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, -- A Psalm of Asaph. O God, let there be no silence to Thee, Be not silent, nor be quiet, O God.
For, lo, Thine enemies do roar, And those hating Thee have lifted up the head,
Against Thy people they take crafty counsel, And consult against Thy hidden ones.
They have said, `Come, And we cut them off from `being' a nation, And the name of Israel is not remembered any more.'
For they consulted in heart together, Against Thee a covenant they make,
Tents of Edom, and Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Hagarenes,
Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with inhabitants of Tyre,
Asshur also is joined with them, They have been an arm to sons of Lot. Selah.
Do to them as `to' Midian, As `to' Sisera, as `to' Jabin, at the stream Kishon.
They were destroyed at Endor, They were dung for the ground!
Make their nobles as Oreb and as Zeeb, And as Zebah and Zalmunna all their princes,
Who have said, `Let us occupy for ourselves The comely places of God.'
O my God, make them as a rolling thing, As stubble before wind.
As a fire doth burn a forest, And as a flame setteth hills on fire,
So dost Thou pursue them with Thy whirlwind, And with Thy hurricane troublest them.
Fill their faces `with' shame, And they seek Thy name, O Jehovah.
They are ashamed and troubled for ever, Yea, they are confounded and lost.
And they know that Thou -- (Thy name `is' Jehovah -- by Thyself,) `Art' the Most High over all the earth!