The Final Psalm of Asaph

We come to the end of the Psalms of Asaph. This is his twelfth and final one in our Bible. The great musician and prophet leaves us with an interesting Psalm. It is a national lament that contains imprecatory language. This means that he is praying that the Lord would punish His enemies. This is difficult for us to understand. We are Christians. Christ has taught us to forgive, love and to pray for our enemies. To be clear, God did not change. In both testaments He is a loving and forgiving God. But in both Testaments, He is also a just God who punishes sin and sinners who refuse to part from their sin.

We love in a day and an area of the world where we don’t see much war. We are blessed. We are well protected. Asaph lived in a day where war was common and ugly. People grew weary of their land being taken and their people being killed. War brought suffering and suffering moved people to prayer. The only way that some suffering would stop is if evil people were removed. That is one of the reasons we have Psalms that contain imprecatory language.

You may think that you could never pray like Asaph is praying in this Psalm. You may think differently if you lived in a war-torn country where men, women and children were torn apart because of wicked and greedy men.

We’re not sure about the context of this Psalm. Generally speaking, we can say that the context is a confederacy of nations is seeking to overtake Israel. Some believe this Psalm describes the confederacy we read in 2 Chronicles 20. Several of the enemies mentioned in this Psalm are also mentioned in that chapter. They attempted to overthrow the Southern kingdom which was under the rule of Jehoshaphat at that time.

Others believe this is a prophetic Psalm. They think it speaks of the end times when nations rise against Israel to destroy the nation.

Whatever the context, the meaning of the text is clear. Asaph recognizes that nations hate and want to destroy Israel. It is his prayer that God would make Himself known by destroying Israel’s enemies. Here’s how we will outline the Psalm:

An appeal to God (1-4).

A united opposition (5-8).

A prayer for the wicked t be punished (9-15).

The motive of God’s judgment (16-18).

1. An appeal to God (1-4).

A. A prayer offered (1).

Asaph is concerned that the Lord has not intervened already. He describes this in three different ways in verse 1.

Do not be silent

Do not hold your peace

Do not be still

The silence and stillness to God has moved Asaph to this prayer. There is likely an impatience on his part. To his credit, he is more concerned about the silence of God than he is the power of his enemies. That is a good thing. But there is a lesson for us here. God will not always immediately deliver His people, but he will always ultimately deliver his people.

I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with Asaph’s prayer. It is proper to pray in this way. Namely because it is clear Asaph trusts in God for deliverance. He is not appealing to man. He is not trusting in himself. He trusts and his anxious prayer is proof that he knows if the Lord does not help them, they are doomed.

B. The enemy described (2-3).

Asaph wants God to know that these are not only the enemies of Israel. They are also the enemies of God. Let’s look at how he describes God’s enemies.

They are noisy. They “make a tumult”. They are like the sound of crashing waves on the ocean or howling dogs in the distance. Evil mobs are always loud.

They are confident. They lift up their head. This speaks of arrogance and assurance. They have no doubt they will defeat God’s people.

They hate God. That is why they hate Israel. Whether they realize that or not, that is the truth. We will discuss that later when we look at verse 4.

They plot to destroy the people of God. I want to point out how God’s people are described here.

They are “Thy people”. Asaph is reminding God of His responsibility to protect His people. Israel belongs to Him. When the enemies attack Israel they are attacking what belongs to God. It is a wonderful motive for prayer when we remember that we belong to God.

They are “Thy hidden ones”. That word “hidden” can also be translated “treasured”. What we treasure we hide so that it is protected. Believers are precious to the Lord. This is another motive for prayer.

The enemies of God are seeking to destroy what belongs to god and what God treasures.

C. The enemies desire (4).

Their ultimate goal is to wipe Israel out as a nation. They don’t even want the name of Israel to be remembered on earth. The best way to describe the goal of Israel’s enemies is holocaust. They desire the destruction of the Jewish race. We have seen that throughout history. What would spur this type of hatred? It is demonic. Satan has worked through humans to destroy the Jewish race because of what God said to him in Genesis 3:15. God promised him that the seed of the woman would crush his head. That seed would come through the Jewish race. Therefore, he has inspired hatred of the Jewish people and he will continue to do so for as long as he can.

2. A united opposition (5-8).

A. The nations involved.

A confederacy of ten nations is mentioned.

The Edomites were descendants of Esau. In the New Testament Herod is an Edomite. The Edomites were enemies of Israel throughout history.

The Ishmaelites were descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar.

The Moabites were descendants of Lot and his incestuous relationship with his daughter.

Most of these nations are familiar to those who have read the Bible. The Ammonites, Amalekites, the Philistines, Tyre and Assyria all had a tumultuous history with Israel. We’re not exactly sure who Gebal was but it was likely near Tyre.

There is something that we may not recognize if we do not understand the geography of Israel. Asaph is doing more than listing nations. He is listing nations that surround Israel to show that Israel is encircled by this confederacy.

Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarenes were all to the South and East of Israel.

Gebal and Tyre were to the North West.

Ammon and Amalek were on the East.

The Philistines were on the south-west.

The Assyrians were to the North.

