(To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. [A Psalm] of Asaph.) Sing ye joyously unto God our strength, shout aloud unto the God of Jacob;
Psalm 81 breaks into music right after a psalm of mourning. Why is joy commanded here, why is God named "the God of Jacob," and what day does this song belong to?
One writer traces this sudden joy back to God stepping in for His people.
There is a peculiar beauty in this Psalm. The moral link with the last Psalm is easy to see. The shining out of the Deliverer in power awakens the glad song of triumph to the God of Jacob. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts drooped and withered for so long under a devastating judgment. That judgment has now passed away for ever. God has now turned the frequent fasts of those dreary days of mourning into joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. For Jehovah has returned with mercies to the ancient home of His name.
The song calls God "our strength." One writer ties that word to power that came in for Israel by grace.
In the prophetic application of this psalm, then, Israel's national life is now truly beginning. Praise is in their heart and on their lips: God is celebrated as their strength and as the God of Jacob. Power has come in for them in grace. This is the keynote of their joyful song, and, as we have so often seen with Israel, nature joins in to accompany it.
The song names God after Jacob. One writer finds the whole of grace in that choice.
God's "name" is His glory: it is the display of Himself. This is the blessedness of the gospel, that God is displayed in it in His grace. Here too, think what the name Jacob means. Remember the history tied to it, which the book of Genesis dwells on so much. Then the God of Jacob may well stand for — and indeed can stand for nothing else but — the God of grace. Grace alone could take up the "supplanter" and make of him an Israel, a "prince of God."
Another writer counted how often God ties His name to Jacob rather than to Abraham.
We are glad that our God so often speaks of Himself as "The God of Jacob", and so rarely as "The God of Abraham"… Note that thirteen times in the Psalms we find "The God of Jacob", against once for "The God of Abraham." And let us remember that "Jacob" means "Cheater", "Deceiver", while "Abraham" means "The Father of Many Nations."
The shout of verse 1 leads into a trumpet blast at the new moon. Commentators call this the feast of trumpets, Israel's new year.
Here comes the psalm of new year's day, when the trumpet sounds not for alarm but for joy — the joy of gathering the people at the new moon. The full moon will shine in due time. This is the new moon after a long eclipse. Now Israel will receive and reflect light afresh from the Lord.
This day's meaning ruled out sorrow. Joy was the right response, and it had to spread to others.
The feast of trumpets was indeed to be "a holy convocation." Because of what it pictured, sorrow did not suit its character… So they were to be joyful on this day in communion with the mind of their God. But joy cannot be held in; it must overflow, and so they were to pass it on to others… This order is instructive — communion with the heart of God, and then communion with their brothers.
One writer warns against lifting this song straight into Christian practice.
Think of Ps. 81: the shout of joy to the God of Jacob, the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp, the trumpet blown at the new moon, at the time appointed, on the solemn feast day. It needs little proof that all this is no statute for the church, though it is for Israel.
- Cause — The singing starts because God has acted. The Deliverer shines out, the long judgment passes, and fasts turn into feasts.
- Strength — Israel praises Him as our strength, because "power has come in for them in grace" — the keynote of the whole song.
- Grace — "God of Jacob" is deliberate. Grace alone could take the supplanter and make him a prince of God. In the Psalms He takes this name thirteen times, against Abraham's once.
- Renewal — The trumpet sounds at the new moon, not for alarm but for joy. Israel reflects light afresh after a long eclipse.
- Overflow — Joy meets God's heart first, then spills out. Communion with Him leads to communion with others.
Raise a song, and sound the tambour, the pleasant harp with the lute.
Psalm 81 opens with a call to loud, public praise, and verse 2 says what that praise sounds like. Who is called to sing, what moment does the music mark, and should churches copy the instruments today?
The psalm before this one ends with Israel begging God to make His face shine on them. Commentators read the burst of music here as the answer arriving.
In Psalm 80 there is the three-times repeated appeal to Jehovah to cause His face to shine upon Israel. This psalm anticipates the answer to those appeals... The blowing of trumpets, on the first day of the seventh month, celebrated the first of the three set times in that month that spoke of Israel's blessing (Lev. 23:24, 27, 34). The psalm, therefore, looks on to the time when Israel will again come into blessing as a nation in the recognized favour of God. Then Israel will sing aloud and praise God according to the desire of God from the beginning of their history.
Another writer traces the same link, and reads the new moon as Israel's own picture.
The connection of the eighty-first psalm with the one before it is as simple as it is beautiful. Israel has been crying for God's face to shine upon her as of old: here it does shine upon her. As a result she shines, for this new moon, clothing itself again with the glory of the sun, is her own symbol.
A dictionary entry gives the Hebrew word behind the first instrument, and says how it is played.
toph. A musical instrument with loose pieces of metal attached, similar to the modern tambourine. This instrument is still a favourite in the East. It is tapped with the fingers.
God set this music to a day in His own calendar. One writer says what that day means for Israel, and finds their story in the moon itself.
The Feast of Trumpets is God's taking up Israel afresh to awaken them. The first thing it discloses is God's loud summons to a people who once had a place before Him and now come into remembrance again for mercy, not judgment. If men were not prejudiced, none could deny the application to Israel. The moon, that light which wanes and loses her brightness, once more renews her light, as mercy will do for the rebellious people.
