Blow up the trumpet in the new moon,
in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day (v3)

It is evident that Asaph wrote the Psalm for worship at the commencement of one of the Jewish Feasts. He does not, however, specify which feast. Therefore we must conclude that this was a suitable worship song for any of the feasts.

The Hebrew Feasts were spiritual gatherings. On three months of the year the people left their homes behind and journeyed to the Tabernacle, in earlier years, or to the Temple, during and after the reign of Solomon.

In April, the first month of the year, they gathered for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, (fourteenth to the twenty-first days).

Seven complete weeks after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, was celebrated at a time corresponding to May or June.

In the seventh month, the trumpets blew on the first day to announce the Feast of Trumpets.

The tenth day was the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles (fifteenth to the twenty-first).

In this New Testament period we have one weekly gathering on the first day, the Lord’s Day, our weekly Sabbath. Therefore, while the context is the faith of the ancient Jews, Psalm 81 teaches us the spirit that should occupy our thoughts as we make our way to the meeting house.

The Call to the Feast (v1-5)

On the Lord’s Day we hear the call to worship. It is ordained by Him that we should not forsake the assembling of His people (Hebrews 10:25). As the gatherings of Israel were ordained (v5) so public worship has been decreed by God for His glory and our good.

We come to worship God in song and from ancient times the gift of music accompanied the praises (v1-2).

The feasts were solemn occasions (v3). The worship must befit the holiness and grandeur of God. These were times on heart searching, of deep challenge and and fresh consecration. So it must be for us as we make our way to the meeting house. One of the greatest threats to the existence of Christianity is a Church which regards the worship as a ritual, where lives are unchanged, where humility is lacking and where God’s voice is not heard. May God be pleased to give us a careful and prayerful attitude as we worship Him!

The Thanksgiving at the Feast (v6-7)

The Psalmist reflects upon the deliverance that Israel enjoyed in former days in Egypt and through the terrible wilderness. The ancient feasts were a reminder of the redemption that God accomplished for them.

The Passover was instituted the night that the Hebrew children left Egypt. Following the pattern of that great night of deliverance, the Lamb was slaughtered and eaten by the family as a reminder of that momentous occasion.

And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

(Exodus 12:25-28)

The Feast of Tabernacles, the final gathering in the Hebrew calendar, brought the people outdoors to live in little booths or temporary shelters, to remind them of the deprivations of the wilderness, through which they travelled.

Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that
are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

(Leviticus 23:42-44)

Attendance at the Lord’s House is a time for reflection and gratitude as we pay tribute to the grace of God in our salvation. Many of of our hymns relate to redemption and assurance and it is Scriptural that they should do so.

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb,
Redeemed by His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.

The Challenge for the Feast (v8-15)

There is a sermon in this call to worship; a message from God for the solemn feast day. In like fashion we hear the Word of God in the sermon, as we worship Him.

The sermon is a call to listen. God speaks but we must hearken (v8).

Asaph calls the people to obey the commandments, with special emphasis upon the first (v9). When our hearts are not captivated by the one God, if we are not loving Him and obeying Him – other gods are creeping in. Other gods are strangers, only the Lord God is familiar. He must take priority in our lives.

There is a reminder that this God has brought the people out of Egypt.

Therefore like Israel we must open our mouths and request that God would meet not only our needs, but satisfy us with his Word and presence.

Little birds in the nest open their mouths widely enough, and perhaps the parent birds fail to fill them, but it will never be so with our God. His treasures of grace are inexhaustible

Spurgeon

Verses 11-15, however, are a lament. The people had not listened but walked after “their own counsels”. The prophet reflects upon the blessings that had been lost, the enemies that were not subdued because the people had transgressed.

V13 is poignant lament from God. He bewails the “what might have been” – “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me and walked in my ways”.

Therefore this sermon becomes a challenge and a chastening and a call for renewal and repentance. Good sermons probe our hearts, make us think, help see our shortcomings that we would be brought closer to Christ.

The Satisfaction in the Feast (v16)

When God’s people listen and surrender God will feed their hearts and nourish their souls.

He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat:
and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

This is a reminder of the true nature of the Hebrew Feasts. They were gatherings designed to feed the people spiritually. True satisfaction is found alone in the spiritual. This is the purpose of public worship – to give us the deep satisfaction that is found in truth. This alone will sustain us when the days get tough. Yet His Word is also sweet, as honey from the rock.

The feeding comes from His giving hand. This is what we need in our gatherings – God opening His hand, nourishing and sustaining His people.

But are we ready and willing to receive.

The Lord can do great things for an obedient people. When his people walk in the light of his countenance, and maintain unsullied holiness, the joy and consolation which he yields them are beyond conception. To them the joys of heaven have begun even upon earth. They can sing in the ways of the Lord. The spring of the eternal summer has commenced with them; they are already blest, and they look for brighter things. This shows us by contrast how sad a thing it is for a child of God to sell himself into captivity to sin, and bring his soul into a state of famine by following after another god. O Lord, for ever bind us to thyself alone, and keep us faithful unto the end.

Spurgeon