Psalms

Chapter 83

O God, Be Not Silent

This psalm is an urgent plea for God not to remain silent while a hostile confederacy gathers against his people. The singer describes enemies who rage against God, scheme against his treasured ones, and conspire to erase Israel's name from memory. He lists the nations united in this covenant and asks God to deal with them as he once dealt with Midian, Sisera, Jabin, and other defeated foes who sought to seize God's pastureland. The prayer ends by asking that they be driven like stubble and filled with shame so that they may learn that the LORD alone, the Most High, rules over all the earth.

Psalm 83 is both an imprecatory prayer and a theological appeal for God's public vindication. It treats Israel's enemies as God's enemies and asks for decisive judgment not merely for revenge, but so that all peoples will recognize the LORD's unmatched supremacy.

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Psalms 83

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vv. 1-18

O God, Be Not Silent

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A¹ song. A Psalm of Asaph. ²See how Your enemies rage, ³With cunning they scheme against Your people ⁴saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; ⁵For with one mind they plot together; ⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, ⁷of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, ⁸Even Assyria has joined them,

⁹Do to them as You did to Midian, ¹⁰who perished at Endor ¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, ¹²who said, “Let us possess for ourselves

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, ¹⁴As fire consumes a forest, ¹⁵so pursue them with Your tempest, ¹⁶Cover their faces with shame, ¹⁷May they be ever ashamed and terrified; ¹⁸May they know that You alone,

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01vv. 1-18O God, Be Not SilentThe psalm opens by begging God not to remain silent while his enemies rage and plot against his people, forming a united alliance to wipe Israel out. It names the confederate nations and presents their campaign as hostility not only toward Israel but toward God himself and his treasured ones. The prayer then appeals to God's past victories over Midian and Canaanite oppressors, asking that present enemies be made like those former foes who perished under divine judgment. The final verses ask that they be scattered, terrified, and covered with shame until they seek God's name and know that the LORD alone is the Most High over all the earth.