Do unto them as to Midian; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the torrent of Kishon
Psalm 83 is a prayer raised while a ring of neighbouring nations plots to erase Israel's name from the earth. At verse 9 it turns from the danger to history, asking God to repeat two old rescues — Midian in Gideon's day, Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon river.
The psalm does not ask for something new. It asks God to be consistent with Himself, and it names two rescues recorded in the book of Judges as the measure.
In verse 9 the psalmist asks God to deal with Israel's enemies as He dealt with Midian in the days of Gideon — and even earlier, when Barak defeated Sisera and his armies (Judges 4-5). God defeated those earlier enemies completely. Would He not also defeat those who come against His people at the time of the end?
The psalmist picks these two examples because the situation matches. The old invaders wanted the land that belongs to God. So do the new ones.
This alliance of nations matches Midian flooding the land in the days of Gideon, and Sisera and Jabin in the time of Deborah. The psalmist prays that these enemies may be destroyed as those enemies were... They too would have seized the dwelling places of God in the land, and taken His inheritance for themselves.
The verse fixes the second victory at a river. Commentators say Sisera seems to have chosen that ground himself, and that the name of the place points to the very thing that destroyed him.
The battle takes place at the river Kishon... Its name comes from a root meaning to bend, and has usually been given as "winding." Other words come from the same root too — "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name suggests a weapon of war, and the ambush that the schemer himself falls into. Kishon seems to be the place he chose himself for the battle. He falls into the pit he had dug for others. Yet God had foreseen and provided for it all.
Both precedents are famous for the smallness of the means used. Gideon's men carried no weapons worth the name, and that was the point.
Gideon and his feeble 300 men, however, utterly defeated the great Midianite host... Trumpets, pitchers and lamps are wonderfully effective weapons if God is pleased to use them, but then clearly the excellency of the power is not of them but of God.
Writers here read the psalm as more than a memory of old wars. Midian becomes a fixed model — used in this prayer, and used again by the prophet Isaiah for the day when Israel's oppressor is finally broken.
This victory over Midian becomes the pattern for the final overthrow of Israel's enemies. It appears in the prayer of the suffering remnant (Psalm 83), and Isaiah predicts the day it will actually happen (Isaiah 9:4).
The aim of that overthrow is not revenge. It is that the nations come to know who God is.
This is the last alliance of the nations around Canaan, with Assyria helping them... Judgment has to be carried out, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. The point is not that they know the Father, or know there is a God, but that they know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the people of the world will learn righteousness. Men will know that He whose name alone is Jehovah — the One who is, and was, and is to come — is the Most High over all the earth.
A Christian reading this verse may wonder whether to pray it. Commentators answer plainly, and they point to the people this prayer belongs to.
The right prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Psalm 83:9-18. But it is the right expression of faith from Jewish believers, who are looking to God to rise up and judge the earth.
The reason is a difference in destiny.
We leave the world and go to heaven. We never have to ask for the destruction of our enemies in order to enter glory. But Israel cannot have rest on earth until the wicked are destroyed. So they do ask for this righteous judgment, and that is how they will be delivered.
- Precedent. The prayer asks nothing novel — it points God back to Midian, Sisera and Jabin, and asks Him to act in character again.
- Stakes. Both old invaders wanted the land God calls His own. The new alliance wants the same, so the old cases apply.
- Power. Gideon beat Midian with 300 men carrying trumpets and jars — proof that the power belonged to God, not to the means.
- Pattern. Midian's defeat is the model for the last overthrow of Israel's enemies, and Isaiah points to the same day.
- Purpose. The end is not revenge but recognition. Judgment falls so that the nations learn righteousness and know God's name.
Who were destroyed at Endor; they became as dung for the ground.
Psalm 83 is the cry of God's people while the nations around them plot to wipe them out. At verse 10 the prayer stops speaking in general terms and points to one battlefield, asking God to do again what He did there.
En-dor was a real town, and more than one memory is attached to it.
A city with its towns, belonging to Manasseh though located in Issachar. It was apparently the scene of the death of Sisera and of Jabin. It was also the home of the medium whom Saul consulted.
The line just before this one names the river Kishon. One writer notes the river had a share in the defeat.
The river Kishon is also mentioned as having a part in this victory. God had said He would draw Sisera to Kishon. The torrent itself may have swept many of his army away, perhaps because Israel's army had trapped them.
