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Psalm 83:17

Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;

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.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →
← Psalm 83:16Psalm 83:18 →
Notice

The word “perish” can make this prayer hard to read: a people threatened with destruction ask God for their enemies’ ruin.

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

What troubles you, if anything, about asking God for enemies to perish?

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What tension do you see between seeking God’s name and asking that enemies perish?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

5 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 35:4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.Both prayers ask that enemies be disappointed and confounded; Psalm 35 names those who plot the speaker’s ruin.
Psalm 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.Both prayers ask for enemies to be disappointed and confounded, with Psalm 35 naming those who rejoice at another’s calamity.
Psalm 40:14–15Both prayers seek enemies’ disappointment and confusion; Psalm 40 identifies people seeking the speaker’s destruction and delighting in harm.
Psalm 109:29Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.Both prayers ask God to bring disgrace on adversaries, with Psalm 83 also asking that they perish.
Ezekiel 28:22and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon. I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have executed …Psalm 83’s surrounding prayer and the judgment against Sidon both connect divine judgment with people knowing who the LORD is.
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

Write a prayer asking God to stop attacks on civilians

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Encouragement

This is a plea addressed to God; it grants no permission to harm an enemy. The surrounding prayer seeks recognition that YHWH alone is the Most High over all the earth.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 83:17. 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).