[[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Psalm Overview]] | [[Psalm 82]] | [[Psalm 84]] # Psalm 83 📖: A Prayer Against Conspiring Nations > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) #### A song, a psalm of Asaph. [[#Verse 01.]] O God, do not be silent. Do not ignore us. Do not be inactive, O God. [[#Verse 02.]] For look, your enemies are making a commotion; those who hate you are hostile. [[#Verse 03.]] They carefully plot against your people, and make plans to harm the ones you cherish. [[#Verse 04.]] 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.” [[#Verse 05.]] Yes, they devise a unified strategy; they form an alliance against you. [[#Verse 06.]] It includes the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, [[#Verse 07.]] Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. [[#Verse 08.]] Even Assyria has allied with them, lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. (Selah) [[#Verse 09.]] Do to them as you did to Midian— as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. [[#Verse 10.]] They were destroyed at Endor; their corpses were like manure on the ground. [[#Verse 11.]] Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna, [[#Verse 12.]] who said, “Let’s take over the pastures of God.” [[#Verse 13.]] O my God, make them like dead thistles, like dead weeds blown away by the wind. [[#Verse 14.]] Like the fire that burns down the forest, or the flames that consume the mountainsides, [[#Verse 15.]] chase them with your gale winds, and terrify them with your windstorm. [[#Verse 16.]] Cover their faces with shame, so they might seek you, O Lord. [[#Verse 17.]] May they be humiliated and continually terrified. May they die in shame. [[#Verse 18.]] Then they will know that you alone are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Psalm 83 is the last of the twelve psalms of Asaph. 2. It names ten enemies: Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia, Tyre, and Assyria (83:6-8). 3. Assyria is described as helping "the descendants of Lot," meaning Moab and Ammon (83:8; Genesis 19:36-38). 4. Some scholars link the psalm to the coalition that attacked Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. 5. The prayer recalls Midian's defeat by Gideon (Judges 7) and Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River (Judges 4-5). 6. Oreb and Zeeb, whose names mean "raven" and "wolf," were Midianite commanders (Judges 7:25). 7. Zebah and Zalmunna were Midianite kings captured by Gideon (Judges 8:21). 8. Gebal (83:7) is likely Byblos, a Phoenician city later famous for papyrus; the Greek word for book, *biblos*, is linked to it. 9. The tumbleweed and chaff images (83:13) picture enemies blown away by the wind. 10. The psalm ends with the purpose of judgment: that the nations will know the Lord alone is Most High (83:18). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Lord over every coalition that rises against God's people. The nations conspired against the Lord and His anointed, but God raised Jesus and seated Him as King (Acts 4:25-28). In Him the nations will finally know that the Lord alone is Most High (Philippians 2:10-11). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The psalmist begs God not to be silent (83:1). How do you pray when God seems quiet? 2. The enemies conspire to wipe Israel's name from memory (83:4). Why do you think opposition to God's people has been so persistent in history? 3. The goal of the prayer is that people would seek God's name and know He alone is Most High (83:16-18). How can our prayers about enemies aim at their redemption? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: O God, do not be silent or still. - 📖 verse 16: Cover their faces with shame so they will seek Your name, O Lord. - 📖 verse 18: Let them know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Psalm 02#Verse 01.|Psalm 2:1-6]] - The nations rage against the Lord and His anointed. - 🔗 [[Judges 07#Verse 19.|Judges 7:19-25]] - Gideon defeats Midian. - 🔗 [[Judges 04#Verse 12.|Judges 4:12-16]] - Sisera's defeat by the Kishon. - 🔗 [[2 Chronicles 20#Verse 01.|2 Chronicles 20:1-22]] - God defeats a coalition against Judah. - 🔗 [[Acts 04#Verse 25.|Acts 4:25-28]] - The early church prays Psalm 2 against opposition. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Psalm 83- SOAP|Ask God the Hard Questions]] ## 📂 Internal Notes