What does "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me" mean (Psalm 81:13)?

Whosoever Will, The Road Not Taken: Psalm 81. Read the refusal first, because it comes first. “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust” (81:11-12). Then the lament, in the next breath: “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries” (81:13-14). Then more of it: He “should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee” (81:16). Four things God names that He did not do. The hinge is already on the page, three verses up. Would not. Isaiah 48. The speaker is named without ambiguity: “Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer” (48:17). Then the lu: “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: Thy seed also had been as the sand” (48:18-19). Peace like a river. Seed like the sand. A name not cut off. None of it came, and the verse says why: thou hadst not hearkened. Scripture, King James Version: Psalms 81:11-16, "But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."; Isaiah 48:17-19, "Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.".

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.