This Psalm is one that helps God’s people see things from an eternal perspective, especially the bitter hostility of the lost world toward Christ and His Church.
The resistance of the lost world toward us will eventually completely fail. That should reassure us that through it all, God is still reigning in power and majesty.
This Psalm teaches us how to pray for the Church in the midst of this hostile world. It teaches us that we CAN and rightly pray for God’s judgment upon those who are antagonistic persecutors of the Church. Our prayers should be God either defeat Your enemies or convert Your enemies. Both are well in God’s plan.
This Psalm is divided into two parts with the first being Asaph’s description of God’s enemies and then follows with the second half which gives us the content of his prayer.
This is a good Psalm for the Church as we live in a hostile world today. This is how we can pray for the Church.
1. Take Your Eyes Off the Situation and Look to God (83:1-8)
1 O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people;
they consult together against your treasured ones.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5 For they conspire with one accord;
against you they make a covenant—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Asshur also has joined them;
they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
Before you look around at the situation too much, look to God.
Notice what Asaph prays…three urgent requests in verse 1. These are great ways for us to pray.
Do not keep silence– the pray for God to speak. We might ask God to show us what we need in the Bible. That’s how God speaks today.
Do not hold Your peace– Here it is in the original Hebrew, do not turn a deaf ear to me. Hear my plead oh God.
Do not…be still– this is Asaph calling God to act on his request.
It is most difficult to do but we would be far better off if we did not look at the wind and waves of our trials but look to our Savior. Matthew 8:23.
Just like His disciples who looked long and hard at their situation. They saw a great storm, they saw their boat being torn apart, they saw the gigantic waves coming up over the sides. They were in great fear. Then, they went to Jesus.
Look to Jesus first or at least very quickly. He is in control; He is sovereign rest in Him.
Next, we saw that Asaph, after turning to God then begins to identify and describe God’s enemies.
For Behold…Look God Look…
Throughout this section, the key here really is that God’s enemies, Asaph’s enemies and the Church’s enemies are the same.
They lift their heads- arrogant boastful threat
They lay crafty plans- their secret counsel
Then Asaph prays to God and tells Him that the ones they plot against are Your people, Your treasured ones. Older translation may say hidden ones. They are plotting and scheming against God’s people the Israelites then and the Church now.
Colossians 3:1–3 (ESV)
3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Here God reminds us that we are His people, His treasured ones who are hidden with Christ.
The reality here if we look at God’s grand plan is that Asaph is not only praying for Israel in the OT but he is praying for us, the Church as well. We are God’s treasured ones in Christ. We are true Israel as Paul writes in Galatians.
Galatians 3:29 (ESV)
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
2. Pray Diligently for the Defeat or Conversion of God’s Enemies (83:9-18)
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who were destroyed at En-dor,
who became dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves
of the pastures of God.”
Here the context is the battles of Gideon in the Book of Judges. Gideon and the people of God were greatly outnumbered but God’s enemies were defeated.
Asaph prays that God would do the same thing to His current enemies. Destroy them make them dung for the soil. Does that sound like a godly prayer? God destroy Your enemies and make them into manure for the ground.
13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest,
as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so may you pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your hurricane!
This is Asaph’s picture of the destruction of the enemies of God. If you’ve ever seen a forest fire in a very dry place you might notice that the heat rising creates a sort of dust devil of swirling fire that goes up. It looks almost like a twisted pole of fire. This is very close to the image here.
Asaph prays that this happens to God’s enemies, that they are consumed and destroyed. This is the destiny of the wicked. Those who do not repent of their sin will be destroyed.
Like a firestorm they and all their legacy will go up in fire and smoke.
Deuteronomy 32:22 (ESV)
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger,
and it burns to the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Here’s where Asaph asks God to save the wicked…
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
18 that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
There is here judgement mixed with grace.
Asaph prays that God would be very hard on the wicked so that they would turn to Him in repentance or face God’s wrath. Judgement is the end for those who do not repent.
On the one hand, Asaph asks for the most terrible punishment filled with shame and disgrace. Then on the other hand that they may seek your name.
Here, God offers His enemies shame that leads to repentance.
Here is where we can rejoice. We too were God’s enemies. God through the death of Jesus has brought us to repentance and faith.
God is shown to be just as He passes judgement upon sinners. God is shown as merciful and gracious as He brings sinners to Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:4–9 (ESV)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Leave a Reply