The request is shaped exactly on two earlier invasions — Midian overrunning the land in Gideon's time, and the Canaanite commander Sisera under King Jabin.
This alliance is set beside Midian's flooding of the land in the days of Gideon, and beside Sisera and Jabin in the time of Deborah. The psalmist prays that their destruction may be like theirs. He prays that their "anointed ones," given a special place among them, may be like the kings who fell by Gideon's hand. They too would have seized the dwelling places of God in the land, and taken His inheritance for themselves.
Faith here argues from history. God's people ask Him to act as He has already acted.
Long ago Jehovah had subdued the Midianites. Earlier still, the Lord had subdued the Canaanites, when they gathered under the leadership of Sisera. So again His people in this psalm look for Him to step in, as effectively as He did in the days of Barak and in the days of Gideon.
The names of the enemy kings in the next line make the point sharper.
Zebah means "sacrifice." Here it suggests not the way of approach to God, but the slaughter the world delights to inflict on the people of God, without mercy. Zalmunna, "shade," or "refuge denied," hints at the same. So the same slaughter would fall on them, with no mercy to shelter them: "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy." This victory over Midian became the pattern for the final overthrow of Israel's enemies. It shapes both the prayer of the suffering remnant and the fulfilment Isaiah predicted.
Should a Christian pray this against his own enemies? Commentators say this part of the psalm is not the Christian's language.
The fitting prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Psalm 83:9-18. But it is the right voice of faith in Jewish saints who are looking to God to arise and judge the earth.
The reason given is a difference of hope, not a difference between an angry God and a kind one.
This is why we find in the Psalms these appeals to judgment, and demands for it. They have often stumbled Christians when the enemies of Christianity press them. They are not the expression of Christian feelings. We leave the world and go to heaven. In no sense do we have to demand the destruction of our enemies to pass into glory. But Israel cannot have their rest on earth until the wicked are destroyed. So they do demand this righteous judgment, and this is how they will be delivered.
The psalm does not end in revenge. The ruin asked for in verse 10 serves a purpose stated at the close.
God will carry out judgment, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. It is not, know the Father, nor, know there is a God; but, know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Men will know that He whose name alone is Jehovah is the Most High over all the earth.
- Precedent. En-dor is named because Sisera and Jabin seem to have died there, and the Kishon swept their army away.
- Pattern. The prayer copies Midian's and Sisera's overthrow, asking that this alliance end the same way.
- Plea. Faith argues from what God has already done. It looks for help as real as in the days of Barak and Gideon.
- Principle. Judgment falls without mercy on those who showed none — the day of Midian becomes the model for the final overthrow.
- Purpose. Not private revenge. The aim is that the nations seek His name and learn that Jehovah alone is Most High over all the earth. This is a prayer for Israel's rescue on earth, not the Christian's, who leaves the world and goes to heaven.
Make their nobles as Oreb and as Zeeb; and all their chiefs as Zebah and as Zalmunna.
Israel is surrounded by allied enemies, and the prayer asks God for nothing new. It asks Him to do again what He once did through Gideon. Four dead Midianite chiefs are named. Why pray by names from old battles, and whose prayer is this?
The psalm looks back to the time of the judges. God rescued Israel then through Gideon and through Barak.
So the godly remnant, when the great alliance rises against them (Ps. 83), will cry to their God to defeat their enemies completely. Those enemies are set on wiping the very name of Israel off the earth. It is the great alliance under the northern power, and it is really in league against God. Long ago Jehovah put down the Midianites. Earlier still the Lord put down the Canaanites too, when they gathered under Sisera's leadership. So again His people in our Psalm look for His help to be as effective as in the days of Barak and in the days of Gideon.
The verse pairs two sets of names. The first two men were princes; the second two were kings. All four fell in one campaign.
Prince of Midian: he invaded Israel, but Gideon defeated him and killed him at the rock Oreb — an event that seems to have given the rock its name.
The names of the two kings carry a message of their own.
Zebah means "sacrifice." Here, of course, it does not point to the way of approach to God. It points to the "slaughter" that the world loves to inflict on the people of God, without mercy — as Zalmunna, "shade," or "refuge denied," also shows. So the same slaughter would fall on them, with no mercy to shelter them: "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy."
The prayer aims at the men at the top. One writer says what these leaders were among their own people, and what they meant to take.
The alliance is set beside Midian flooding the land in the days of Gideon, and beside Sisera and Jabin in the time of Deborah. The psalmist prays that these enemies may be destroyed as those were. He prays that their "anointed ones," the men set apart to a special place among them, may be like the kings who fell by Gideon's hand. They too would have seized the dwelling places of God in the land, and taken His inheritance for themselves.
Gideon's defeat of Midian was not the end of the story. Isaiah takes up the same place and makes it a picture of something still ahead.
In Isaiah 10:26, Gideon's victory over Midian at the rock of Oreb points forward to the final victory over the Assyrian. In the same way, Barak's victory over Sisera at Megiddo pictures the final slaughter of the armies that will gather in the last days at Armageddon.
Read that way, the whole psalm belongs to one future crisis, and its outcome settles a question about who God is.
In Psalm 83 we have the last conspiracy of the Assyrians, and of those that dwell within the limits of the land, where judgment displays that Jehovah is Most High over all the earth.
Throughout the psalm the quarrel belongs to God. One writer sets out the aim of the judgment, and why the fight is His own.
He is supreme in holiness, above the evil. But His name is Jehovah, and He uses His power so that His enemies may seek Him in this way. Then they will know that He is "Elion," the Most High, supreme in government and blessing over all the earth. … The enemies are His, and He is the One they hate. The people are also His — His hidden ones — and the alliance against them is against Him, formed to take possession of His dwelling places.
A Christian reader may hesitate here. One writer answers that this prayer is not the Christian's way of praying about people who hate him.
So the fitting prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Psalm 83:9-18. But in Jewish saints it is the right expression of faith, as they look to God to rise up and judge the earth.
The same writer traces this note through every part of the Psalms and draws the general rule.
So all the way through, earthly judicial righteousness is the atmosphere. It is not the heavenly grace by which the Christian is now called to feel, pray, worship and walk.
- Pattern. The prayer asks for no novelty: do to today's leaders what You did to Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah and Zalmunna through Gideon.
- Persons. Oreb and Zeeb were princes of Midian. Zebah and Zalmunna were its kings, and their names carry the sense of slaughter and of refuge denied. All four fell by Gideon's hand.
- Position. The men named are the "anointed ones," the leaders set apart among the enemy. They meant to seize God's dwelling places as their own.
- Prophecy. The rock of Oreb becomes a picture. That old defeat points ahead to the final overthrow of the last alliance gathered against God's people.
- Purpose. The aim is not destruction for its own sake. It is that His enemies may seek Him, and know Jehovah alone as Most High over all the earth.
For they have said, Let us take to ourselves God's dwelling-places in possession.
The enemies in this psalm want more than a victory over Israel. Verse 12 quotes what they said to each other, and their claim falls on property that belongs to God — which is why the prayer of this psalm turns so fierce.
The verse reports what the attackers said. One writer bases the plea for judgment on what God has already done to earlier invaders:
In verse 9 the psalmist asks God to deal with the enemies of Israel as He dealt with Midian in the days of Gideon. Earlier still, Barak defeated Sisera and his armies (Judges 4-5). God defeated those earlier enemies completely. Would He not also defeat those coming against His people at the time of the end? For they said, "Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God" (v. 12). At the end it seems the attackers will be more determined and vicious than ever, but their self-confidence is empty!
Translations differ here. Some read "pastures of God," others "houses" or "dwelling-places of God." Either way, what they plan to seize belongs to God:
They too would have seized the dwelling-places of God in the land, and taken His inheritance for themselves.
Edom made the same claim on the land elsewhere. The same writer answers it:
The land is truly Jehovah's land. He has never forfeited it, and He will never give it up to those who are His enemies.
This psalm is not mainly about the people. God Himself stands at the centre of it:
The action of the psalm centres entirely on Him. The people are only the occasion of it. The enemies are His, and He is the One they hate. (vv. 1, 2.) The people are also His — His hidden ones (v. 3). The alliance against them is against Him, to take possession of His dwelling-places. … The situation is like the days of Deborah and of Gideon. The same lust of possession drove their oppressors.
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The previous verse names Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah and Zalmunna, the princes and kings of Midian who fell in Gideon's day. Their names carry meaning, and their defeat set the pattern:
Zebah means "sacrifice." Here it does not point to the way of approach to God. It points to the slaughter that the world delights to inflict on the people of God, without mercy — and Zalmunna, "shade," or "refuge denied," points the same way. So the same slaughter would come on them, with no mercy to shelter them: "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy." This victory over Midian becomes the pattern for the final overthrow of Israel's enemies, both in the prayer of the suffering remnant (Ps. 83) and in the fulfilment Isaiah predicted (Isa. 9:4).
