Psalms Reading – 3.19.2022
Psalm 83
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.”
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God, like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so that they will seek your name.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
The nations are crushing God’s people, so the psalmist cries out for God to punish them. They seek to eliminate Israel so that they are no longer remembered. He names an impressive array of countries which had made an alliance against Israel. Most of them had been in ongoing conflict with God’s people throughout their history. We, also, discover that the superpower of Assyria has joined forces with them.
Israel felt absolutely overwhelmed by the large threat that this alliance presented to them. How could they possibly defend themselves when every nation on every side of them were prepared to attack and annihilate them from the face of the earth? There was only one place to go for help. Only God could deliver them from this impending doom.
So, the psalmist calls on God to do what He had previously done to Israel’s opponents and bring His heavy hand of judgment upon them. He asks God to pursue and terrify them with both tempest and storm. It sounds as if he wants God to totally obliterate them so they will never be a threat again.
However, we encounter a surprising ending. The psalmist has a much bigger vision in mind of what he desires God to do. “Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so they will seek your name.” He pleads for God’s judgment and their shame to result in them praising God’s name! And, again, in verse 18, “Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.”
The psalmist knows that God’s heart is never to punish for punishment’s sake but always to redeem and restore all peoples to Himself. There is one God over all and to Him all must surrender their all.
Memory Verse: Psalm 80:3, Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Question(s) to Consider: Do we have the ultimate desire that our enemies will be changed by the grace of God? How will we pray for those with whom we may be at odds?