“The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 81:15 Mean?
God speaks in Psalm 81, lamenting what could have been: if Israel's enemies — "the haters of the LORD" — had faced a faithful Israel, they would have submitted. And Israel's time of blessing "should have endured for ever." The conditional mood is devastating: this was available. This was possible. And Israel's unfaithfulness prevented it.
The marginal note reveals that "submitted" literally means "lied" — the enemies would have offered feigned obedience, outward submission driven by fear rather than genuine conversion. Even their submission would have been insincere. But it would have been submission nonetheless — the acknowledgment, however reluctant, that God's people were beyond their ability to defeat.
The phrase "their time should have endured for ever" suggests a permanent era of blessing that was available but never materialized. God's offer had no expiration date; Israel's faithfulness did. The blessing was always available. The recipient was never ready.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Is there a blessing God has offered you that your inconsistency has prevented you from receiving?
- 2.How does God's 'should have' make you feel — grieved, motivated, or something else?
- 3.What would your life look like if you had been more faithful to what God offered?
- 4.How do you respond to the idea that God grieves unfulfilled potential in your life?
Devotional
God looks at what could have been and grieves. If Israel had been faithful, their enemies would have bowed. Their time of blessing would have lasted forever. It was right there. It was always available. And they never took it.
This is one of the saddest verses in the Psalms — God expressing regret about an offer that was never accepted. The conditional "should have" carries the weight of divine disappointment. Not anger, exactly — something closer to a parent saying: "if you had just listened, this is what I had planned for you."
The forever-blessing was real. It wasn't a hypothetical or a motivational speech. God had prepared permanent blessing for a people who were never permanently faithful. The offer exceeded the capacity of the recipient, and the gap between what was available and what was received is the tragedy of the Old Testament.
This applies to your life with uncomfortable directness. God's intentions for you are bigger than your faithfulness can receive. There are blessings on the table that your inconsistency prevents you from experiencing. Not because God withdrew them — because you never showed up consistently enough to take them.
What has God offered you that you haven't received because of inconsistency? What "should have endured for ever" but didn't because your heart wasn't steadfast?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat,.... Or the "fat of the wheat (y)"; see Deu 32:14, with the…
The haters of the Lord - The enemies of the Lord, often represented as those who hate him - hatred being always in fact…
God, by the psalmist, here speaks to Israel, and in them to us, on whom the ends of the world are come.
I. He demands…
The haters of Jehovah should come cringing unto him,
So that their time should be for ever.
Unto himmay mean to…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture