Psalms 83

1 The song of the psalm of Asaph. God, who shall be like thee? God, be thou not still, neither be thou peaced. (God, be thou not silent. Yea, God, be thou not still, nor hold thy peace.)

2 For lo! thine enemies sounded; and they that hate thee raised the head. (For lo! thy enemies have raised a ruckus; and those who hate thee have raised up their heads in revolt, or in defiance.)

3 They made a wicked counsel on thy people; and they thought against thy saints. (They made wicked plans against thy people; yea, they thought together against thy saints.)

4 They said, Come ye, and lose we them from the folk; and the name of Israel be no more had in mind. (They said, Come ye, and let us destroy their nation; and then the name of Israel shall no more be remembered.)

5 For they thought with one accord; (For they thought with one accord; they proposed together a plan against thee/they conspired to work together against thee;)

6 the tabernacles of Idumeans, and men of Ishmael disposed a testament together against thee. Moab, and Hagarenes, (yea, the families of the Edomites, and the Ishmaelites; and the Moabites, and the Hagarenes;)

7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; (and the) aliens with them that dwell in Tyre. (and the peoples of Gebal, and of Ammon, and of Amalek; and the Philistines, and those who live in Tyre.)

8 For Assur cometh with them; they be made into help to the sons of Lot. (And the Assyrians also come with them; they all want to help the sons of Lot.)

9 Make thou to them as to Midian, and Sisera; as to Jabin, in the strand of Kison. (Do thou to them like thou did to the Midianites, and to Sisera; and to Jabin, at the Kishon Stream.)

10 They perished in Endor; they were made as a turd of earth. (They perished at Endor; they were made like a turd upon the earth.)

11 Put thou the princes of them as Oreb and Zeeb; and Zebah and Zalmunna. (Make thou their princes, or their leaders, like Oreb and Zeeb; and like Zebah and Zalmunna.)

12 All the princes of them, that said, Hold we by heritage the saintuary of God. (Yea, all their princes, or their leaders, who said, Let us take for ourselves the land that belongeth to God/the land that belongeth to God's people.)

13 My God, put thou them as a wheel; and as stubble before the face of the wind. (My God, put thou them into a whirlwind; yea, make them like the dust in the wind.)

14 As fire that burneth a wood; and as flame burning hills. (Like the fire that burneth a wood; and the flames that burn the hills,)

15 So thou shalt pursue them in thy tempest; and thou shalt trouble them in thine ire. (so shalt thou pursue after them with thy tempest; and thou shalt made them afraid with thy storm winds.)

16 Lord, fill thou the faces of them with shame; and they shall seek thy name. (Lord, fill thou their faces with shame; and then they shall seek thy name.)

17 Be they ashamed, and be they troubled into the world of world (Be they ashamed, and let them be troubled forever); and be they shamed, and perish they.

18 And know they, that Lord is name to thee; thou alone art the Highest in every land. (And then they shall know, that The Lord is thy name; and that thou alone art the Most High in all the earth.)

Psalms 83 Commentary

Chapter 83

The designs of the enemies of Israel. (1-8) Earnest prayer for their defeat. (9-18)

Verses 1-8 Sometimes God seems not to be concerned at the unjust treatment of his people. But then we may call upon him, as the psalmist here. All wicked people are God's enemies, especially wicked persecutors. The Lord's people are his hidden one; the world knows them not. He takes them under his special protection. Do the enemies of the church act with one consent to destroy it, and shall not the friends of the church be united? Wicked men wish that there might be no religion among mankind. They would gladly see all its restraints shaken off, and all that preach, profess, or practise it, cut off. This they would bring to pass if it were in their power. The enemies of God's church have always been many: this magnifies the power of the Lord in preserving to himself a church in the world.

Verses 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 willing servants. And let us seek deliverance by the destruction of our fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 83

\\<>\\. This is the last of the psalms that bear the name of Asaph, and some think it was written by him on occasion of David's smiting the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, and others, 2Sa 8:1-14, but these did not conjunctly, but separately, fight with David, and were overcome by him; whereas those this psalm makes mention of were in a confederacy together; and besides, the Tyrians in David's time were in friendship with him; but are here mentioned as joining with others against Israel, Ps 83:7, others are of opinion that this was prophetic delivered out with respect to future times, either to the conspiracy of the enemies of the Jews against them in the times of the Maccabees, ``Now when the nations round about heard that the altar was built and the sanctuary renewed as before, it displeased them very much. &c.'' (1 Maccabees 5:1) or rather to the confederacy of the Moabites, Ammonites, and others, in the times of Jehoshaphat, 2Ch 20:1, so Kimchi, Arama, and the generality of interpreters: perhaps reference is had to the enemies of God's people, from age to age, both in the Old and in the New Testament; R. Obadiah understands it of the war of Gog and Magog.