A reader today may wonder whether to pray these words against his own enemies. One writer marks off this prayer from the prayer that fits Christians:
The right prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Ps. 83:9-18. But it is the right expression of faith in Jewish believers, who are looking to God to rise up and judge the earth.
The psalm does not stop at revenge. The judgment it asks for has a purpose, and the last verse states it:
God will carry out judgment, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. It is not, know the Father, nor, know there is a God; but, know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the people of the world will learn righteousness.
- Their words. The verse quotes the enemies themselves. What they said out loud becomes the charge against them.
- His property. What they planned to seize, "pastures" or "dwelling-places," is God's, and He has never given up His claim to it.
- His people. Because the land is His and the people are His hidden ones, the plot against them is a plot against Him.
- His pattern. Midian's princes fell without mercy because they showed none. That defeat shows how this alliance ends.
- His name. The goal of the judgment is not revenge but recognition — that the nations learn who Jehovah is.
O my God, make them like a whirling thing, like stubble before the wind.
Psalm 83 is a prayer against a ring of nations who have joined forces against Israel and against God. Here the psalmist asks God to act. He asks Him to turn the whole alliance into something light and worthless — dust and chaff that the wind sweeps off the ground.
The verse belongs to a real crisis, not a private quarrel. The psalm names who these enemies are.
To reach this goal the nations talk together and form an alliance against God. The psalm lists the nations right around the land of Israel. The Assyrian from the north helps them.
One writer calls it the last plot of its kind, ended by a judgment that shows who rules the earth.
In Psalm 83 we have the last conspiracy of the Assyrians and of those who live inside the borders of the land. There judgment shows that Jehovah is Most High over all the earth.
The two pictures come from harvest work. Grain was trampled on an open threshing floor, and the wind did the sorting.
When people threshed grain on the threshing floor, the wind blew through the open doors at either end and carried the chaff away. The grain stands for believers, the chaff for unbelievers, who are of no practical use at all. But unbelievers are not only blown away. They are also open to the flame of a frightening fire, which is the direct judgment of God, or to the storm of God's wrath, like a tempest no one can resist.
Translations give the first word as "whirling dust," "a whirling thing," or "thistledown." Each is a light thing that spins along the ground in a strong wind. The point is whose hands these enemies are in.
He prays that, in the hands of the Mighty God, they may be like chaff or thistledown whirled about by the wind. Fire catches hold of a wood; the flame of a volcano sets the mountains alight. So he prays that the anger of God may chase them, and that His presence may terrify them like the blast of a hurricane.
Isaiah uses the same pictures for nations that rush against Zion. There the sweeping away is not a request but a promise.
"The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters," that is, against Zion… But at her worst moment, when her case looks hopeless to every eye, the Lord steps in to rescue her. So Isaiah says of the gathered nations: "He will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more."
Many readers stumble here. The New Testament tells believers today to do the opposite of what this verse asks.
The present age is one of pure grace. God is not now counting men's sins against them. He freely forgives all who believe in Jesus, even the vilest and the worst. And the command to us is, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them."… Our Lord Himself said, while His enemies were nailing Him to the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." … But a time is coming when prayers like these will rise to heaven — and remember, they are inspired prayers.
The difference lies in how God is dealing with the world at each time.
When God judges His enemies, as He did long ago and will do again, His people share in that judgment to some degree. Now He is showing sovereign grace, and a different spirit suits them; the New Testament proves this beyond doubt for the Christian and the church. Even so, the Psalms are a rich treasure from God for the believer.
The prayer does not stop at destruction. The psalm ends with a goal, and this scattering serves it.
The goal is the blessing of man through the lifting up of God — that man may find his place with God. For this, man must be brought low and his pride hidden from him… Yes, the destruction of His foes is meant to make Him known as Supreme, who alone is Jehovah, the Unchanging One because He is the Perfect One.
- Plot. The nations around Israel form an alliance, helped by the Assyrian from the north. The psalm calls that alliance a plot against God Himself.
- Plea. The psalmist asks God to make these enemies weightless: dust and chaff that the wind blows off the threshing floor.
