I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Psalm 81:10 is a promise of abundant provision from the God who had already proved His power to save. Israel did not serve an unknown God. Jehovah had broken Egypt, brought them out of bondage, carried them through the wilderness, and supplied their needs. Therefore, He commands them to depend upon Him still: “open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” The verse joins redemption, dependence, desire, and divine sufficiency.
“I am the LORD thy God.” The promise begins with God Himself. LORD in all capital letters is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the divine name Jehovah, the self-existent and faithful God of His people. Israel’s confidence must rest first in who He is. The command to open the mouth would be presumption if spoken by a weak god, but Jehovah has all power, wisdom, goodness, and resources.
“Thy God.” The relationship is personal and covenantal. Jehovah is not speaking as a distant Creator only, but as Israel’s God. He had chosen them, redeemed them, instructed them, and dwelt among them. Therefore, their dependence upon Him was not uncertainty. They were to look to the God who had already bound His name to them.
“Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.” God gives history as the reason for present faith. Before He commands Israel to open the mouth, He reminds them what He has already done. Egypt had been the house of bondage, Pharaoh had been powerful, and Israel had been helpless; yet Jehovah brought them out. The God who broke Pharaoh’s hand could certainly feed His people.
Remembrance should enlarge faith. Israel should have reasoned from former deliverance to present dependence: He brought us out; therefore, He can sustain us. Forgetfulness does the opposite. When men forget what God has done, present needs appear greater than divine power. Psalm 81 therefore places redemption before expectation.
“Open thy mouth.” Here the mouth becomes the picture of dependence. The immediate image is simple: a hungry creature opens its mouth to receive food. God does not say, Fill your own mouth. He says, Open it, “and I will fill it.” Israel’s part is receptive dependence; God’s part is provision.
The mouth is therefore used very differently here from the many sinful mouths in the Psalms. It is not opened to complain, boast, lie, flatter, or murmur. It is opened toward God to receive what He gives. The same member so often corrupted by sin becomes an expression of faith and need.
There is also a natural connection to prayer. The mouth that opens toward God is the mouth that asks, cries, praises, and confesses dependence. “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). The image first concerns receiving, but it readily teaches the saint not to be silent before the God who invites dependence.
“Wide.” This word gives force to the command. Israel is not told to open the mouth timidly or narrowly. Open it wide. Expect much from God. Bring great need to great sufficiency. The measure of hope should not be determined by human weakness, but by divine fullness.
This does not authorize covetous requests or fleshly imagination. God had already given His law and warned Israel against strange gods (vv.8-9). The open mouth must be governed by His word. But within His will, His people need not think small thoughts of His ability. He is able to supply abundantly what He has promised.
“And I.” The provider is emphatic. Not Egypt. Not idols. Not Israel’s strength. Not their own counsels. “I will fill it.” This is the great alternative later exposed in verse 12. Either Israel depends upon Jehovah, or Israel walks in its own counsel. There is no wisdom in rejecting the hand that fills in order to follow the heart that lusts.
“I will fill it.” God promises satisfaction. He does not say He may fill it if resources permit. Jehovah fills. The end of the psalm explains the abundance He desired to give: “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee” (v.16). Verse 10 is therefore not empty imagery. God stood ready to satisfy His people richly.
Faith must trust not only that God provides, but that His measure is wise. What seems insufficient to our appetite may be exactly what His providence appoints; the saint must not murmur against the portion given by the God who knows his need better than he does.
This makes verse 11 especially tragic: “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.” The mouth that should have opened to receive from God belonged to a people whose ears would not open to His voice. They wanted His gifts without His rule, blessing without obedience, provision without submission. God offered Himself and fullness; they refused Him.
Then came verse 12: “So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” The contrast is fearful. Open your mouth to God, and He fills. Reject His voice, and He may leave you to yourself. Divine fullness stands opposite human self-rule. One satisfies; the other destroys.
This verse therefore searches the believer’s mouth. What does it open for? Complaint or prayer? Murmuring or praise? Self-confidence or dependence? The mouth often reveals where the soul expects satisfaction. Israel should have opened toward Jehovah, but repeatedly opened in complaint against Him. The saint should learn the better use: bring need to God and expect Him to supply according to His word.
Jesus taught the same confidence in the Father’s goodness: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). He then argued from earthly fathers to the heavenly Father, who gives good things to them that ask Him (Matthew 7:9-11). God does not invite His children to dependence in order to mock their need.
Psalm 81:10 therefore gives a glorious command and promise: remember who God is, remember what He has done, open the mouth wide, and trust Him to fill it. Do not open the mouth chiefly to murmur about what is lacking. Open it toward Jehovah in prayer, praise, desire, and dependence. The God who brought His people out of Egypt is not poor. The tragedy is never that His hand is empty, but that His people refuse His voice and seek satisfaction elsewhere.
