Psalm 83
A Song or Psalm of Asaph.
1Keep not thou silence, O God: 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 have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted 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: they are confederate against thee:
6The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
9Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
10Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.
11Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
12Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
16Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
17Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
18That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Chapter 83
Matthew Henry comments on the first few verses by stating the following, "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." In those first few verses, I am reminded of my darkest moment, especially because God didn't keep His silence and gave me peace (v. 1). At the end of it, I was at peace with Him, which I think was what resulted from my relationship with Him being restored and renewed. Verse 2 relates because I feel that it reflects Satan's plotting against me in the face of God, since, in a way, he did take crafty counsel against me (v. 3). That's kinda how the enemies God's church operate: they try and cut off His people (v. 4), which I'll expand on a lot bit from my experiences. I see a parallel between my being cut off from God during my darkest moment and that time when my church was facing financial hardships, which I believe resulted from Satan plotting against God's people. I kinda gave up on God during my darkest moment and so did my church due its financial hardships, which basically made it hard to rely on oneself or on man. Verses 5-8 talk about the opposition that nations faced due to being plotted against and being cut off from God. I can't say my church faced opposistion that compared to the opposition that the nations faced, but I know that the enemy's alliance against me was quite unpleasant and probably right up there with what the nations faced. Henry's comments on verses 9-10, "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." Yeah, the enemy's gonna meet his doom when that time comes and so are the enemies of my fellow believers and myself if they don't turn from my sinful ways. I will let God take care of enemies as He sees fit since vengeance is His. I'm not sure how I would relate to verses 11-12, which is continuing the thought of the fate of the enemies. Here's Henry's though on it, though, which clears it up, "Let them be made to fear thy name, and perhaps that will bring them to seek thy name." So perhaps if God uses me to change the lives of those who oppose Him, they will abide in His houses and take them in possession (v. 12). I'm not sure if that's part of God's plan for my life, but it'd be an awesome thing to be used in that way. Who knows? Maybe some artwork I do in the future could touch someone who is lost and has wrong ideas about God. If God wants to use me in that way, I can imagine lost souls softening their hears to Him, which is what I see in the wheel and wind aspects in verse 13. Verses 14-16 talk about the enemies and the conviction of their sin, which I'm gonna expand on a bit. Verse 14 pretty much speaks for itself, but I know that God will make them afraid of metaphorical storms, but I think Henry states it better, " The stormy tempest of Divine vengeance will overtake them, unless they repent and seek the pardoning mercy of their offended Lord." Verse 15 just encourages me to do the Ray Comfort thing and ask people if they've stole anyting, lied, or what have you, so they can turn to their ways and experience God's mercy. They will be ashamed of their sinful ways, their faults (v. 16) and hopefully, if they're ready, seek His name. I'd like to God work in that way and I'd like to be used by Him in that way at least once in my life. Lord, I ask that you will use me to bring people to You and that Your will will be done and terms of them seeing their faults. Welcome them with open arms, Lord, and help them to see that they don't have to live in sin. And what will result from them turning from ways which trouble and confound them (v. 17) will be knowing that God (or JEHOVAH) is the Most High over earth (v. 18). What I see in that is that there's power in His name and the fact that He's so sovereign ("Most High") is what causes people to turn to Him, which is something I wanna be a part of so people can know that the only way for them to break free from their troubled lives is to acknowledge that God is above all, which would result in knowing Him and living for Him.
Source used:
Henry, Matthew. "Concise Commentary on Psalms 83". "Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
on the Whole Bible". <http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-con/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=083>.
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