O God, do not be silent!

Do not be deaf.

Do not be quiet, O God.

Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies?

Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?

They devise crafty schemes against your people;

they conspire against your precious ones.

“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation.

We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”

Psalm 83:1-4

Dear friends, I have been drawn to Psalm 83 in my prayers for the peace of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, and I want to invite you to join me in this focus.  In this psalm, Asaph implored the Lord to grant deliverance from enemies who wished to “wipe out Israel as a nation.”  Throughout history, enemy sites have been set on the destruction of Israel, and throughout history faithful people (such as Asaph) have petitioned Almighty God for deliverance.  To this day, Israel’s arrogant enemies are in an uproar, devising crafty schemes and conspiring against God’s chosen people.  Indeed, the Islamic goal is to “wipe Israel off the map.”

Verses 5-12 identify people groups have opposed Israel throughout history.  There is considerable theological debate about the “Psalm 83 prophecy,” but my purpose now is not to address that debate. Today my objective is to focus our prayer efforts as the psalmist did.  So let’s move on to verses 13-17.

O my God, scatter them like tumbleweed,

like chaff before the wind!

As a fire burns a forest

and as a flame sets mountains ablaze,

chase them with your fierce storm;

terrify them with your tempest.

Utterly disgrace them

until they submit to your name, O Lord.

Let them be ashamed and terrified forever.

Let them die in disgrace.

Psalm 83:13-17

The psalmist spared no passion in beseeching God to destroy the enemies of Israel.  God is jealous for His own.  Deuteronomy 4:24 identifies God as a devouring fire and a jealous God [for His people].  As we long for righteousness, we too may petition God for His vengeance upon evil in the world.  We serve a just and righteous God who shows His love by punishing unrighteousness.  No parent is a good parent who allows his children to perpetrate evil with no consequences. 

But, as is almost always the case in Psalms, this chapter ends with the positive grace that comes only through our Lord.

Then they will learn that You alone are called the Lord,

that You alone are the Most High,

supreme over all the earth.

Psalm 83:18

Friends, will you join me in this prayer….that those who oppose Israel will learn that God alone is the Lord?  He is the Most High, and supreme over ALL the earth.  May Israel and Israel’s enemies see and know that the Lord Most High is, indeed, supreme, and may they seek Him in these last days.  It is our responsibility to pray to that end.  Please join me!

(For those interested in the Psalm 83 debate, I have tried to present the two opposing views, and have shared my thoughts here and here.)