By Kevin M. Watson, Ph.D

NOTE:

Today’s commentary is by Dr. Kevin Watson, who is coming to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence. I wrote a post announcing and explaining this move.-Andrew

Psalm 83

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, do not keep silence;
    do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
    those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people;
    they consult together against your treasured ones.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
    let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5 For they conspire with one accord;
    against you they make a covenant—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Asshur also has joined them;
    they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
    as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who were destroyed at En-dor,
    who became dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves
    of the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,
    like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest,
    as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so may you pursue them with your tempest
    and terrify them with your hurricane!
16 Fill their faces with shame,
    that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
    let them perish in disgrace,
18 that they may know that you alone,
    whose name is the Lord,
    are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 83 desires to rouse God from his aloof silence and come to Israel’s aid as they are threatened by hostile enemy forces. Israel’s enemies are God’s enemies in this psalm, and God should make his presence known by destroying those who are trying to destroy his people. Christians too, as individuals and sometimes as a community, come under threat, and Psalm 83 can be a model prayer for God’s help. Many feel uncomfortable with the psalm because it expresses a desire to destroy the enemy…. However, the imprecations are a way of turning our anger over to God. After all, the psalmist is not asking God for resources to do it on his own, but rather is petitioning God, who can decide himself how he should act. In other words, the psalmist is acting in the spirit of Romans 12:19: ‘Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. - Tremper Longman III

In the midst of the cry for God to destroy those who are harming God’s people, verse 16 is fascinating. Did you notice it?

 Fill their faces with shame,

     That they may seek your name, O Lord.

What is this prayer ultimately asking God to do? Reread verses 16-18 to find out!