- Power. The wind is not chance. It is God's own hand, followed by fire and hurricane — direct judgment, not bad luck.
- Postponed. This prayer is inspired, but it is not the Christian's prayer now. God is showing grace, so we bless and do not curse, like the One who prayed for the men who nailed Him to the cross.
- Purpose. The scattering is not the end. God blows pride away so that man can find his place with Him, and so that all the earth knows Jehovah alone as Most High.
As fire burneth a forest, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire,
Psalm 83 is the prayer of a people surrounded by nations with one shared aim: to wipe Israel out of existence and out of memory. In this verse the psalmist hands God a picture of what he asks for — fire running through a forest, a whole mountainside alight.
The psalm just before this one looked at trouble inside Israel. This one looks outward:
Psalm 82 deals with the corrupt leaders within the circle of God's people. Psalm 83 deals in judgment with the confederated enemies of God's people who oppose them from without.
One writer describes it as the last such alliance:
This is the last confederacy of the nations surrounding Canaan, with Assyria helping them.
The fire line is not a stray picture. It belongs to a single sweep of images — wind, fire, storm — that the psalmist piles up in one plea:
He prays that, in the hands of the Mighty God, they may be like chaff or thistledown whirled by the wind. He prays that the anger of God may pursue them as fire catches hold of a wood, or as the flame of a volcano sets the mountains on fire. He prays that His presence may terrify them like the breath of the hurricane.
Wind and fire come from two different scenes. One writer explains both, starting with the threshing floor:
When grain was trodden on the threshing floor, the wind blew through the open doors at either end and took the chaff away. The grain stands for believers, but the chaff for unbelievers, useless for all practical purposes. And unbelievers are not only blown away. They also meet the flame of frightening fire, which is the direct judgment of God, or the storm of God's wrath, an irresistible tempest.
The psalm looks back to enemies God has already beaten. That memory drives the request:
God defeated those earlier enemies completely. Would He not also defeat those coming against His people at the time of the end? For they said, "Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God." At the time of the end it seems the attackers will be more determined and vicious than ever before. But how empty their self-confidence is!
The psalm does not stop at the burning. At its close the aim of the judgment comes out:
At the close of the psalm the cry is to God as such, for Israel is not yet established in covenant blessing. Even so, the name Jehovah comes in. God will execute judgment, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. It is not, know the Father, nor, know there is a God; but, know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Men will know that He whose name alone is Jehovah is the Most High over all the earth.
Asking God to burn your enemies does not sound like Christian prayer. One writer faces that head on:
This is why the Psalms contain these appeals to judgment, and demands for it. They have often tripped up Christians when the enemies of Christianity bring them up. They are not the expression of Christian feelings. We leave the world and go to heaven. In no sense do we have to demand the destruction of our enemies to pass into glory. But Israel cannot have their rest on earth until the wicked are destroyed. So they do demand this righteous judgment, and this is how they will be delivered.
- Threat. A last confederacy of the nations around Canaan, with Assyria helping them, sets out to end Israel.
- Plea. The psalmist asks for wind, fire and storm together: chaff whirled away, flame running through forest and mountain, terror like a hurricane.
- Picture. The harvest wind blows chaff away as useless. The fire is God's direct judgment, and the storm an irresistible one.
- Purpose. The burning is not the end point. God judges so that the nations will seek His name and learn that He alone is Most High over all the earth.
- Place. This cry for the destruction of enemies is not Christian language. It belongs to a people whose rest is on earth, and who wait for God to judge their oppressors.
So pursue them with thy tempest, and terrify them with thy whirlwind.
Psalm 83 is the prayer of a nation surrounded: neighbouring peoples have joined forces to wipe out the name of Israel. Verse 15 closes a chain of images — dust, chaff, a forest fire, and now a storm that hunts the enemy down.
The verse finishes a comparison started one line earlier, where flame burns through a forest and over the mountains:
He prays that, in the hands of the Mighty God, they may be like chaff or thistledown whirled by the wind. Fire catches hold of a wood, or the flame of the volcano sets the mountains on fire. In the same way, he prays that the anger of God may pursue them and His presence terrify them like the breath of the hurricane.
Notice what the prayer asks. Not simply that the enemy scatter, but that God's anger chase them. Another writer names what each picture stands for:
Unbelievers are not only blown away. They also meet the flame of frightening fire, which is the direct judgment of God, or the storm of God's wrath, an irresistible tempest.
