Psalm 81:7
New International Version
In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

New Living Translation
You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

English Standard Version
In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

Berean Standard Bible
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

King James Bible
Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

New King James Version
You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

New American Standard Bible
“You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. Selah

NASB 1995
“You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

NASB 1977
“You called in trouble, and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Legacy Standard Bible
You called in distress and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Amplified Bible
“You called in [the time of] trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Christian Standard Bible
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the thundercloud. I tested you at the Waters of Meribah. Selah

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

American Standard Version
Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. [Selah

Contemporary English Version
When you were in trouble, I rescued you, and from the thunderclouds, I answered your prayers. Later I tested you at Meribah Spring.

English Revised Version
Thou calledst in trouble, and I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When you were in trouble, you called out [to me], and I rescued you. I was hidden in thunder, but I answered you. I tested your [loyalty] at the oasis of Meribah. [Selah]

Good News Translation
When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you. From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you. I put you to the test at the springs of Meribah.

International Standard Version
In a time of need you called out and I delivered you; I answered you from the dark thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Interlude

Majority Standard Bible
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

NET Bible
In your distress you called out and I rescued you. I answered you from a dark thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Selah)

New Heart English Bible
You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah." Selah.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

World English Bible
You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Selah.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
In distress you have called and I deliver you, "" I answer you in the secret place of thunder, "" I try you by the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Young's Literal Translation
In distress thou hast called and I deliver thee, I answer thee in the secret place of thunder, I try thee by the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Smith's Literal Translation
Thou calledst in straits, and I will deliver thee; I will answer thee in the hiding place of thunder. I will prove thee at the water of strife. Silence.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You called upon me in tribulation, and I freed you. I heard you within the hidden tempest. I tested you with waters of contradiction.

New American Bible
In distress you called and I rescued you; I answered you in secret with thunder; At the waters of Meribah I tested you:

New Revised Standard Version
In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
He called on me in trouble, and I delivered him; I sheltered him under my glorious cover; I tested him at the waters of dispute.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
He called me in trouble, and in secret, in my glorious refuge, I saved him and I tested him.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou didst call in trouble, and I rescued thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou didst call upon me in trouble, and I delivered thee; I heard thee in the secret place of the storm: I proved thee at the water of Strife. Pause.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sing for Joy to God, Our Strength
6“I relieved his shoulder of the burden; his hands were freed from the basket. 7You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah 8Hear, O My people, and I will warn you: O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!…

Cross References
Exodus 17:6-7
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. / He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

Numbers 20:8-13
“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.” / So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded. / Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” ...

Deuteronomy 33:8
Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.

Judges 6:36-40
Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, / then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” / And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. ...

1 Samuel 7:9-10
Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him. / As the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel, Samuel was offering up the burnt offering. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.

1 Kings 18:24-39
Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “What you say is good.” / Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” / And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made. ...

Nehemiah 9:27-28
So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies. / But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

Isaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Isaiah 48:21
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.

Jeremiah 33:3
Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Hosea 13:5
I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. / For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Luke 11:9-10
So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. / For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

John 4:10
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”


Treasury of Scripture

You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder: I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

calledst

Psalm 50:15
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Psalm 91:14,15
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name…

Exodus 2:23
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

secret

Exodus 14:24
And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

Exodus 19:19
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

Exodus 20:18-21
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off…

proved

Exodus 17:6,7
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel…

Numbers 20:13,24
This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them…

Deuteronomy 33:8
And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

meribah.

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Cry Deliver Delivered Distress Free Hiding Meribah Mer'ibah Proved Rescued Secret Selah Tested Thunder Trouble Try Waters
Psalm 81
1. An exhortation to a solemn praising of God
4. God challenges that duty by reason of his benefits
8. God, exhorting to obedience, complains of their disobedience, which proves their own hurt.














