John Calvin Commentary Psalms 81

Sing joyfully to God our strength. This psalm, it is probable, was appointed to be sung on the festival days when the Jews kept their solemn assemblies. In the introduction, the order of worship which God had commanded is set forth. They were not to stand deaf and dumb at the tabernacle, for the service of God does not consist in indolence, nor in cold and empty ceremonies; rather, by such practices as are prescribed here, they were to cherish among themselves the unity of faith, make an open profession of their piety, stir themselves up to continual progress in it, endeavor to join with one accord in praising God, and, in short, continue steadfast in the sacred covenant by which God had adopted them to Himself.

Since this was the use of festival days under the Law, we may conclude that whenever true believers assemble today, the purpose they ought to have in view is to engage in the practices of religion: to call to their remembrance the benefits they have received from God, to make progress in the knowledge of His word, and to testify to the oneness of their faith.

People only mock God by presenting Him with vain and unprofitable ceremonies, unless the doctrine of faith goes before, stirring them up to call upon God, and unless the remembrance of His benefits also provides material for praise. Indeed, it is rather a profanation of His name when people quench the light of divine truth and satisfy themselves with performing mere outward service.

Accordingly, the faithful are not only commanded here to come together to the tabernacle, but are also taught the purpose for which they are to assemble there: that the free and gracious covenant God has made with them may be brought anew to their remembrance to increase their faith and piety, and that, as a result, the benefits they have received from Him may be celebrated and their hearts thereby moved to thanksgiving.

With respect to the tabret, harp, and psaltery, we have observed before, and will find it necessary to repeat the same remark later, that the Levites, under the Law, were justified in using instrumental music in the worship of God. This was because it was His will to train His people by such rudiments while they were still tender and like children, until the coming of Christ.

But now that the clear light of the gospel has dissipated the shadows of the Law and taught us that God is to be served in a simpler form, it would be foolish and mistaken to imitate what the prophet commanded only for those of his own time.

From this, it is apparent that Roman Catholics have shown themselves to be like apes in applying this to themselves.

Under the term new moon, by synecdoche, all the other high feasts are included. Sacrifices were offered daily; but the days on which the faithful met together at the tabernacle, according to the express appointment of the Law, are pre-eminently called the days of sacrifice.

For this is a statute to Israel. To give greater effect to the preceding exhortation, it is taught here that this law or ordinance had been prescribed to God’s ancient people to ratify the everlasting covenant. And as in covenants there is a mutual agreement between the parties, it is declared that this statute was given to Israel, and that God, in making the covenant, reserved this for himself, as a right to which he was justly entitled.

He set it for a testimony in Joseph. The Hebrew word עדוה , eduth, is by some derived from עדה , adah, which signifies to adorn; and they translate it the honor or ornament of Joseph. But it comes rather from the verb עוד , ud, to testify; and the scope of the passage requires that it be translated a testimony or covenant. Furthermore, when Joseph is named in particular, there is a reference to the origin of the chosen people, when, after the death of Jacob, the twelve tribes were distinguished.

As the sovereignty had not at that time come to the tribe of Judah, and as Reuben had fallen from his right of primogeniture, the posterity of Joseph justly had the pre-eminence, on account of the benefits which he had been instrumental in conferring, having been the father and nourisher of his brethren and of the whole nation.

Moreover, the sacredness of the covenant is commended by a special appeal to the fact that at the time when God stipulated that this honor should be yielded to him, he had purchased that people for himself; as if it had been said, The condition upon which the people were delivered was that they should assemble together on the days appointed for renewing the remembrance of the grace that had been shown to them.

The words when he went forth will apply equally to God and to the people. It is a common form of expression to speak of God as going forth before his people, as a shepherd goes before his flock or as a general before his army. When it is said ABOVE the land of Egypt, some think there is an allusion to the situation of Judea, which was higher than that of Egypt, so that those who come out of Egypt to Judea ascend.

But I understand the language as meaning simply that the people, having God for their guide, passed freely and without obstruction through the land of Egypt, the inhabitants having been so discouraged and dismayed as not to dare make any opposition to their passage.

The prophet enhances the blessing of their deliverance when, speaking in the name of the whole people, he affirms that he had been rescued from profound barbarism: I heard a language which I understood not.

Nothing is more disagreeable than to sojourn among a people with whom we can hold no communication by language, which is the chief bond of society. Language being, as it were, the image and mirror of the mind, those who cannot employ it in their mutual communication are no less strangers to one another than the wild beasts of the forest.

When the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 33:19) intends to denounce a very dreadful punishment, he says, Thou shalt see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. Thus the people acknowledge that the benefit God conferred was all the more to be valued, because they were delivered from the Egyptians, with whose language they were unacquainted.

I have removed his shoulder from the burden. Here God begins to recount the benefits which he had bestowed upon the Israelites, and the many ways in which he had laid them under obligations to him. The more galling the bondage was from which they had been delivered, the more desirable and precious was their liberty.

Therefore, when it is affirmed that their burdens were so heavy that they stooped under them, and that they were doomed to the labor of making bricks and to other slavish and toilsome occupations, the comparison of their former state with their condition afterwards is introduced to illustrate more strikingly the greatness of the blessing of their deliverance.

Let us now apply this to ourselves, and elevate our minds to a higher subject, of which it was an image. Since God has not only withdrawn our shoulders from a burden of brick, and not only removed our hands from the kilns, but has also redeemed us from the cruel and miserable tyranny of Satan, and drawn us from the depths of hell, our obligations to him are much stricter and more sacred than those of his ancient people.

You cried in trouble, and I delivered you. Here the same subject is pursued. By their crying when they were in distress, I understand the prayers which they then offered to God. It sometimes happens that those who are in extreme distress lament their calamities with confused crying; but as this afflicted people still had in them some remains of godliness, and as they had not forgotten the promise made to their fathers, I have no doubt that they directed their prayers to God.

Even people without religion, who never think of calling upon God when they are under the pressure of any great calamity, are moved by a secret natural instinct to turn to Him. This makes it more probable that the promise was, as it were, a schoolmaster to the Israelites, leading them to look to God.

Since no one sincerely calls upon Him except those who trust in Him for help, this crying should have more effectively convinced them that it was their duty to ascribe to Him alone the deliverance which was offered them. Regarding the secret place of thunder, some, in my opinion, with an overly refined interpretation, understand that God by thundering made the people's groanings inaudible to the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians, by hearing them, might not become more exasperated.

But the meaning simply is that the people were heard in a secret and wonderful manner, while, at the same time, clear signs were given by which the Israelites could be assured that they were helped by the Divine hand. God, it is true, was not seen by them face to face; but the thunder was a clear indication of His secret presence among them.

To make them value this benefit more highly, God tells them reproachfully that they were unworthy of it, having given such clear proof at the waters of Meribah (Exodus 17:7) that they had a wicked and perverse disposition.

It is as if He had said, "Your wickedness, having at that time so openly shown itself, surely from this it must be undeniable that My favor to you did not come from any consideration of your own merit."

This rebuke is no less applicable to us than to the Israelites. For God not only heard our groanings when we were afflicted under the tyranny of Satan, but before we were born appointed His only begotten Son to be the price of our redemption.

And afterward, when we were His enemies, He called us to be partakers of His grace, illuminating our minds by His gospel and His Holy Spirit; while we, nevertheless, continue to indulge in murmuring, yes, even proudly rebel against Him.