Finding Encouragement in Psalm 83
Understanding Psalm 83
Psalm 83 is a community lament that asks God for rescue and victory over a coalition of nations threatening Israel. The psalmist describes the enemies' secret plans to destroy God's people (Psalm 83:3-4) [3, 4]. The enemies are numerous and have formed an alliance against Israel, prompting the psalmist to recall God's past deliverances of his people from their enemies (Psalm 83:9-12) [6].
The psalmist's plea is for God to act against these enemies, comparing them to tumbleweed and chaff before the wind (Psalm 83:13) [1]. The desired outcome is not just the defeat of the enemies but also that God be glorified among them (Psalm 83:17-18) [5]. The psalm concludes with a statement of God's supreme name, "Jehovah," to be exalted above all [5].
The historical context of Psalm 83 is unclear, with some interpreting it as a response to a specific historical threat and others seeing it as a poetic compilation of Israel's enemies [6]. Regardless, the psalm's themes of trust in God's deliverance and the ultimate glorification of God are consistent with other psalms that lament the dispersion of God's people and pray for their revival (Psalm 80:17) [7].
The psalm's emphasis on God's power to terrify and scatter his enemies (Psalm 83:15) is echoed in other biblical passages that speak of God's judgment on the proud and his favor towards the humble [2, 8]. For instance, Augustine notes that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, a theme that resonates with the psalm's call for God to act against Israel's enemies [8].
In the Christian tradition, psalms like Psalm 83 have been interpreted as encouragements to hope in God's deliverance, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Matthew Henry, for example, sees psalms that begin with sorrowful complaints but end with comfortable encouragements as teaching believers to improve God's general works for their personal comfort [9]. Thus, Psalm 83 serves as a reminder of God's power and willingness to intervene on behalf of his people.
The psalm's themes of divine judgment and salvation are reflected in various Christian traditions. Calvin's discussion on the church's calamity and hope in God illustrates the broader theological context in which psalms like Psalm 83 are understood [7]. The psalm's message of trust in God's deliverance continues to encourage believers facing adversity, reminding them of God's supreme power and name [5].
Sources
- Psalms “My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind. -- Psalms 83:13”
- Psalms “so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm. -- Psalms 83:15”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Psalms 83:3 cross-references: Exodus 1:10, 1 Samuel 13:19, Psalms 2:1, Psalms 10:9, Psalms 27:5, Psalms 31:20, Psalms 56:6, Psalms 64:2, Psalms 91:1, Isaiah 7:6, Luke 20:20, Colossians 3:3”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Psalms 83:4 cross-references: Exodus 1:10, Joshua 9:2, Nehemiah 4:2, Esther 3:6, Psalms 74:8, Proverbs 1:12, Jeremiah 11:19, Jeremiah 31:36, Jeremiah 48:2, Ezekiel 38:10, Daniel 7:25, Matthew 27:62, Acts 4:17, Acts 9:1”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Psalms 83:18 cross-references: Genesis 22:14, Exodus 6:3, 1 Kings 18:37, 2 Kings 19:19, Psalms 9:2, Psalms 9:16, Psalms 18:13, Psalms 35:4, Psalms 59:13, Psalms 92:8, Psalms 97:9, Isaiah 5:16, Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 54:5, Jeremiah 16:21, Ezekiel 30:19, Ezekiel 38:23, Daniel 4:25, Daniel 4:32, Micah 4:13, Zechariah 4:14”
- Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 83:1: Ps 83 This community lament asks God for rescue and victory. The terse poetry suggests difficult times. A powerful coalition desires to destroy Israel (83:1-4) and allies itself against God (83:5-8). Recalling the fate of others who came against Israel (83:9-12), the psalmist prays that the same will happen to these enemies (83:13-16) so that God will receive honor among them (83:17-18). It is unclear whether this psalm arose out of a specific historical instance of opposition by these nations, or if it is a poetic collage of nations representing Israel’s enemies.”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 42: madest strong (or best fitted) for thyself,” ( Ps. 80:17 ). For though the author of the psalm laments the dispersion of the whole nations he prays for its revival in him who is sole Head. After the people were led away into captivity, the land laid waste, and matters to appearance desperate, Jeremiah, lamenting the calamity of the Church, especially complains, that by the destruction of the kingdom the hope of believers was cut off; “The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Un”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM CXIX.(2) (part 20): saith: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."(6) Whence also our Lord Himself saith with His own lips, "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."(7) We well understand here that humiliation also, not whereby each man humbleth himself by confessing his sins, and by not arrogating righteousness to himself; but when each man is humbled by some tribulation or mortification which his pride deserved; or when he is exercised and proved by endurance;(8) ”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 77 (introduction): This psalm, according to the method of many other psalms, begins with sorrowful complaints but ends with comfortable encouragements. The complaints seem to be of personal grievances, but the encouragements relate to the public concerns of the church, so that it is not certain whether it was penned upon a personal or a public account. If they were private troubles that he was groaning under, it teaches us that what God has wrought for his church in general may be improved for the comfort of particular believers; if it was some public calamity that he i”