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Psalm 81:10 is a promise of abundant provision from the God who had already proved His power to save. Israel did not serve an unknown God. Jehovah had broken Egypt, brought them out of bondage, carried them through the wilderness, and supplied their needs. Therefore, He commands them to depend upon Him still: “open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” The verse joins redemption, dependence, desire, and divine sufficiency.
“I am the LORD thy God.” The promise begins with God Himself. LORD in all capital letters is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the divine name Jehovah, the self-existent and faithful God of His people. Israel’s confidence must rest first in who He is. The command to open the mouth would be presumption if spoken by a weak god, but Jehovah has all power, wisdom, goodness, and resources.
“Thy God.” The relationship is personal and covenantal. Jehovah is not speaking as a distant Creator only, but as Israel’s God. He had chosen them, redeemed them, instructed them, and dwelt among them. Therefore, their dependence upon Him was not uncertainty. They were to look to the God who had already bound His name to them.
“Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.” God gives history as the reason for present faith. Before He commands Israel to open the mouth, He reminds them what He has already done. Egypt had been the house of bondage, Pharaoh had been powerful, and Israel had been helpless; yet Jehovah brought them out. The God who broke Pharaoh’s hand could certainly feed His people.
Remembrance should enlarge faith. Israel should have reasoned from former deliverance to present dependence: He brought us out; therefore, He can sustain us. Forgetfulness does the opposite. When men forget what God has done, present needs appear greater than divine power. Psalm 81 therefore places redemption before expectation.
“Open thy mouth.” Here the mouth becomes the picture of dependence. The immediate image is simple: a hungry creature opens its mouth to receive food. God does not say, Fill your own mouth. He says, Open it, “and I will fill it.” Israel’s part is receptive dependence; God’s part is provision.
The mouth is therefore used very differently here from the many sinful mouths in the Psalms. It is not opened to complain, boast, lie, flatter, or murmur. It is opened toward God to receive what He gives. The same member so often corrupted by sin becomes an expression of faith and need.
There is also a natural connection to prayer. The mouth that opens toward God is the mouth that asks, cries, praises, and confesses dependence. “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). The image first concerns receiving, but it readily teaches the saint not to be silent before the God who invites dependence.
“Wide.” This word gives force to the command. Israel is not told to open the mouth timidly or narrowly. Open it wide. Expect much from God. Bring great need to great sufficiency. The measure of hope should not be determined by human weakness, but by divine fullness.
This does not authorize covetous requests or fleshly imagination. God had already given His law and warned Israel against strange gods (vv.8-9). The open mouth must be governed by His word. But within His will, His people need not think small thoughts of His ability. He is able to supply abundantly what He has promised.
“And I.” The provider is emphatic. Not Egypt. Not idols. Not Israel’s strength. Not their own counsels. “I will fill it.” This is the great alternative later exposed in verse 12. Either Israel depends upon Jehovah, or Israel walks in its own counsel. There is no wisdom in rejecting the hand that fills in order to follow the heart that lusts.
“I will fill it.” God promises satisfaction. He does not say He may fill it if resources permit. Jehovah fills. The end of the psalm explains the abundance He desired to give: “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee” (v.16). Verse 10 is therefore not empty imagery. God stood ready to satisfy His people richly.
Faith must trust not only that God provides, but that His measure is wise. What seems insufficient to our appetite may be exactly what His providence appoints; the saint must not murmur against the portion given by the God who knows his need better than he does.
This makes verse 11 especially tragic: “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.” The mouth that should have opened to receive from God belonged to a people whose ears would not open to His voice. They wanted His gifts without His rule, blessing without obedience, provision without submission. God offered Himself and fullness; they refused Him.
Then came verse 12: “So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” The contrast is fearful. Open your mouth to God, and He fills. Reject His voice, and He may leave you to yourself. Divine fullness stands opposite human self-rule. One satisfies; the other destroys.
This verse therefore searches the believer’s mouth. What does it open for? Complaint or prayer? Murmuring or praise? Self-confidence or dependence? The mouth often reveals where the soul expects satisfaction. Israel should have opened toward Jehovah, but repeatedly opened in complaint against Him. The saint should learn the better use: bring need to God and expect Him to supply according to His word.
Jesus taught the same confidence in the Father’s goodness: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). He then argued from earthly fathers to the heavenly Father, who gives good things to them that ask Him (Matthew 7:9-11). God does not invite His children to dependence in order to mock their need.
Psalm 81:10 therefore gives a glorious command and promise: remember who God is, remember what He has done, open the mouth wide, and trust Him to fill it. Do not open the mouth chiefly to murmur about what is lacking. Open it toward Jehovah in prayer, praise, desire, and dependence. The God who brought His people out of Egypt is not poor. The tragedy is never that His hand is empty, but that His people refuse His voice and seek satisfaction elsewhere.