One writer names the enemies the storm falls on, an alliance gathered around the land of Israel:
Here we have another page of Israel's history while in the land. Those nations within the limits of the land and its borders form a confederacy. The Assyrian helps them and joins with them, to cut Israel off from being a nation, so that the name of Israel is remembered no more. It is not now the Jews or Antichrist... They are His enemies; they will have "the houses of God in possession."
That last phrase matters. What the attackers want to seize belongs to God, so the tempest asked for is God's answer to a raid on His own property.
Praying for someone's terror jars a Christian reader. Commentators answer by asking whose mouth these words belong in:
The fitting prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Psalm 83:9-18. But it is the right voice of faith in Jewish saints, who are looking to God to arise and judge the earth.
Another writer makes the same point a matter of timing:
The present time is one of unmixed grace. God is not now counting men's trespasses against them. He freely forgives all who believe in Jesus, even the worst. To us the instruction is, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them."... But there is a time coming when prayers like these (inspired prayers, remember) will go up to heaven.
So the verse is not a model for how to treat your enemies today. It is a true word, held for its hour.
The next line asks God to fill their faces with shame. That is not the end of the request:
Yet the punishing hand of God has not only condemnation as its object, but recovery if that is possible. If only men may be ashamed enough to seek God's name, there would be good results for them.
So the storm is not the same as plain destruction. It leaves room for the enemy to turn.
The psalm ends by naming what the judgment is for:
God will carry out judgment, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. It is not, know the Father, nor, know there is a God; but, know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
The prayer for a hurricane, then, is a prayer for God to become known.
- Storm — The verse finishes the fire picture: as flame races through a forest, so God's anger pursues and His presence terrifies.
- Target — The storm falls on a confederacy that wants Israel's name erased and God's own houses seized. An attack on His people is an attack on Him.
- Timing — Today is a day of unmixed grace: "Bless those who persecute you." These words are not the Christian's prayer now. They are the right cry of faith when God rises to judge the earth.
- Mercy — The shame asked for aims at more than condemnation. It aims at recovery: men ashamed enough to seek God's name.
- End — The whole tempest exists to make God known. When His judgments are in the earth, the world learns righteousness and learns who Jehovah is.
Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Jehovah.
Psalm 83 is the cry of God's people when the nations around them band together to take the Lord's land. Verse 16 asks God to shame these enemies — but the shame is aimed at something, and commentators focus on that aim.
One writer sees here a final alliance of the nations around the land. God's judgment on them has an aim: they are to seek one particular name.
With Psalm 83 we need only call attention to its subject. It is the last confederacy of the nations surrounding Canaan, with Assur helping them. At the close of the psalm, Jehovah's name comes in. The cry itself goes up to God as such, because Israel is not yet established in covenant blessing. God will execute judgment, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. It is not, know the Father, nor, know there is a God; but, know Jehovah.
Not every writer fixes the moment with the same confidence. Another finds the date hard to settle. He reads the psalm's examples from Israel's history as enemies fighting Israel for the land God had given them.
Yet I feel it very difficult to fix an exact time for the action described here. Some of its wording has at times made me see here an attempt to drive Israel out again, after they have been re-established in the land. The historical references seem to favour this view. All the examples quoted from the book of Judges have one thing in common. In each case the nations tried to take the Lord's land from Israel, after He had brought them in and given it to them as their own possession.
God's hand falls to condemn, but condemnation is not its only aim.
Yet the punishing hand of God has not only condemnation as its object, but recovery if that is possible. If men are only ashamed enough to seek God's name, that will bring good results for them (v. 16). But whether they seek Him or not, His dealing with them will have its proper results — on one side true blessing, on the other their eternal dismay (v. 17).
Shame is the doorway, not the destination. Pride is what has to go before a man can take his place before God.
The end is to be the blessing of man in the exaltation of God — that man may find his place with God. He must be brought low for this, and his pride hidden from him… Yes, God destroys His foes to make Himself known as Supreme. He alone is Jehovah, the Unchanging One, because He is the Perfect One.
God uses His power with an aim: that His enemies should seek Him as He truly is.
He is supreme in holiness, above the evil. But His name is Jehovah, and He uses His power so that His enemies may seek Him in that character. They are to know that He is 'Elion,' the Most High, supreme in government and blessing over all the earth (v. 18). The action of the psalm centres wholly around Him, the people being merely the occasion of it. The enemies are His, and He is the Object of their hatred (vv. 1, 2).
