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Psalm 81:1

For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph. Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!

1For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph. Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!
2Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp.
3Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.
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Psalm 81:2 →
Notice

The command to sing aloud joins joy with dependence: the God receiving Israel’s praise is also the strength on which they rely.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What difference, if any, does singing aloud make to how you express praise?

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What would you want to remember about God’s strength as you sang this verse?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 95:1Oh come, let’s sing to the LORD. Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!Both psalms call for singing and shouting to God, naming him as strength or the rock of salvation.
Psalm 84:5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.Both passages locate strength in God: one makes that truth a reason for singing, the other describes those who depend on him as blessed.
Jeremiah 31:7For the LORD says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘LORD, save your people, the remnant of …Both passages join singing with shouting and name Jacob within their words of praise.
Psalm 8:1For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above …Both headings name the Chief Musician and an instrument of Gath, and both opening verses address praise to God.
Psalm 66:1For the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm. Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!Both command a joyful shout to God; Psalm 66 names all the earth as those addressed.
Philippians 4:13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.Strength comes from God in the psalm, while Paul names Christ as the one who strengthens him.
1 Chronicles 6:39His brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,The psalm’s heading names Asaph, and the Chronicles passage identifies Asaph as the son of Berechiah.
2 Chronicles 20:19The Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with an exceedingly loud …The psalm commands loud praise to God, and Chronicles describes Levites praising him with a loud voice.
Nehemiah 12:42and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.The call to sing aloud in the psalm matches the loud singing described under Jezrahiah’s oversight.
1 Chronicles 15:16David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers with instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, sounding …Both passages connect music with voices raised aloud in joy, with instruments named alongside the singing.
1 Chronicles 25:2of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah. The sons of Asaph were under the hand of Asaph, who prophesied at the order of the king.Asaph appears in both texts: the psalm bears his name, while Chronicles describes his sons serving under his direction.
Matthew 22:32‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”Both name the God of Jacob; Matthew’s passage also names Abraham and Isaac and declares God to be the God of the living.
Where this verse fits

Praise and worship. gratitude.

What the Bible says about worship →What the Bible says about gratitude →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Sing Psalm 81:1’s two commands aloud before one meal

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Encouragement

Your voice has a place in praise of the God of Jacob. The song rests on who God is: the strength of his people.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 81:1. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 81 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).