John Gill Commentary Psalms 81:8

"Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!" — Psalms 81:8 (ASV)

Hear, O my people, and I will testify to you
Of himself, his being, and perfections; what he was to them, has done for them, and would do for them, as in the following verses: or "testify in you" ^F4 , bear witness to their spirits, that they were his people, and he was their God; this is a witness which the people of God have in themselves; it is the inward testimony of the Spirit; besides which, there is the outward testimony of the word, and which also may be here meant; for it may be rendered,

I will give a testimony to you :
the law is a testimony of the will of God to his people, what he would have done, or not done; and the Gospel is a testimony of his grace, and the whole word testifies of Christ, his person, offices, obedience, sufferings, and death: some render it, "testify against you" ^F5 , for their murmurings, rebellion, and idolatry, as in (Psalms 50:7) and they are called upon to hear the voice of God in his word, and in his providences, being his people; and as such he addresses them, which bespeaks interest in them, affection to them, and an acknowledgment of them, and carries in it a reason why they should hear him:

O Israel, if you will hearken to me ;
this explains who are meant by the Lord's people, Israel, the posterity of Jacob, a chosen and special people, who are exhorted not only to hear, but to hearken and to obey; suggesting, it would be well with them, if they did as in (Psalms 81:13Psalms 81:14) , and some ^F6 take these words to be a wish, as there; "Israel, O that you would hearken to me": see (Isaiah 48:18) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (Kb hdyea) "testificabor in te", Gejerus.
• F5: "Ut testificer contra te", Schmidt.
• F6: So Michaelis, and Gussetius, and Genevenses, in ib. Comment. Ebr. p. 431.