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"A Song for a Festival"
Psalm 81.1 and 10-16
Good News Translation (GNT)
"Hebrew Title: By Asaph."
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1 Shout for joy to God our defender;
sing praise to the God of Jacob!
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will feed you."
11 "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not obey me.
12 So I let them go their stubborn ways
and do whatever they wanted.
13 How I wish my people would listen to me;
how I wish they would obey me!
14 I would quickly defeat their enemies
and conquer all their foes.
15 Those who hate me would bow in fear
before me;
their punishment would last forever.
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat
and satisfy you with wild honey."
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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union
'A Song for a Festival'
Psalm 81.1 and 10-16
Have you ever heard a song or poem, or even a turn of phrase, and thought it sounded familiar?
Much of what God had to say to Israel through Isaiah should have sounded acutely familiar, as her poets and song-writers, like Asaph around the time of David, had been communicating similar messages for generations.
If you have time, read through this psalm again and notice the many themes and phrases that parallel ideas from Isaiah 46-55.
We will hint at some of them.
The historical backdrop to the psalm is the Exodus.
There is, first, an exuberant expression of joyful (and musical!) celebration of God's affirmation of the nation's foundations.
It seems to have been a liturgical introduction to worship on the occasion of one of Israel's Exodus-related festivals, possibly the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-36)
However, the content not only embraces the positive aspects of their history but also includes reminders of less worthy dimensions of their past.
While God had actively rescued them from Egypt, they had not been an obedient and grateful people.
They had been warned against worshipping foreign gods and urged to recognise the saving actions of the Lord, but instead they had gone their own destructive way.
A recurring theme is the counterpoint between God speaking and the people failing to listen.
While this is illustrated historically, it also provides a relevant lesson for later generations.
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