He’s clearly showing that this confederacy has them surrounded on every side. Israel sits in the center of their united enemies who have covenanted together to wipe them off the face of the earth.

As believer’s there are times we feel as if there is trouble on every side. No matter which direction we look we see an enemy. We may be right. The good news is our help comes from heaven above. That is one place our enemies cannot be.

B. The nations target.

The target of the confederacy of nations is God. Look at verse 5 and you’ll see that. This reminds us of Psalm 2. It also reminds us of the words Jesus said to Saul of Tarsus. He told Saul that when he persecuted the church he was persecuting Jesus Himself.

Again, this is demonic. This is how Satan attacks God. He attacks God by attacking His people. He did that with Adam and Eve and he hasn’t stopped since. Satan wants to destroy what God loves.

We shouldn’t think that the nations understand this. They are blinded by the god of this world. They have their own reasons for attacking Israel. What they don’t understand is they are pawns being used by the enemy of God and the enemy of their own soul. They are willfully deceived.

3. A prayer for the wicked to be punished (9-15).

A. Examples of past victories.

Asaph looks back at Israel’s history and remembers the enemies God has defeated.

The Midianites were defeated by an army of 300 led by Gideon. The men mentioned in verse 11, Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah and Zalmunna, were all military leaders for the Midianites. They were all killed by Gideon’s army.

Sisera was a Caananite military leader who was killed by a woman who drove a tent peg through his temple. Jabin was the king of Canaan. Jabin’s large army was defeated by Israel. The Bible says not a man was left. The bodies of the men lay exposed, were eaten by scavengers and became dung on the earth (10).

These men attempted to take God’s land from God’s people but were defeated (12). Asaph remembers these past victories and recites them to God in hopes that the Lord will deliver them once again.

It’s good for us to remember what God has done for us in the past. It’s also proper for us to recite those things to the Lord as we pray.

B. He asks the Lord to consume His enemies (13-14).

He asks the Lord to make them like a wheel. This is probably a tumbleweed. Tumbleweeds are driven by the wind and are dry. That leads us to verse 14. He asks the Lord to burn up His enemies like wood in a fire. He describes a forest fire in verse 14. Fire is a powerful and dangerous thing. The Bible says that our God is a consuming fire. If you have even seen a forest fire in person you know the power it contains. To compare God to a consuming fire is vivid imagery mean t to invoke fear of God.

This may seem very difficult for us to understand, that Asaph would pray this way. But it is a truth that if God’s enemies will not repent then they must perish. Again, this is a man who is witnessing war. His people are being threatened with death, torture and slavery. He desires justice and he is not wrong for asking for it.

C. He asks the Lord to frighten them (15).

May the strong hurricane winds of your judgment frighten them! These were men who had no fear of God. This is the reason they continue to attack God through His people. The truth is sinners continue in sin because they do not fear God. Solomon said the secret to life is to fear God and keep His commandments. Those who do not keep His commandments prove they do not fear God.

We ought to pray that the Lord would put the fear of God into sinner’s hearts. If they could see what awaits the unrepentant, they would repent. People who do not have a healthy fear of God will not obey Him nor will they love Him.

4. The motive of God’s judgment (16-18).

A. It is evangelistic (16).

Asaph wants the Lord to defeat the confederation of enemies and move them to shame. He wants God to convince these people that the God of Israel is the One True God. The second part of verse 16 is important. We see that

Asaph does desire the salvation of His enemies. He says, “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O LORD.” We should never forget that God can save His enemies. He can break their hardened hearts.

I know that I have often prayed “Lord, do whatever it takes to open their eyes.” God often uses a heavy hand to draw sinners to Himself. He did so in the case of Saul of Tarsus. He knocked him to the ground and even blinded him. God may break the sinner in dramatic fashion at times.

I think of Rahab who was a pagan in Jericho. She heard of the power of God against His enemies. She came to faith in the God of Israel.

B. To administer justice (17).

Some will not repent even though God proves Himself. Verse 17 says that these people will perish. They will be put to shame and troubled forever. They will be eternally disgraced. The justice of God demands that sinners repent or perish. If they will not repent God can only cast them into eternal judgment. He is just and His justice demands that.

What else should we expect? These are sinners who refuse to repent. They refuse to acknowledge God. It’s only right that they pay the price for their sins. If there were no judgment, then there would be no justice.

C. To bring glory to God (18).

God’s judgment proves that the God of Israel is the True God. The name of God is mentioned to show that faith in a particular God is necessary. Faith in a generic god will help no one. The judgment of God proves who God really is. No other god can judge. Other gods don’t even really exist.

Notice that God is not only the God of Israel. He is not a localized god. He is God over all the earth. He is God over the ten nations in this Psalm that conspired against Him.

As Christians we look forward to the day that Christ returns. We look forward to a day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord. God will be glorified in all the earth when all the earth recognizes who God is. God has a name and He wants all of creation to acknowledge it.

God is not glorified through Allah, or Buddhism. He isn’t glorifed through the gods of the cults or the spiritism of the world. God is glorified when He is recognized through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not enough that we know God is. We must know who He is. And we know who He is through Jesus Christ.

At the end of days, when all the trumpets have sounded, and the seals have been opened the world will know that Jesus is Lord. God will be glorified.