Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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!
- BSB For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.
- NKJV Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
- NASB Sing for joy to God our strength; Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
- NLT Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A summons to sing aloud and shout joyfully to God, Israel's strength and the God of Jacob. Worship begins with glad, wholehearted praise to the God who saves.
Overview
Psalm 81 opens with an exuberant call to corporate praise, likely for a festival celebration. Naming God as 'our strength' and 'the God of Jacob' grounds joy in His covenant faithfulness to His people. Such joyful worship rightly responds to the God who has redeemed and sustains His people, foreshadowing the praise of all who are saved in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 31:7For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
- Ps 66:1Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
- Ps 100:1–2Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
- Ps 46:11The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- Ps 8:1O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
- Ps 28:7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
- Gen 50:17So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
- Matt 22:32I 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.
- Ps 18:1–2I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
- Ps 46:1–7God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Ps 67:4O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
- Ps 33:1–3Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
- Ps 52:7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 81:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.