Read Psalm 81 what are the similarities. Interpretation of the books of the Old Testament. Psalter

In the Slavic, Greek and Latin Bibles, the text of Psalm 81 is attributed to the authorship of Asaph, a contemporary of the prophet David. It is written very compactly, and the reason for its writing is clearly the actions of unrighteous judges.

According to various interpretations of Psalm 81, judicial lawlessness during the reign of Saul, David's predecessor, caused popular indignation, and changed during the reign of King David himself. With the bold text of Psalm 81, Asaph denounces unrighteous judges who oppress the poor and justify noble people.

Help from reading the Orthodox Psalm 81

Reading and listening to Psalm 81 online will certainly be useful for our contemporaries who have suffered from an unfair trial. In the psalm, the author reminds the judges that, no matter how high their position during life, at the end of it they will become as decrepit and sick old people as ordinary mortals, since everyone is equal before God and in the face of death. In the last verse of Christian Psalm 81, Asaph calls on the Lord to judge the earth, since He is the most just judge. According to the ancient tradition, it is customary for peasants and farmers to read 81 psalms in order to sell the fruits of their labors.

Listen to the video of the Orthodox prayer Psalm 81 in Russian

Read the Orthodox text of the prayer Psalm 81 in Russian

Psalm of Asaph.

God became in the host of gods; among the gods he said judgment: How long will you judge with unrighteousness and show respect to the wicked? Give judgment to the poor and the orphan; render justice to the oppressed and the poor; deliver the poor and the beggar; pluck it out of the hand of the wicked. They do not know, they do not understand, they walk in the darkness; everyone hesitates. I said: you are gods, and the sons of the Most High are all of you; but you will die like men and fall like any of the princes. Rise, God, judge the earth, for you will inherit all nations.

Orthodox Psalter, text of Psalm 81 in Church Slavonic

God is a hundred in the host of gods, in the midst of the gods will judge. How long do you judge unrighteousness, and receive the faces of sinners? Judge the sira and the wretchedness; justify the humble and the needy; Take away the poor and the wretched, deliver him from the hand of the sinner. Not knowing, lower than understanding, they walk in darkness; let all the foundations of the earth move. Az rekh; Bozi Este, and all the sons of the highest; You are like men dying, and like one of the princes you are falling. Rise, God, judge the earth; as if you inherit in all the townships.

PSALTER, Psalm 81 Psalm of Asaph.

God became in the host of gods; among the gods he said judgment: How long will you judge with unrighteousness and show respect to the wicked? Give judgment to the poor and the orphan; render justice to the oppressed and the poor; deliver the poor and the beggar; pluck it out of the hand of the wicked. They do not know, they do not understand, they walk in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaking. I said: you are gods, and the sons of the Most High are all of you; but you will die like men and fall like any of the princes. Rise, God, judge the earth, for you will inherit all nations.

PSALTER, Psalm 81.

Despite the generality of the content of the psalm, there are no obstacles in it to consider it written during the time of David by his contemporary and singer Asaph. The psalm condemns the injustice of the judges. At the beginning of David's reign, facts of the last kind could not be rare, since the era of Saul's reign, especially in his last years, when the king himself, in his relationship to David, grossly trampled on the elementary requirements of justice, could only corrupt the judges, giving freedom to manifest their arbitrariness. why their decisions could not stand at the due height and impartiality required by the law.

Similar phenomena could occur in the subsequent years of David's reign, as evidenced by the fact that Absalom spread complaints about the injustice of judges among the people. Obviously, Absalom had several such facts at hand, which he used immoderately, generalizing random phenomena to the size of the dominant and authorized by the tsar direction of judicial activity, that is, he created slander. To what time - whether the beginning of the reign of David or the time of the rebellion of Absalom should be attributed to the writing of the psalm, it is impossible to establish with certainty.

God stood among the gods and threateningly denounced the latter for dissenting for judgment, since this shakes the foundations of the inner life of the people. For this, the judges, regardless of the height of their ministry, will perish, like any ordinary person (1–7). The writer prays to the Lord to rise up for this judgment not only over the Jews, but over the whole earth (8).

