Embrace the Word for Monday, June 29, 2026

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Psalm 83 is a prayer for God’s judgement upon the nations. Psalm 83 serves much like an extension of Psalm 82 as it offers a detailed description of the conclusion of Psalm 82 as Asaph prays: “Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” (82:8). Much like Psalm 82, Psalm 83 pertains to the judgment requested for the LORD’s enemies in light of their attack upon Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. Whereas Psalm 82 addressed judgment on “the gods,” Psalm 83 will address judgement on the nations. Psalm 83 is the last of Asaph’s Psalms: “A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.” Psalm 83 shares many additional links with Psalm 82 as both Psalms are prayers pertaining to the judgment on the wicked. Both Psalms also speak about God with the title “Most High” (82:6; 83:18), and they also both end with a reference to the LORD being over all the earth (82:8; 83:18). Psalm 83 reaches back to Psalm 1 in verse 13 and Psalm 2 in verse 2. Psalm 83 begins with an emphasis on describing the enemies (83:1-8), and it concludes with an emphasis on praying against the enemies (83:9-18).

Psalm 83 opens with a request stated in three overlapping ways: “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!” (83:1). Asaph begins this Psalm with a focus squarely upon God as verse 1 starts and ends with “O God.” Essentially, Asaph calls upon the LORD to act, that is, respond to what the enemy nations are doing: “For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” (83:2-4). As Asaph looks to the LORD, he asks the LORD to look around at the enemies who “make an uproar,” “hate you,” “lay crafty plans,” “consult together,” and say “come let us wipe them out as a nation.” These statements are reflective of Psalm 2:1-3: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” The enemy nations around Israel want to put a permanent end to them.

Asaph continues describing the efforts of the nations to oppose the LORD and His people: “For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant” (83:5). The design of Israel’s enemies was to take the nation out of existence and therefore thwart God’s plans and purposes, knowing God was going to accomplish His will on the earth through the “seed” of Abraham (See Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:15-18). Asaph names the conspirators: “the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah” (83:6-8). The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, and they lived with a perpetual enmity toward Israel. The Ishmaelites were descendants of Ishmael, a son of Abraham, and they also were continually opposed to Israel. The Moabites as well as the Ammonites were descendants of Lot through his daughters, and were long-term enemies of Israel. The Hagrites were most likely descendants of Hagar, who was the mother of Abraham’s son, Ishmael. Not much is known about the Gebalites, but they were located near Israel. The Amalekites notoriously attempted to wipe Israel off the map during Israel’s wilderness years (See Exodus 17:8-16), and were a constant threat. The Philistines were an ongoing thorn in Israel’s side. Asshur is most likely Assyria, a powerful nation with great hostility toward Israel. All these nations forged something of an alliance to take out Israel and attempt to stop the outworking of God’s purposes.

Asaph pleads with the LORD to deal with the conspiring nations and he invokes language that echoes how the LORD rescued His people during the period of the Judges: “Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God” (83:9-12). Judges 4-8 records the events that Asaph alludes to as he shapes his prayer against the nations. Deborah and Barak led Israel to victory over Jabin, king of Canaan, and Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s forces. The river Kishon swept the forces of Jabin away (See Judges 5:21). Gideon defeated Midian by capturing and killing Midian princes, Oreb and Zeeb (See Judges 7:25), before proceeding to capture Midian kings Zebah and Zalmunna (See Judges 8). The LORD gave Israel these victories all because these enemies sought to take possession “of the pastures of God.” These enemies wanted what wasn’t theirs, seeking to take what the LORD had given to His people. 

Using imagery from Psalm 1 where the wicked were liken to chaff driven by the wind, Asaph prays: “O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind” (83:13). Asaph follows up by invoking another picture of judgment: “As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze” (83:14). With language found in Deuteronomy 32:22, Asaph is calling down the white hot anger of God upon the wicked. Asaph adds yet one more picture of judgment: “so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!” (83:15). Used in Psalm 2, Asaph deploys the notion of terror: “Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury” (See Psalm 2:5).

As Asaph continues calling down God’s judgment, he adds a somewhat surprising twist: “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth” (83:16-17). Asaph calls for the wicked to experience “shame,” “dismay,” as well as “disgrace.” So, on the one hand, Asaph asks for a terrible judgment to fall upon the wicked nations to the point that they feel the full force of such judgment. On the other hand, Asaph prays that these expressions of judgment are not as an end in themselves, but as a means to a greater end. Asaph wants the LORD to humble the wicked with a view that they would call upon the LORD, that is, “seek your name, O LORD.” Asaph expresses that the “shame,” “dismay,” and “disgrace” that he wants the enemies to experience be a transitional state that would stir in them a longing to truly “know that you alone…are the Most High over all the earth.” Not simply that He is the Great God, but that He is LORD, which suggests that Asaph wants them to relish in the covenant love that God has for His people. Of course, should the wicked nations not seek the LORD and long to truly know Him, then they would fully and forever “perish.”

As we reflect on Psalm 83, we can consider the Lord Jesus Christ who was, like Israel, surrounded by His enemies on every side. Psalm 83 depicts the nation Israel surrounded by neighboring nations who wanted to wipe them out as a nation. Israel faced constant hostilities and consistent threats from neighbors who hated them. Perhaps these neighboring nations didn’t care much for each other, but they were drawn together to form a cartel to destroy Israel. Jesus’ life characterizes the same kind of intense hatred: “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him” (See Mark 3:6). The Pharisees and the Herodians were at opposite ends of life with Judaism, but they came together with common hatred to work toward a common cause—destroying Jesus. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be “despised and rejected by men” (See Isaiah 53:3a). Just as Israel was surrounded by hostility, so too was Jesus. Intriguingly, Jesus was surrounded by hostile Jews—His own people: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (See John 1:11). Even the High Priest of Israel conspired with hatred to do away with Jesus: “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish” (See John 11:49-50). But while Jesus’ enemies killed Him, they did not defeat Him. The plans of wicked men coincided with the saving purposes of God (See Acts 2:23-24). Jesus willingly allowed His enemies to take His life: “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (See John 10:17-18). Jesus was not defeated by His enemies, He defeated His enemies through dying: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (See Colossians 2:15). And in destroying His enemies, Jesus rescued His people: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (See Hebrews 2:14-15).

That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, June 29, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, July 1, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 84.