Psalm 81 is a festival song, “Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob,” that becomes God’s own appeal to his people: “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” It ends with a promise the Church sings on Corpus Christi: “And he fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 80. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 81 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for Asaph himself.
Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.
Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel: the pleasant psaltery with the harp.
Blow up the trumpet on the new moon, on the noted day of your solemnity.
For it is a commandment in Israel, and a judgment to the God of Jacob.
He ordained it for a testimony in Joseph, when he came out of the land of Egypt: he heard a tongue which he knew not.
He removed his back from the burdens: his hands had served in baskets.
Thou calledst upon me in affliction, and I delivered thee: I heard thee in the secret place of tempest: I proved thee at the waters of contradiction.
Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken to me,
There shall be no new god in thee: neither shalt thou adore a strange god.
For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
But my people heard not my voice: and Israel hearkened not to me.
So I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they shall walk in their own inventions.
If my people had heard me: if Israel had walked in my ways:
I should soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on them that troubled them.
The enemies of the Lord have lied to him: and their time shall be for ever.
And he fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock.
Psalm 81 or Psalm 80?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 80 is Psalm 81 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Exsultate Deo adiutori nostro. See how many psalms are there?
What the psalm means
- A feast day: trumpets on the new moon and the full moon, the solemn feasts of Israel.
- God the liberator: “He removed his back from the burdens.”
- “Hear, O my people”: God pleads with Israel to listen and to have no strange god.
- “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it”: God longs to give abundantly to those who trust him.
- The finest wheat: the Church sees here the Eucharist, the true Bread.
How the Church uses Psalm 81
- On Corpus Christi, in the traditional Missal, the entrance chant was Cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti, “He fed them with the fat of wheat.” See Corpus Christi.
- In the Liturgy of the Hours, at Morning Prayer.
- At Mass on the Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B).
A prayer with Psalm 81
Written for this page:
I rejoice in you, God my strength, and sing to the God of Jacob.
You freed me from my burdens; help me listen to your voice.
I open my mouth wide: fill me with your gifts.
Feed me with the finest wheat, the Bread of Life, and with honey from the rock. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Where is “I would feed you with the finest of the wheat”?
Psalm 81:17 (80:17 in the Douay-Rheims: “he fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock”).
Why is Psalm 81 associated with Corpus Christi?
Its last verse was the entrance chant of the traditional Mass of Corpus Christi, read as a figure of the Eucharist.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 80 (81), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.