Psalms 81:11
in Psalms 81But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But my people hearkened not to my voice; And Israel would none of me.
KJV
But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
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This verse in Psalms 81
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBut my people would not hearken to my voice. His warnings were rejected, his promises forgotten, his precepts disregarded. Though the divine voice proposed nothing but good to them, and that upon an unparalleled scale of liberality, yet they turned aside. And Israel would none of me. They would not consent to his proposals, they walked in direct opposition to his commands, they hankered after the ox god of Egypt, and their hearts were bewitched by the idols of the nations round about.
This site's exposition
My people would not listen
on Psalms 81:11-12
Israel would not listen and would not obey. God hands them over to their own stubborn hearts, which Romans 1:24 calls giving men over to the desires of their hearts. Their own devices became the punishment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And My people obeyed not My voice" [Psalm 81:11]. For He would not speak these things except to His own people. For, "we know that whatsoever things the Law says, it says to them that are in the Law." [Romans 3:19] "And Israel did not listen to Me." Who? To whom? Israel to Me. O ungrateful soul! Through Me the soul, by Me the soul called, by Me brought back to hope, by Me washed from sins! "And Israel did not listen to Me!" For they are baptized and pass through the Red Sea: but on the way they murmur, gainsay, complain, are stirred with seditions, ungrateful to Him who delivered them from pursuing enemies, who leads through the dry land, through the desert, yet with food and drink, with light by night and shade by day.
And my people did not hear my voice. I stand before the door, I knock. I want you to open, and I will come in: and you are unwilling to open. And Israel did not attend to me.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Transgressors of the commandments plunge into abominable crimes. Of such transgressors the Psalm says: "My people did not hear My voice, and Israel did not attend to Me, and I dismissed them according to the desires of their hearts." For the Lord delivers such transgressors …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"I would have gathered them, but they would not." They had none of him; and why had they not? It was not because they might not; they were fairly invited into covenant with God. It was not because they could not; for the word was nigh them, even in their mouth and in their heart.
Testimony - For a witness of that glorious deliverance. Went - As a captain at the head of his people. Egypt - To execute his judgments upon that land.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But my people would not hearken to my voice,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
But my people would not hearken to my voice. His warnings were rejected, his promises forgotten, his precepts disregarded. Though the divine voice proposed nothing but good to them, and that upon an unparalleled scale of liberality, yet they turned aside. And Israel would none of me. They would not consent to his proposals, they walked in direct opposition to his commands, they hankered after the ox god of Egypt, and their hearts were bewitched by the idols of the nations round about. The same spirit of apostacy is in all our hearts, and if we have not altogether turned aside from the Lord, it is only grace which has prevented us.
Israel would none of me - לא אבה לי lo abah li, They willed me not, they would not have me for their God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But my people ... - See Psa 78:10-11, Psa 78:17-19. “And Israel would none of me.” Literally, “Did not will me;” that is, “did not incline to me; were not attached to me; were not disposed to worship me, and to find happiness in me.” Compare Isa 1:19; Job 39:9; Pro 1:25. They refused or rejected him. See Exo 32:1; Deu 32:15, Deu 32:18.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
open your mouth wide to request of Me whatever your heart desires.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֣ע | shama' | it listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| עַמִּ֣י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְקוֹלִ֑י | lekoli | to voice my | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וְ֝יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | veyisrael | and Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָ֥בָה | ʾavah | it yielded | H14 → | |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to me |
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֣עit listened
shama'H8085 →1159 times
עַמִּ֣יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
לְקוֹלִ֑יto voice my
lekoliH6963 →506 times
וְ֝יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לand Israel
veyisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אָ֥בָהit yielded
ʾavahH14 →
לִֽי׃to me
li
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 32:1Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses…
it leads to
- Acts 7:40
They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
- Deuteronomy 9:9
When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.…
- Exodus 24:18
Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
- Matthew 24:48
But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
- 2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- Acts 7:40
Through
Zechariah 7:11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 9:29
You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly…
- Nehemiah 9:29
Through
Deuteronomy 32:18You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
it leads to
- Isaiah 17:10
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
- Jeremiah 2:32
Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
- Isaiah 17:10
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 81; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jerome, Homily 13, on Psalm 80; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.