In your distress
The phrase "In your distress" refers to a time of trouble or affliction. The Hebrew word for distress here is "tsarah," which conveys a sense of tightness or being in a narrow place, symbolizing the pressure and constraints of difficult circumstances. Historically, the Israelites often found themselves in distress due to external threats or internal disobedience. This phrase reminds us that God is attentive to our struggles and is a source of comfort and deliverance.

you called
The act of calling upon God is a recurring theme in the Psalms, emphasizing the importance of prayer and reliance on divine intervention. The Hebrew word "qara" implies a loud cry or proclamation, suggesting urgency and desperation. This reflects the Israelites' dependence on God during times of crisis, and it encourages believers today to seek God earnestly in prayer, trusting in His willingness to respond.

and I rescued you
God's response to the call of His people is one of deliverance. The Hebrew word "chalats" means to draw out or deliver, indicating God's active role in saving His people from peril. This phrase underscores God's faithfulness and power to save, reinforcing the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It serves as a reminder of God's past faithfulness and His promise to be a refuge for those who trust in Him.

I answered you
The phrase "I answered you" highlights God's responsiveness to prayer. The Hebrew word "anah" suggests a reply or response, indicating that God is not distant or indifferent but actively engaged with His people. This assurance of divine communication encourages believers to maintain a dialogue with God, confident that He hears and responds to their needs.

from the cloud
The "cloud" is a significant symbol in the Old Testament, often representing God's presence and glory. In the wilderness, God led the Israelites by a pillar of cloud, signifying His guidance and protection. The mention of the cloud here evokes the memory of God's tangible presence with His people, reassuring them of His continual oversight and involvement in their lives.

of the thunder
Thunder is frequently associated with God's voice and power in the Bible. It conveys the majesty and authority of God, who speaks and acts with might. The imagery of thunder serves to remind the Israelites of God's awe-inspiring presence at Mount Sinai, where He gave the law amidst thunder and lightning. It calls believers to reverence and awe in the presence of the Almighty.

I tested you
Testing is a theme throughout Scripture, where God examines the faith and obedience of His people. The Hebrew word "bachan" means to examine or prove, indicating a process of refining and strengthening. God's testing is not punitive but purposed for growth and maturity, encouraging believers to trust in His wisdom and sovereignty during trials.

at the waters of Meribah
Meribah is a place of contention and testing for the Israelites, where they quarreled with Moses and doubted God's provision. The historical context of Meribah serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unbelief and disobedience. It reminds believers of the importance of faith and trust in God's promises, even when circumstances seem dire. The reference to Meribah calls for reflection on past failures and a renewed commitment to faithfulness.

(7) Thou calledst.--The recital of God's past dealings with the people usual at the Feast of the Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31:10-13; Nehemiah 8:18) appears to follow here as if the feast were actually in progress and the crowd were listening to the psalmist.

I answered thee in the secret place of thunder.--Mr. Burgess is undoubtedly right in taking the verb as from ?nan, "to cover," instead of ?nah, "to answer." I sheltered thee in the thundercloud, with plain allusion to the "cloudy pillar." The same verb is used in Psalm 105:39, "He spread out the cloud for a covering."

Verse 7. - Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee (see Exodus 2:23; Exodus 3:7; Exodus 14:10, etc.). I answered thee in the secret place of thunder. The pillar of the cloud seems to be meant. In this, and from this, God answered the cry of his people (Exodus 14:24). I proved thee at the waters of Meribah (Exodus 17:7). The "selah" after these words marks a pause, during which the people addressed might reflect on the manifold mercies which God had vouchsafed to them in Egypt, in the wilderness, and elsewhere.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You called out
קָרָ֗אתָ (qā·rā·ṯā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

in distress,
בַּצָּרָ֥ה (baṣ·ṣā·rāh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6869: Tightness, a female rival

and I rescued you;
וָאֲחַ֫לְּצֶ֥ךָּ (wā·’ă·ḥal·lə·ṣe·kā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2502: To pull off, to strip, to depart, to deliver, equip, present, strengthen

I answered
אֶ֭עֶנְךָ (’e·‘en·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

you from the cloud
בְּסֵ֣תֶר (bə·sê·ṯer)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5643: A covering, hiding place, secrecy

of thunder;
רַ֑עַם (ra·‘am)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7482: A peal of thunder

I tested
אֶבְחָֽנְךָ֨ (’eḇ·ḥā·nə·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 974: To test, to investigate

you at
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the waters
מֵ֖י (mê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

of Meribah.
מְרִיבָ֣ה (mə·rî·ḇāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4809: Meribah -- 'place of strife', two places in the desert

Selah
סֶֽלָה׃ (se·lāh)
Interjection
Strong's 5542: Suspension, pause


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OT Poetry: Psalm 81:7 You called in trouble and I delivered (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 81:6
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