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Psalm 83:16

Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, LORD.

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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← Psalm 83:15Psalm 83:17 →
Notice

Faces filled with confusion belong to enemies threatening God's people, and the prayer asks that their humiliation lead them to seek YHWH.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What troubles you about asking God to bring confusion upon these enemies?

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How does the plea that enemies seek God's name shape your prayers about those who cause harm?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 34:5They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.Both speak of faces, with confusion sought for enemies in Psalm 83 and freedom from shame promised to those looking to God in Psalm 34.
2 Thessalonians 3:14If any man doesn’t obey our word in this letter, note that man and have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed.The psalm asks God to bring humiliation; the letter directs believers to withdraw company so a disobedient person feels shame.
Job 11:3Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock, will no man make you ashamed?Both texts speak of humiliation, though Job records a rebuke of boasting and the psalm asks God to act.
Psalm 6:10May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.Both prayers ask for enemies to suffer disgrace; Psalm 83 adds the plea that they seek God's name.
Psalm 9:19–20Arise, LORD! Don’t let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight.Both prayers appeal to the LORD to act against human opposition, asking for confusion in one and judgment in the other.
Hosea 5:15I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”Both passages connect distress with seeking God: confusion leads toward seeking his name, and affliction toward seeking his face.
Psalm 132:18I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on himself, his crown will shine.”Both passages describe enemies brought to shame through God's action, expressed as a request in Psalm 83 and a promise in Psalm 132.
Job 10:15If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still will not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my affliction.Both describe humiliation, but Job speaks of his own disgrace while the psalm asks for confusion upon enemies.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Ask God to stop harm and turn enemies toward him

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Encouragement

The surrounding prayer asks for enemies to perish. Here, even within that severity, the plea is that they seek YHWH, who rules over all the earth.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 83:16. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 83 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).