Psalms 81:4

For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
statute	חֹ֣ק chok	H2706	an enactment · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Israel	לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל le.Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
law	מִ֝שְׁפָּ֗ט mish.Pat	H4941	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
God	לֵאלֹהֵ֥י le.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Jacob	יַעֲקֹֽב ya.'a.Ko	H3290	Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 81:1-7

When the people of God were gathered together in the solemn day, the day of the feast of the Lord, they must be told that they had business to do, for we do not go to church to sleep nor to be idle; no, there is that which the duty of every day requires, work of the day, which is to be done in its day. And here, I. The worshippers of God are excited to their work, and are taught, by singing this psalm, to stir up both themselves and one another to it, Psa 81:1-3. Our errand is, to give unto God the glory due unto his name, and in all our religious assemblies we must mind this as our business. 1. In doing this we must eye God as our strength, and as the God of Jacob, Psa 81:1. He is the stren…

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John Gill on Psalms 81:4

For this was a statute for Israel,.... It was not a piece of will worship, or device of the children of Israel, but was of divine institution; that the passover should be kept at the time it was; and that the trumpets should be blown on the new moon, or first of Tisri; and that the feast of tabernacles should be kept on the fifteenth of the same month: and a law of the God of Jacob; and therefore to be observed by Jacob's posterity: the law for the one is in Exodus 12:18 and for the other is in Leviticus 23:24 and so all the ordinances of Christ, and of the Gospel dispensation, are to be regarded on the same account, because they are the statutes and appointments of God; and the feast of ta…

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John Calvin on Psalms 81:1-7

Psalm 81:1-3 1. Sing joyfully to God our strength sing with a loud voice: to the God of Jacob. 2. Raise a song, [402] and bring forth the tabret, the pleasant harp, with the psaltery. [403] 3. Sound the trumpet at the new moon; at the time appointed on the day of our sacrifice. [404] 4. For this is a statute to Israel, a law to the God of Jacob. 5. He set it for a testimony in Joseph, when he went forth over [or above] the land of Egypt: I heard a language which I understood not. 6. I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the pots. [405] 7. Thou didst cry in trouble, and I delivered thee: I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters o…

The Church Fathers

For it is a commandment for Israel, and a judgment of the God of Jacob. What is the commandment of God? To sing to God in victory: not to think it one's own, but the Lord's.
— Jerome, Homily 13, on Psalm 80

"Because it is a commandment for Israel, and a judgment for the God of Jacob" [Psalm 81:4]. Where a commandment, there judgment. For, "They that have sinned in the Law, by the Law shall be judged." [Romans 2:12] And the very Giver of the commandment, the Lord Christ, the Word made flesh, says, "For judgment I have come into the world, that they that see not may see, and they that see may be made blind." [John 9:39] What is, "That they that see not may see, they that see be made blind," but that the lowly be exalted, the proud thrown down? For not they that see are to be made blind, but those who to themselves seem to see are to be convicted of blindness. This is brought about in the mystery of the press, that they who see may not see, and they that see be made blind.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 81

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Gittith — A stringed instrument of music. This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX. render the word by “on the wine-fats.” The Targum explains by “on the harp which David…
Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Feast Of The New Moon, The · Celebrated with blowing of trumpets — Celebrated with blowing of trumpets
Law Of Moses, The · Given: After the exodus — Given: After the exodus
Trumpet · In worship — In worship

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 81:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 81:1-7

John Gill on Psalms 81:4

John Calvin on Psalms 81:1-7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 81:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 81:1-7

John Gill on Psalms 81:4

John Calvin on Psalms 81:1-7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 81:4-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 81:4-5

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 81:4