Psalm 83:  Make Them Like Dust in the Wind!

O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind!  Psalm 83:13

A Prayer for the Destruction of Israel’s Enemies

 

Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord.  Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth. Psalm 83:16-18

Psalm 83 is a psalm of lament in which particular attention is given to the wicked.  The curse that Asaph utters against the wicked puts this psalm in the category of the imprecatory psalms.  When we read the strong words in this psalm, we need to keep in mind that the intent of the psalm Asaph is to vindicate the glory of God.  Surrounding nations actively plot the destruction of Israel.  Asaph calls on God to act and deliver His people.

83:2, 3 Asaph feels revulsion against the enemies of the Lord.  He hates what God hates (101:6-8).  The attacks of the wicked are not only against God, but also against the people of God.

2  For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3  They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.

83:4 let us cut them off:  God’s attitude toward those who plot the destruction of His people is clear:  His curse will rest on them (Gen. 12:2, 3).  Asaph here is simply praying that God would act according to His promises.

4  They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

83:5-8 consulted together:  Throughout history, many nations have conspired to bring about the ruin of Israel and Judah.  All such endeavors are condemned in his psalm.  Against You:  In conspiring against the people of God, the wicked actually resist God Himself.  The tents of Edom:  The place names in this passage refer to nations on the borders of Israel and Judah.  The Hagrites may have come from Arabia.  The people of Gebal may have lived in a mountainous region south of the Dead Sea; alternatively, Gebal may have been another name for Byblos, a city near Tyre.

5  For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6  The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7  Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8  Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah

83:9 Asaph recites God’s great victories against the formidable foes of Israel.  God’s victory at Midian was accomplished through Gideon (Judg. 7).  God’s victory over Sisra was accomplished through Deborah and Barak (Judg. 4; 5).  The same God who had battled Israel’s enemies in the past would fight all those who might oppose His people in the future.

9  Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,

83:13 In a culture in which remembering a person was very important, an ultimate curse would have been to regard a person’s memory as whirling dust or windblown chaff.

13  O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind!

83:16 Shame is the opposite of dignity, an attribute of the righteous.  Seek Your name:  Asaph’s first call for God to shame Israel’s enemies is redemptive – that the nations might hear, feel shame, repent, and seek the face of the Lord.  Yet if they continued in their wicked path, they would face further confounding and would one day face God in judgment.  The title Most High is often used in the Psalms to speak of God’s control over all the nations of the world.

16  Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord. 17  Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, 18  That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.

 

** Who are the enemies?  They are collectively the enemy of God and His people.  When we become God’s people, we have nothing to be afraid of.  We just hide behind Him.  His name is Jehovah, YHWH in Hebrew.

 


83 1  A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! 2  For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3  They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4  They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5  For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6  The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7  Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8  Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah 9  Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon, 10  Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth. 11  Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12  Who said, “Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.” 13  O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind! 14  As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire, 15  So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm. 16  Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord. 17  Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, 18  That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.