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Psalm 83

Psalm 83 appeals for God to defeat an alliance bent on Israel’s destruction and make his supremacy known.

An alliance of nations plots to erase Israel’s name, and the psalmist calls on God to break his silence. The heading attributes this song to Asaph, though the particular crisis behind it is uncertain. The prayer names the enemies, recalls earlier defeats of Israel’s oppressors, and asks God to scatter and terrify those who threaten his people. Its closing appeal seeks recognition that YHWH rules over all the earth.

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1A song. A Psalm by Asaph. God, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent, and don’t be still, God.
2For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.
3They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.
4“Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you.
6The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;
7Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah.
9Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
10who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.
11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12who said, “Let’s take possession of God’s pasture lands.”
13My God, make them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind.
14As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,
15so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.
16Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, LORD.
17Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
18that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
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Key verses
Psalm 83:18The closing verse makes recognition of YHWH’s rule over all the earth the goal of the prayer.
Psalm 83:1The repeated plea against silence opens a prayer for God to act while enemies threaten his people.
Psalm 83:4The enemies seek Israel’s destruction and the erasure of its name, revealing the stakes behind the psalmist’s fierce requests.
Where this chapter reaches

Judges supplies the earlier victories recalled here: the defeats of Midian and of Sisera and Jabin, including the named enemy leaders. Exodus shares the theme of enemies coming to know YHWH through judgment, while Isaiah also portrays hostile nations as chaff driven away.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the threat to erase Israel’s name shape your reading of this prayer’s harsh language?

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What tension do you notice between asking that enemies seek God’s name and asking that they perish?

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Questions people ask about Psalm 83

Is Psalm 83 a prophecy about a future war?

Psalm 83 takes the form of a prayer about an alliance threatening Israel. It names ancient peoples and asks God to repeat past acts of deliverance. The text gives no date or explicit prediction of a future war. Its precise historical setting remains uncertain, so identifying it with a modern conflict exceeds what it states.

Why does Psalm 83 ask God to destroy Israel’s enemies?

The enemies plan to wipe out Israel as a nation, and the psalmist treats their attack as opposition to God himself. He asks God to judge them through defeat and terror. The prayer also asks that they seek God’s name, holding that request alongside stark appeals for their ruin and recognition of God’s supremacy.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).