Sing Aloud to God Our Strength

The psalmist calls to make music to God, including singing, shouting, playing the harp, lute, trumpet and timbrel. He recalls the promises of God established since God led the Israelites out of Egypt. There is also a clear reminder that God desire full loyalty from His children and warn them against worshipping any other Gods.

And the psalmist recounts the stubbornness of the people who walk in their own ways and some went towards other foreign false gods. However there is always an opportunity for them to return and then God will again deliver them from their enemies


Psalm 81
To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath.[a]A Psalm of Asaph.

 1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
         Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
 2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
         The pleasant harp with the lute.
        
 3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
         At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
 4 For this is a statute for Israel,
         A law of the God of Jacob.
 5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
         When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
         Where I heard a language I did not understand.
        
 6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
         His hands were freed from the baskets.
 7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
         I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
         I tested you at the waters of Meribah.  Selah 
        
 8 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
         O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
 9 There shall be no foreign god among you;
         Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
 10 I am the LORD your God,
         Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
         Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
        
 11 “But My people would not heed My voice,
         And Israel would have none of Me.
 12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
         To walk in their own counsels.
        
 13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
         That Israel would walk in My ways!
 14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
         And turn My hand against their adversaries.
 15 The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
         But their fate would endure forever.
 16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;
         And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”