Psalms 81:1-16

After a summons to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Psalms 81:1) this Ps. recalls the meaning of Israel's national festivals as memorials of their deliverance from Egypt (Psalms 81:4). From Psalms 81:6 onward God is the speaker. In Psalms 81:8 He repeats His ancient command to Israel to worship Him alone, and in Psalms 81:11 He tells of their disobedience and its consequences. The concluding vv. express His desire that Israel may now prove more loyal than of old, that He may bless them with victory over their enemies, and with all outward prosperity (Psalms 81:13). There is nothing to fix the date of the Ps., except that the allusion to the feast in Psalms 81:1 shows that either the first or the second Temple was in existence when it was written, and that Psalms 81:14 point to a tirae when Israel was confronted by enemies. It was after the return from the exile that the Feast of Tabernacles came into greatest prominence (Ezra 3:4; Nehemiah 8:13; Zechariah 14:16).

Title.—Gittith] see on Psalms 8.