Psalms 83:1-18
1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent:a they are confederate against thee:
6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpenb the children of Lot. Selah.
9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Gordon Churchyard
Enemies All Round Us!
Psalms 83
Jesus said, "I am sending you like sheep into a group of wolves. So, be as clever as snakes but, like the dove, do not hurt anybody" (Matthew 10: 16). (A wolf is a wild animal that eats sheep; a dove is a bird that does not hurt anyone.)
Psalms 83
(This) psalm (is) a song for *Asaph.
v1 God, do not seem to be asleep!
Do not remain quiet and do nothing, God!
v2 For look, your enemies are (all) doing something.
The people that hate you are getting ready (to fight you).
v3 They are making clever *plans against your people.
They are deciding together what to do with those people that you love.
v4 They are saying, "Come on, we will destroy their country.
Then nobody will ever remember the name of Israel".
v5 They are deciding together what to do.
They are agreeing to do something against you.
v6 - v7 The people (doing this are) from:
• Edom and the Ishmaelites
• Moab and the Hagrites
• Gebal, Ammon and Amalek
• Philistia and Tyre
v8 Even Assyria has joined them.
They have made the sons of Lot (Moab and Ammon) strong. *SELAH
v9 Do to them what you did to Midian
and to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon.
v10 They died at Endor
and they became *like dirt on the ground.
v11 Make their leaders *like Oreb and Zeeb.
(Make) all their *princes *like Zebah and Zalmunna.
v12 They said, "Let us take all the country that belongs to God".
v13 God, blow them away *like *chaff in the wind!
v14 As fire burns a forest and *lights the mountains,
so they are on fire.
v15 Go after them with bad weather
and frighten them a lot with your storms.
v16 Make their faces ashamed
so that they will look for your name, *LORD.
v17 Let them always be ashamed and very frightened.
Let them become so ashamed that then they die!
v18 Then they will know that your name is *LORD.
And (they will know that) you are the *Most High over all the earth.
The Story of Psalms 83
Bible students do not agree when the *psalmist wrote Psalms 83. In verses 6-8 is a list of the enemies of Israel. Because they were enemies of Israel, they were also enemies of God. This was true when the *psalmist wrote the psalm, but it is not necessary that it is true today. The problem is this: not all these people were enemies of Israel at the same time. Some were enemies 800 B.C., some 600 B.C., some 400 B.C. (B.C. means "years Before Christ came to the earth".) So, some Bible students think that Psalms 83 comes from 800 B.C., some from 600 B.C., and some from 400 B.C. Maybe we shall never know who is right!The *psalmist tells us that this is "a song for *Asaph". A psalm is words with music, or a song. *Asaph was the name of a group of singers. *Asaph lived about 1000 BC, but his singers continued for many centuries. So, any of the Bible students could be right about the date of Psalms 83!
What Psalms 83 means
Study the psalm in two parts:• Verses 1 – 8: what the enemies of God and Israel are doing
• Verses 9 – 18: what the *psalmist wants (prays that) God will do
In verses 1 - 2, the *psalmist says that God seems to be doing nothing while his enemies are getting ready to fight him. They fight God by fighting his people Israel. They want everybody to forget that there ever was an Israel, verse 4! Verses 6 - 8 tell us who these enemies are. Some are to the east, *like Moab. Some are to the west *like Philistia. Some are to the south and some are to the north. We are not sure who the Hagrites and Gebal were. The important thing is this: the enemies were all round Israel! In verse 8, "the sons of Lot" means the countries that his children started.
In verses 9 - 12,we read about people that God destroyed. Gideon destroyed Midian; the story is in Judges 6:8. Oreb and Zeeb were *princes of Midian. People from Ephraim killed them, the story is in Judges 7:24-25. Ephraim was one of the *tribes of Israel. Gideon killed Zebah and Zalmunna in Judges 8:21. They were kings of Midian. Sisera and Jabin come from another story, in Judges 4:1-24. Jabin was king of Hazor. Sisera was the leader of his army. A woman (Jael) killed Sisera as he hid in her *tent. Two *judges (leaders) of Israel destroyed Jabin’s army at the River Kishon. In verse 14, "lights the mountains" means "makes a fire on the mountains". Bible students are not sure what verses 16 - 18 mean. Some think that it means that the *psalmist wants God to destroy his enemies as he destroyed Midian. Other Bible students think that it means that the *psalmist wants them to be sorry and believe in God. The name *LORD is the *covenant name of God. It is the name people use who agree with God and who want to obey him.
Something to do
1. Pray that God’s enemies will start to love him. Do this when they do something bad.2. If you have a Bible, read about Barak and Deborah (Judges 4:5) and Gideon (Judges 6:8).
3. If you have a Bible map, look for the places in verses 6-8 of this psalm.
Asaph ~ look in the Introduction of Psalm 73.
plans ~ thoughts about what to do.
like ~ another word for "as".
prince ~ son of a king.
chaff ~ dead part of a plant round the seed.
lights ~ (in Psalm 83:14) makes a fire (on the mountains).
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; Adonai in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
Adonai ~ Lord or master; (or better, my Lord or my master) in Hebrew.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke when they wrote the Psalms of David.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
Jew ~ someone who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
like ~ another word for "as".'Most High ~ a name for God.
psalmist ~ the person that wrote a psalm (or psalms).
tribe ~ a large group of people from the same family.
tent ~ a home or building made from animal skins.
judge ~ say who is right and who is wrong; or, the person that says who is right and who is wrong.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the covenant.