Psalm 81: 1. God became in the host of gods; among the gods, the judgment pronounced:

"God has become in the host of gods." By gods, as can be seen from the context, we mean people who are involved in court cases, that is, judges: they admit dissent, like ordinary people (2–4); do not understand and do not know the responsibility assigned to them; are also subject to death, like everyone else (5-7). If they are called gods, then according to the purpose that was given to them by the Lord (6). The name of the gods is applied to the judges, as can be seen from (Ex. 21: 6), because in their decisions the will of God must be heard, their sentences must be distinguished by impartiality, consistency with the Law of God, so that they are, as it were, the governors of God on earth and through them God Himself speaks (Deut. 1:17). According to the psalm, God appears to those who appeared among earthly judges to assess their activities and to find that the latter is subject to condemnation ("pronounced judgment").

Psalm 81: 3. Give judgment to the poor and the orphan; render justice to the oppressed and the poor;

Psalm 81: 4. deliver the poor and the beggar; pluck his from the hand of the wicked.

When appointing a decision, it should be guided by non-property or social status person, but the essence of the case being investigated, therefore, before the judges must be the same - the rich and the poor, the noble and the ignorant.

Psalm 81: 5. They do not know, they do not understand, they walk in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaking.

"They do not know, they do not understand, they walk in the dark" - not in the sense of a lack of understanding of the law or the difficulty of the case being investigated, but in the sense of deliberate evasion from the law, conscious partiality, which leads to vibrations of the earth, to the shaking of the foundations of inner life, to the destruction of legality, and through that - to arbitrariness and violence in relations between people. If such offenses of the judges were unconscious and accidental, then the Lord would not condemn them.

Psalm 81: 6. I said: you are gods, and the sons of the Most High are all of you;

"You are gods and sons of the Most High" in the sense - representatives and closest executors on earth of God's will in judicial decisions.

Psalm 81: 7. but you will die like men and fall like any of the princes.

The height of the position of the judge among the people and the sacred importance of his ministry cannot prevent the heavy responsibility for the bad conduct of the case: an unjust judge will die and fall (be deposed) like a simple prince or a common man.

Psalm 81: 8. Rise, God, judge the earth, for you will inherit all nations.

For the restoration of justice, the writer prays to God not only for the land of Judea, but throughout the world, since “all nations” are the heritage of God, in His power.

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Interpretation of Psalm 81

Ps. 81: 1... In the beginning of this psalm, Asaph represents God, the Judge of heaven, administering judgment over the judges of the earth. It is they, the people in power in Israel, who are understood by the "host of gods" in verse 1 (Ex. 21: 6). It has been suggested that the word "gods" in this psalm referred to angels (and this is reflected in the Syriac translation of the Bible), and that the entire scene described here takes place in the heavenly Judgment. However, from the subsequent text of the psalm it is clear that it is about judges as representatives of God on earth, appointed by Him to govern earthly affairs.

Ps. 81: 2-5... In verse 2, the psalmist warns them in the name of God, rebuking them in a judgment that is both partious and unrighteous. Meanwhile, they are called "gods" because in their decisions they must proceed from the will of God and rely on the law given by God. If they did so, then they would judge on the merits of the case, fairly, not only the rich and noble, but also the "poor" and "orphans" who do not have intercessors (verse 3), they would "pluck" them from the hands of dishonest and cruel people (of the wicked).

In verse 5, we are not talking about the fact that the "judges" do not know the law and do not understand the legal practice of their time, but that they do not want to "know and understand" them, and consciously walk ... in moral and spiritual darkness, which is why shaking ... all the foundations of the earth, that is, shaking the foundations of the civil life of a society in which arbitrariness and violence prevail (compare Psalm 10: 3).

Ps. 81: 6-8... God warns unrighteous judges that, despite their high position (they are called "sons of the Most High" here, as appointed to carry out His will on earth), they, who neglected the responsibility entrusted to them, will perish, as simple people, and "will fall" (will be overthrown), like any of the rulers who did not justify their appointment.

Jesus Christ, being accused of blasphemy by His enemies, refers to verse 6 of this psalm (John 10: 34-36). Since the “judges” were, in a certain sense, “sons” of God, He said, then all the more so, whom “the Father sanctified and sent into the world,” does not at all blaspheme, calling Himself the Son of God.

In verse 8, Asaph prays to the Lord to "judge the earth," that is, to restore righteous judgment among all its inhabitants (and not just the Israelites), for all nations are His inheritance.