the duty: If they had hearkened to me, I would soon have subdued their enemies. National sin or disobedience is the great and only thing that retards and obstructs national deliverance. When I would have healed Israel, and set every thing to-rights among them, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and so a stop was put to the cure, Ho 7:1. We are apt to say, "If such a method had been taken, such an instrument employed, we should soon have subdued our enemies:" but we mistake; if we had hearkened to God, and kept to our duty, the thing would have been done, but it is sin that makes our troubles long and salvation slow. And this is that which God himself complains of, and wishes it had been otherwise. Note, Therefore God would have us do our duty to him, that we may be qualified to receive favour from him. He delights in our serving him, not because he is the better for it, but because we shall be.
本篇据推测不是因任何特别的护理而作,而是为某一特别律例的节期而设——或是普通的新月节,或是第七月朔的吹角节(利23:24;民29:1)。大卫借圣灵将诗篇歌唱引入圣殿事奉之时,本诗便是为那日而设,以激发并扶助那日当尽的敬虔。诸诗篇皆有益;但若某一诗篇比别的更适合那日子与其礼,我们就当选择它。我们宗教集会的两大目的——也是我们赴会时当注目的——在本诗中都得着回应,即是:将荣耀归给神,并从神领受教训,「瞻仰他的荣美,在他的殿里求问」;因此借本诗我们在严肃节期中得助:一、为神向他百姓所是的一切(诗81:1-3)并为他已为他们所行的一切(诗81:4-7)赞美他;二、教导并劝戒彼此关乎我们对神所负的本分(诗81:8-10)、背离他的危险(诗81:11,12),以及我们若紧随他必能得着的福乐(诗81:13-16)。这些话虽首先论及古时的以色列,却是为我们学习而写,因此当以切身的应用歌唱。