Peace in The Midst of Persecution And Pressures
October 16, 2022
Commentary
This psalm was written by a man who was conscious of the pressures surrounding Israel (vv. 1-18). Probably the events in the days of Jehoshaphat most closely approximate the situation envisioned here. All the enemies of Jehovah; the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Gebalites, Ammonites, Amalekites and Philistines were against them. At first they were cunning but now they were raging, roaring and malicious. It wasn’t so much that they disliked the Jews but they disliked the way they worshiped. When Israel claimed to worship the one and only true and living God it condemned the way the others worshiped and by implication did away with all their gods.
As many can testify, one’s closest enemies can be relatives or former friends. Protestant denominations and splits within them testify to this. So in ancient times the children of Isaac were constantly at war with the children of Ishmael. They both were descended from Abraham but the Edomites and the Israelites lived too close together to ever be friends. It has been said that in this psalm we can catch a glimpse of Armageddon.
The world of our day is full of the noise of evil and troublesome men. It is not that they dislike us personally but they dislike the one who has saved us and don’t want to hear His name or teaching. But one day the Trumpet will sound and we shall arise. Our great Commander and Chief, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has planned our evacuation from the very beginning. This is what we call the Rapture of the Church.
Application
Am I living in fear of the pressures of life or in complete confidence of our Commander and Chief?
Psalms 83:1– 18 (NET)
1 O God, do not be silent. Do not ignore us. Do not be inactive, O God.
2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion; those who hate you are hostile.
3 They carefully plot against your people, and make plans to harm the ones you cherish.
4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation. Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 Yes, they devise a unified strategy; they form an alliance against you.
6 It includes the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has allied with them, lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. (Selah)
9 Do to them as you did to Midian — as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They were destroyed at Endor; their corpses were like manure on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let’s take over the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, like dead weeds blown away by the wind.
14 Like the fire that burns down the forest, or the flames that consume the mountainsides,
15 chase them with your gale winds, and terrify them with your windstorm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, so they might seek you, O Lord.
17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified. May they die in shame.
18 Then they will know that you alone are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth.