Psalm 83 - Asaph's Prayer Against a Confederacy of Enemies
Asaph names ten nations plotting against Israel and calls on God to act.
Psalm 83 opens with an urgent cry, 'Keep not thou silence, O God,' as Asaph lists ten hostile nations, from Edom to Assyria, who have banded together to wipe out Israel's name. It reads as one continuous prayer within the wider Psalms overview, giving voice to a nation under real, coordinated threat.
A song, [or] Psalm of Asaph. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
\\83:1\\A song, or Psalm of Asaph. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
\\83:2\\For lo, thy enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
\\83:3\\They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
\\83:4\\They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
\\83:5\\For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee,
\\83:6\\The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
\\83:7\\Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
\\83:8\\Assur also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.
\\83:9\\Do to them as to the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
\\83:10\\Who perished at En-dor: they became as dung for the earth.
\\83:11\\Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yes, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
\\83:12\\Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
\\83:13\\O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
\\83:14\\As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
\\83:15\\So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
\\83:16\\Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
\\83:17\\Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yes, let them be put to shame, and perish:
\\83:18\\That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.