Commentators differ over which feast the new moon opens. Most read it as the trumpet feast that begins Israel's seventh month. One reads it of the Passover month instead — "It is the Passover month; the reference here is to its new moon, and to the Passover feast kept at its full moon" (C E Stuart). Either way, God fixed the day; the singers did not choose it.
One writer draws a line between this music and Christian worship today.
Suitable musical instruments will accompany a psalm of praise (v. 2). This is not the same level of worship that marks the Church of God today. Of that worship the Lord Jesus told the woman at the well — "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him" (John 4:23). Musical instruments are not needed for this worship, and in the Old Testament they were only symbolical of spiritual worship. But in the coming day the public joy of Israel will be attended by such accompaniments.
One writer follows the joy of such a day from the heart of God out to the neighbour.
They were to be joyful on this day in communion with the mind of their God. But joy cannot be kept in; it must overflow, and so they were to pass it on to others. "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). This order is instructive — communion with the heart of God, and then communion with their brothers.
- Answer. Psalm 80 pleads for God's face to shine; this song is that plea granted, so praise begins where prayer left off.
- Symbol. The new moon is Israel's own emblem — a light that had waned now shining again with borrowed glory.
- Sound. The first instrument is tapped with the fingers, like a tambourine, and lyre and harp carry the song with it.
- Set time. The music belongs to a day God fixed in advance; commentators differ on whether it is the trumpet feast of the seventh month or the Passover month.
- Overflow. Joy taken first from the heart of God cannot stay private — it must overflow to those who have nothing ready.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the set time, on our feast day
Psalm 81 opens with music and a call to blow the trumpet on a set date in Israel's calendar. Commentators see in that date the moment God's people begin to shine again. Three questions follow: why the moon, why a trumpet, and why a day already fixed?
One writer points to a body with no light of its own, and to a nation whose brightness had faded:
The moon stands for Israel. Her light is the reflection of the Sun of Righteousness, the Lord Jesus. But calling her "the new moon" speaks of Israel renewed by the grace of her Lord, no longer in decay. Being new, the moon is also "full" — she receives the fullness of the grace of God. The day is called "our feast day," a picture of the day of Israel's renewal.
The same figure carries a promise of mercy toward a people who had failed badly:
The moon, that luminary which wanes and loses her brightness, once more renews her light, as mercy will do for the rebellious people.
A new moon is only a sliver of light. This trumpet marks a start, with more still to come:
Here comes the psalm of new year's day. The trumpet sounds not for alarm but for joy — the joy of gathering the people at the new moon. The full moon will shine in due time. This is the new moon after a long eclipse. Now Israel will receive and reflect light afresh from the Lord.
Another writer reads the psalm alongside Numbers 10 and marks where it goes further:
Many of the events we looked at in Numbers 10 appear here too, but the main line in the Psalm is deliverance from their enemies. The new moon has in view the restoration of Israel as the leading nation. The moon has not risen yet, but soon now they will rise again and take their place as the leading nation. The trumpet will blow in the new moon — it will usher it in as it were.
Where the ESV reads "at the full moon," older translations read "at the set time." Writers who follow that older wording see a date set by God's own purpose, and more than one feast in view:
The blowing of trumpets may itself be the feast spoken of here, or this feast may be the feast of tabernacles. The feast of tabernacles was the full measure of what the new moon was only beginning to show. At that time Israel would enjoy the presence of God, and the brightness of His glory would rest on her. All this at the "set time," which announced the foresight and purposes of eternal Wisdom. Those purposes could not fail, because no one could defeat them. So let the trumpets sound, and let the whole earth, now coming into blessing, echo Israel's joy.
One writer traces the feasts that follow this trumpet, step by step:
The blowing of the trumpet in the feast of trumpets (Leviticus 23) marks the beginning of Israel's New Year. In the order of God's dealings it stands for the regathering of Israel. Next comes the day of atonement, that future day when they will look on Him whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10). After that comes the final feast, the harvest feast of tabernacles, a picture of the millennium.
When returned exiles heard the law read on this very date, they wept — and were told not to. The character of the day ruled out sorrow:
The feast of trumpets was to be "a holy convocation," and because of what it pictured, sorrow did not suit its character… So they were to be joyful on this day, in tune with the mind of their God. But no one can hold joy in. It must overflow, so they were to pass it on to others. "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready… And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Commentators do not all name the same feast. Most take it as the trumpets of the seventh month. One reads it instead of the Passover month:
"Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day." That is how the Revised Version reads it. This is the Passover month. The verse refers to its new moon, and to the Passover feast kept at its full moon. Hope has revived, though God has not yet stepped in.
The psalm looks at Israel, but one writer includes today's reader in the gladness:
Though the Church today has reason for greater joy than Israel, we will also greatly rejoice in Israel's joy.
- Eclipse. The moon has no light of its own. Israel's brightness had faded, and the grace of her Lord would renew it.
- New moon. The sliver is a beginning after a long eclipse — the full moon shines in due time.
- Trumpet. It sounds not for alarm but for joy, ushering in Israel's rise and deliverance from her enemies.
- Set time. Eternal Wisdom fixed the date, so the purpose behind it cannot fail.
- Overflow. Sorrow had no place on the day itself. Joy shared with those who had nothing became strength, and one day the whole earth will echo Israel's joy.