Why this name and not another? Because it is the name tied to a covenant that reaches beyond one nation.
"Jehovah" is especially the covenant name of Israel's God (Ex. 6:3). In that covenant He has bound Himself by promise to His nation. But the covenant also holds within it the government of the whole earth, in blessing and in power. It is through the blessing of the nation of Israel that the other nations come to know and adore the name and glory of the God of the whole earth.
A Christian reading verse 16 may wonder whether to pray it against enemies today. One writer draws a firm line.
The right prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Ps. 83:9-18. But it is the right expression of faith in Jewish believers, who are looking to God to rise up and judge the earth.
- Storm. God's judgment falls on a last alliance of the nations gathered around Israel's land.
- Shame. The humbling is not an end in itself. God's punishing hand aims at condemnation, but at recovery too, where recovery is possible.
- Seeking. God brings a man low and hides his pride from him, so that he can find his place with God.
- Name. They are not simply to learn that there is a God. They are to seek Jehovah, the covenant name of Israel's God, and through Israel's blessing the other nations come to know Him.
- Supremacy. The psalm ends where it aimed: His enemies will know Him as the Most High over all the earth. This is the prayer of people waiting for God to judge the earth, not words given to Christians for their own enemies.
Let them be put to shame and be dismayed for ever, and let them be confounded and perish
Psalm 83 closes with a prayer that God's enemies be shamed and ruined forever. Nations have joined forces to wipe Israel out, and the prayer raises two questions: who prays like this, and what is the shame meant to do?
One writer looks at what the plot reveals about man. Hatred of God's people is enmity against God — and the attempt to destroy them ends up proving who God is.
Psalm 83 shows the way man is guilty of active enmity against God. In his hatred of God's people he uses cunning, conspiracy, and violence to wipe their memory off the earth. The result is that Jehovah alone (the God of Israel) is the Most High over all the earth. Such is the effect of man's efforts.
Another writer works through the psalm and finds God at every point — including in the request of verse 17:
Everything in the psalm centres on Him, and the people are only the occasion for it. The enemies are His enemies, and He is the One they hate. The people are His too — His hidden ones — and the alliance against them is an alliance against Him, formed to seize His dwelling places. … For His own name's sake, Jehovah is called on to put them to shame, so that they may be confounded and perish.
Verse 16 asks God to fill their faces with shame "that they may seek your name, O LORD" (ESV). Verse 17 then asks for shame that lasts forever, and for ruin. Older translations read its last line as "let them be confounded and perish." The two verses do not clash, because God's hand can end in more than one way.
God's punishing hand aims at more than condemnation. It also aims at recovery, if recovery is possible. If men are ashamed enough to seek God's name, the result will be good for them (v. 16). But whether they do or not, His dealing with them will have its proper result: on one side true blessing, on the other their eternal dismay (v. 17).
So the prayer for lasting shame is not a wish that no one turns back. Where shame does not lead men to seek God, it ends in ruin. Either way, His dealing reaches its proper result.
The judgment has an aim, and the aim is knowledge. One writer shows how narrow that knowledge is.
The subject of Psalm 83 only needs pointing out. It is the last alliance of the nations around Canaan, with Assyria helping them. At the end of the psalm the cry is addressed to God as God, because Israel is not yet settled in covenant blessing. Even so, the name Jehovah is brought in. God will carry out judgment so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. The call is not to know the Father, nor to know that there is a God, but to know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the people of the world will learn righteousness.
Another writer points to the psalm's last verse as its defining note.
The Spirit's direct desire here is that the name of JEHOVAH be shown in power, as the Most High God over all the earth (verse 18). This is the leading feature of the psalm, and it gives the psalm a special interest and value.
Commentators are careful here. This is not a model for how believers today should pray about people who hate them.
The right prayer for those who hate us is certainly not the language of Psalm 83:9-18. But it is the right expression of faith for Jewish believers who are looking to God to arise and judge the earth.
So who is left to pray it? Another writer answers.
A hidden remnant still remains to Israel, and God will remember them at the right time. This Psalm plainly relates to them. It is the voice of the Spirit of Christ praying for His earthly people against the fully ripened plans of wicked men, who stand united as one man in their attempt to frustrate Jehovah's purpose.
- Name attacked. The plot is to wipe Israel's memory off the earth. But Israel are His hidden ones, so the attack lands on God Himself.
