NOTES for Psa 83

¹Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

²For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

³They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

⁴They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

⁵For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

⁶The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

⁷Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

⁸Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

⁹Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

¹⁰Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

¹²Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

¹³O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

¹⁴As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

¹⁵So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

¹⁶Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

¹⁷Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

¹⁸That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Once again Israel’s enemies jointly intend to overcome it, and once again the psalmist turns to the Lord with a plea for help. Before us is another entreaty for heavenly protection, and we are not surprised by the request for victory over the enemies.

But alongside the wish that troubles befall the enemies, we notice a new note in the attitude toward them. The psalmist wishes them not merely defeat and calamity, but that the enemies, filled with disgrace—that is, deprived of the position that enables them to exalt themselves—may seek the Name of the Lord. The psalmist already knows that it is often precisely those whose pride has been crushed who become able to hear Him, and now he wishes the same for the enemies.

Here before us is one of the early manifestations of that love for enemies which prevents us from seeing in them only those whom we want to punish and destroy. Asaph wishes to share what is most precious, hope in the Lord, precisely with those who have risen against the Lord and His people.

Other notes

For Psa 83:1-12