Psalm 81

Exultate Deo
1
Sing with joy to God our strength *
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
2
Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *
the merry harp, and the lyre.
3
Blow the ram’s-horn at the new moon, *
and at the full moon, the day of our feast.
4
For this is a statute for Israel, *
a law of the God of Jacob.
5
He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, *
when he came out of the land of Egypt.
6
I heard an unfamiliar voice saying *
“I eased his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were set free from bearing the load.”
7
You called on me in trouble, and I saved you; *
I answered you from the secret place of thunder
and tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8
Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: *
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9
There shall be no strange god among you; *
you shall not worship a foreign god.
10
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
11
And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and Israel would not obey me.
12
So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *
to follow their own devices.
13
Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14
I should soon subdue their enemies *
and turn my hand against their foes.
15
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, *
and their punishment would last for ever.
16
But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *
and satisfy him with honey from the rock.