GOD, MOST HIGH
Opening Prayer
Father, through you all blessings flow; your mercy is new every morning. Thank you for the abundant life that is mine in Jesus.
Read PSALM 83
Psalm 83[a]
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to reinforce Lot’s descendants.[b]
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor
and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession
of the pasturelands of God.”
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
so that they will seek your name.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Footnotes
- Psalm 83:1 In Hebrew texts 83:1-18 is numbered 83:2-19.
- Psalm 83:8 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Consider your world and its problems. Cry out to God with his people through time: ‘O God, do not remain silent…’ (Psalm 83:1).Sometimes, as God’s people, we feel under threat by forces in our world that don’t honor God and seem to hate those who do. Songwriter Asaph in earlier times, then Hosea, wrote this communal song of lament. God’s cherished people were threatened by jealous enemies, and this psalm gave them words to express their prayers (vv. 1–4).
The target of their enemies’ destructive hatred wasn’t just for God’s people, but for God himself (‘against you,’ verse 5). Tracking back through their history, the psalmist recalled those who had turned against God’s chosen people (e.g., Edomites, the Ishmaelites*), then joined by Assyria (v. 8). He reminded them of God’s victories over their enemies in the past, calling on God to act again, to save them (vv. 9–12). Overwhelmed by the state of the world that seemed to teeter on the edge, here God’s people found encouragement to call on their God (‘my God,’ v. 13) to defeat their enemies again and blow evil forces away. But notice that even in their call for judgment, there was mercy and purpose: ‘so that they will seek your name’ (v. 16).
Apply
Who are the enemies of God and our faith today? How might we join with others who lament over them? Remember how God has worked in the lives of his people in the past.
Closing prayer
God of the past, the present, and the future, help me to trust in your faithfulness in all things.
*Genesis 36; Genesis 16
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