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Psalm 81:8
“Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!
6“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.
7You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Selah.
8“Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!
9There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.
10I am the LORD, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Notice
“Hear, my people” joins belonging to a demand for attention, as Israel’s deliverer asks his people to listen to what he says.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What difference does “my people” make to how you read God’s demand to be heard?
Write on thisWhat would listening to God involve for you in light of the command against foreign gods?
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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 50:7“Hear, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.Both passages address Israel with “Hear, my people” and announce that God will testify to his people.
John 3:11Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness.Both passages concern testimony and its reception: Psalm 81 urges listening, while John records a refusal to receive the witness.
Exodus 15:26He said, “If you will diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, …Both passages urge listening to God; Exodus spells out the obedience to his commands that such listening entails.
John 3:32–33What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.Both passages concern receiving testimony: the psalm appeals for a hearing, while John describes witness that no one receives.
1 John 5:9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son.Both passages present God as the one who testifies; 1 John identifies his Son as the subject of that testimony.
Isaiah 1:19If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land;Both passages speak of a willing response to God, expressed as listening in the psalm and obedience in Isaiah.
Isaiah 55:3–4Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.Both passages urge people to hear God; Isaiah links that hearing with life and an everlasting covenant.
Psalm 81:13Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!Both verses express God’s desire for Israel to listen; verse 13 pairs listening with walking in his ways.
Acts 20:21testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.Both passages involve testimony directed to hearers; Acts specifies repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus as its content.
Deuteronomy 5:27Go near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say, and tell us all that the LORD our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.”God asks Israel to listen in the psalm, and Israel promises to hear and do what God says in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 32:46He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this …Both passages urge attention to testimony; Deuteronomy extends that attention to teaching children to obey the law.
Malachi 3:5I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who …God speaks as a witness in both passages; Malachi names the wrongs against which he will testify.
Where this verse fits
Sermon or Bible study notes. temptation.
One step
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Encouragement
God’s demand for Israel’s attention comes after his account of their rescue. The voice that warns against foreign gods belongs to YHWH who brought them out of Egypt.
Now put it in your words.
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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).