- Name sought. The psalm asks for shame with a purpose — that those who feel it would turn and seek the Lord's name.
- Name refused. Where shame leads to no seeking, it ends in the lasting dismay of verse 17. God's dealing reaches its proper result either way.
- Name known. The goal of judgment is knowledge, not revenge. The nations must learn not just that there is a God, but that He is the Lord, Most High over all the earth.
- Name prayed. Commentators warn that this is not the believer's prayer against personal enemies. It is the cry of a hidden remnant asking God to arise and judge.
That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 83 is a prayer against a group of nations plotting to wipe Israel's name off the map. Its last verse names the outcome the whole prayer aims at. The psalmist asks for more than rescue. He asks that one Name be known as supreme, and known everywhere.
The psalm ends with a purpose clause, and commentators read the judgment asked for in verses 13–17 as the means to that end. What is to be learned is very specific:
Judgment is to be executed, so that the rebellious nations may seek Jehovah's name. It is not, know the Father, nor, know there is a God; but, know Jehovah. When His judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Men will know that He whose name alone is Jehovah — He who is, and was, and is to come — is the Most High over all the earth. That is, Jehovah, the one true God, the God of Israel, is the One above all, supreme over the earth.
The verse rests everything on a name. Older translations write it "Jehovah." Most English Bibles print it as "the LORD" in small capitals. Its force is existence that depends on nothing:
The dread and sacred Name Jehovah signifies underived existence, the Self-Existing One. To Israel the Name was explained as "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex. 3:14); to Gentiles as "him who is and who was and who is to come" (Rev. 1:4; 4:8)... "Who is" implies independent, unchangeable existence. "Who was" points to Jehovah's relation to the past. "Who is to come" shows His connection with the future.
The second title in the verse, Elyon, carries its own weight, and the psalm deliberately stretches it beyond one nation:
Elyon, "the Most High," is another name of God. Sometimes it stands alone, as in Deut. 32:8; 2 Sam. 24:14; and in Dan. 4:17-34 (from a related word). Sometimes one of the above words is added to it, and it is then "the Most High God," Gen. 14:20, or "the LORD Most High," Ps. 7:17. It is not limited to Israel, for He is "the Most High over all the earth." Ps. 83:18.
So the verse joins the name Israel knew to the title under which God claims the whole world. One writer traces this title from earlier Scripture to the coming reign:
It is in this name that He takes possession of the earth. Melchizedek pronounced his blessing in the name of the Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. And Nebuchadnezzar, the humbled head of the nations, praises and blesses the Most High. It is His millennial name, the name in which He takes His great power and reigns.
The plot in this psalm is to erase a people. Its actual outcome, one writer notes, is the public establishment of the very God being resisted:
Psalm 83 shows the way man is guilty of active enmity against God. In his hatred of God's people he uses craft, conspiracy, and violence to destroy their memory off the earth. The result is that Jehovah alone, the God of Israel, is the Most High over all the earth. Such is the effect of man's efforts.
The harsh prayers before verse 18 trouble many Christian readers. One writer puts this psalm on different ground from the church's calling:
The prayer that fits those who hate us is certainly not the language of Ps. 83:9-18. But it is the right expression of faith in Jewish believers, who are looking to God to arise and judge the earth.
The lesson the psalm asks God to teach is one the world has not yet learned. The point is God's right to dispose of the earth:
The earth is full of confusion and sorrow, because men are proud and self-willed. They are bent on dividing the earth by their own plans, to satisfy their own ambition. Between the wars, negotiators come together to discuss terms of peace. God is not uppermost in their thoughts. Still less is the Man whom God has appointed Heir of all things... The nations will yet have to learn that God is the Most High. He has absolute right to dispose of everything as He wills. And as the Almighty He is well able to carry out His will, and crush all opposition.
- Name — the verse turns on one word: Jehovah, "the LORD." It means existence that depends on nothing: He who is, and was, and is to come.
- Claim — "Most High" (Elyon) is not a title limited to Israel; it asserts God's right over the whole earth.
- Method — God teaches the nations by judgment, not by argument. When His judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
- Irony — a conspiracy formed to erase God's people ends by establishing that Jehovah alone is supreme.
- Reach — the prayer looks past one rescue to a lasting result: God known as Most High over all the earth, in the name under which He takes His great power and reigns.