Psalms 83:14

O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. -Second part of the second main division. Prayer inspired by God for the extinction of the foe by the fiery storm of God. Verse 13. O MY GOD, MAKE THEM LIKE A WHEEL - rather, 'like a thing whirled round as a wheel,' or like a whirlwind: parallel to "the stubble before the wind." Compare note, ; , 'they shall be chased like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.' Verse 14. AS THE FLAME SETTETH THE MOUNTAINS ON FIRE - i:e., setteth on fire the wood and stubble on the mountains. Verse 15. MAKE THEM AFRAID WITH THY STORM. The same Hebrew verb (tebahaleem) as in is translated, "let them ....

9-18 All who oppose the kingdom of Christ may here read their doom. God is the same still that ever he was; the same to his people, and the same against his and their enemies. God would make their enemies like a wheel; unsettled in all their counsels and resolves. Not only let them be driven away as stubble, but burnt as stubble. And this will be the end of wicked men. Let them be made to fear thy name, and perhaps that will bring them to seek thy name. We should desire no confusion to our enemies and persecutors but what may forward their conversion. The stormy tempest of Divine vengeance will overtake them, unless they repent and seek the pardoning mercy of their offended Lord. God's triumphs over his enemies, clearly prove that he is, according to his name JEHOVAH, an almighty Being, who has all power and perfection in himself. May we fear his wrath, and yield ourselves to be his wil...

Verse Psalms 83:14. _THE FLAME SETTETH THE MOUNTAINS ON FIRE_] This may refer to the burning of the straw and chaff, after the grain was threshed and winnowed. And as their threshing-floors were situated often on the _hills_ or _mountains_, to take the advantage of the wind, the _setting the mountains on fire_ may refer to the burning of the _chaff_, c., in those places. Let them be like _stubble_ driven away by the _wind_, and burnt by the _fire_....

AS THE FIRE BURNETH A WOOD ... - The same idea is here presented under another form. No image of desolation is more fearful than that of fire raging in a forest; or of fire on the mountains. As trees and shrubs and grass fall before such a flame, so the prayer is, that they who had combined against the people of God might be swept away by his just displeasure....

EXPOSITION THE psalmist makes a passionate appeal to God on behalf of Israel at a time of great danger. A confederacy has been formed among the surrounding nations, having for its object the destruction of Israel's nationality (Psalms 83:4). The confederacy includes Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagarenes, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia, and Tyre (Psalms 83:6, Psalms 83:7); and it has the support of Assyria (Psalms 83:8). Much doubt exists as to the period of Israelite history whereto the psalm and the events it commemorates belong. The prevalent opinion identifies the movement with that made by Moab, Ammon, and E

AS THE FIRE BURNETH THE WOOD,.... Or "forest" m; which is sometimes done purposely, and sometimes through carelessness, as Virgil n observes; and which is done very easily and swiftly, when fire is set to it; even all the trees of it, great and small, to which an army is sometimes compared, Isaiah 10:18, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; either the mountains themselves, as Etna, Vesuvius, and others; or rather the grass and trees that grow upon them, smitten by lightning from heaven, which may be meant by the flame: in like manner it is wished that the fire and flame of divine wrath would consume the confederate enemies of Israel, above mentioned; as wicked men are but as trees of the forest, and the grass of the mountains, or as thorns and briers, to the wrath of God, which is poured out as fire, and is signified by everlasting burnings. m יער "sylvam", Montanus,

This is a Psalm that is not often read, and very seldom expounded, I should think. According to the title, it is «A Song or Psalm of Asaph.» Asaph is one of a little group of poets who flourished side by side with David. This is a patriotic hymn. The nation was about to be attacked by many adversaries; so, like a true patriot, the poet desired that God would give the victory to his people, and deliver them. You may regard this Psalm as a prophecy, it reads like a prayer or wish of the writer, and no doubt it is so; but it may also be read as a prophecy of what will happen to the enemies of God's people. Psalms 83:1. _Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head._ God's enemies are making a noise, and the psalmist's prayer is that the Lord himself will spe

Psalms 83 The Final Enemies Overthrown _ 1. The enemies in confederacy (Psalms 83:1)_ 2. Their complete defeat and fate (Psalms 83:9) Elsewhere in prophecy we read of the confederacies of nations, Israel's enemies, coming against the land of Israel in a final great onslaught. There will be an invasion from the north mentioned in Isaiah 29:1; Joel 2:1; Daniel 8:9, and in Zecha

LXXXIII. The date can be fixed with a near approach to certainty. The clue is furnished by 1 Maccabees 5. The victories of Judas Maccabæ us and the cleansing of the Temple in 165 B.C. (p. 607) were followed by a general uprising of the neighbouring States, which were jealous of Judah and bent on hindering its national revival. So far as we know, no simultaneous attack of this kind had ever occurred before or ever occurred again. But the political situation exactly corresponds to that here presupposed. To each account the names of the Edomites, Ammonites, Philistines, Arabians, Tyrians are common. The object of the attack is also identical, viz. to cut off Israel from being a nation. The poet recalls past victories in the time of the Judges and prays that Israel's enemies in his own time may meet with crushing defeat. Of the hostile nations mentioned Edom was on the S., Ammon on the E. of...

Renewed prayer for the dispersion and destruction of the enemy expressed by figures from nature. The final end and object of all is that they may acknowledge Jehovah to be supreme....