123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150
Annotations & References
▾
Psalms 83
Psalms
Chapter 83
83
1O God, keep not thou silence: 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 take crafty counsel against thy people, And consult together 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; Against thee do they make a covenant:
6The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre:
8Assyria also is joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. [Selah
9Do thou unto them as unto Midian, As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
10Who perished at Endor, Who became as dung for the earth.
11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;
12Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession The habitations of God.
13O my God, make them like the whirling dust; As stubble before the wind.
14As the fire that burneth the forest, And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
15So pursue them with thy tempest, And terrify them with thy storm.
16Fill their faces with confusion, That they may seek thy name, O Jehovah.
17Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever; Yea, let them be confounded and perish;
18That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, Art the Most High over all the earth.
What is Psalms 83 about?
The last of Asaph's psalms pleads that God not keep silence while His enemies make a tumult and confederate against His people, naming Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, Tyre, and Assyria among those who plot to cut off Israel from being a nation. Asaph asks God to deal with them as He did with Midian, Sisera, and Jabin, to make them as chaff before the wind and to fill their faces with shame. The aim of the prayer is not merely rescue but that these nations may seek God's name and know that He alone, whose name is the LORD, is the Most High over all the earth. Even against a hostile world, the psalm subordinates Israel's survival to the greater end that all nations acknowledge the one true God.
Matthew Henry on Psalms 83