Message Notes

SSS 4 6 August 2023
Book 3
Psalms 73-89

Text: Psalm 83

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 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 [c]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.

Psalm 83:1-18

A DESPERATE PRAYER

1 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.

Psalm 83:1-2

1. That God would not:

a) Be silent

b) Hold His peace

c) Be still

2. The Enemies have lifted up their head

a) Of God

b) Those who hate God

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ENEMIES

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:

Psalm 83:3-5

1. Consulted together

2. Taken crafty counsel against

3. Formed a confederacy

4. Come to “one consent”

a) “Your people”

b) “Your sheltered ones”

5. The Goal

a) To destroy the nation of Israel

b) That it be remembered no more

MEMBERS OF THE CONFERACY

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.

Psalm 83:6-8

They have been identified clearly

IMPRECATORY PRAYER AGAINST THE ENEMY NATIONS I

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.”

Psalm 83:9-12

1. Historical precedents

2. Book of Judges

a) Midian Judges 6-7

b) Commander Sisera and King Jabin Judges 4-5

c) Oreb and Zeeb (Princes of Midian Judges 7:25

d) Zebah and Zalmuna (Midianite kings Judges 8:15-21

3. These had wanted to take the pastures of God as their own possession

4. Implication:
That these enemies perish!

IMPRECATORY PRAYER AGAINST THE ENEMY NATIONS II

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.

Psalm 83:13-18

1. Asaph’s personal imprecatory prayer

2. Elements of his prayer against the Enemies

a) Whirling dust

b) Chaff before the wind

c) Woods burnt by Fire

d) Pursued by a tempest/ storm

e) Filled with shame

f) Be confounded

g) Be dismayed forever

h) Perish

3. Redemptive features

a) That they may seek God’s name

b) That they may that the LORD is the Most High God

c) That God alone is the LORD