O God, Do Not Be Quiet (3)

Psalm 83

May 15, 2022

Prayer Concerns

Scripture Reading

Prayer

Exposition

Edmund Burke was an Irishman who was a member of the English House of Commons from 1766 to 1794. He is best remembered for a line that never appeared in any of his books. A sentence he spoke in Parliament; All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

We can think of historical examples to prove this truth. One that comes to mind immediately is the lack of resolve and blindness of the democratic nations in the years prior to World War II, which allowed Germany under Hitler to rearm. Winston Churchill described it in The Gathering Storm. In the face of such a threat we rightly deplore “doing nothing.” More recently, we could say the world did mothing as Putin prepared to invade Ukraine. We watched - - we knew what he was doing - - we did nothing.

But here is an even greater problem. How about when God does nothing? What should we think when he is silent? What should we think when he is silent when his people call to him in trouble, as they do and he appeared to remain silent? This is no small matter. It is a terrible problem, and it is what Psalm 83 is about. It tells God, do not remain at rest; do not be silent and, do not be quiet, when we are surrounded by enemies.

This is the last of the psalms of Asaph. This is the second Asaph who wrote Psalms 50, 73–83. This Asaph consistently was troubled by the wicked. He regularly calls on God to rise up and defeat their evil plans. It is in many respects a typical community lament. Like the laments of Psalms 44 & 74, this lament attributes the crisis facing the community solely to external forces that threaten to exterminate the people of God.

u Asaph’s psalms are not all alike, of course. Some, like Psalm 50 are personal. Others have a wider scope and deal with evil in general or with the dangers evil people present to the nation. This psalm is in the latter category. It deals with a time when the nations that surrounded Israel had united against her and threatened her survival.

After asking God to speak up and act in verse 1, the psalm continues: 83:2-5 For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves. 3 They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.” 5 For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant.

Nobody is really sure about what event in Israel’s this is referring to. Interestingly, some commentators try to reference an event found in 2 Chronicles 20 - - But that was a long time after Asaph.

What is significant about the specific peoples listed in verses 6–11 is that they form an almost complete circle of entrapment around Israel.

»»The Edomites (v. 6) were descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson.

»»The Ishmaelites (v. 6) had descended from Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar.

»»The Hagarites (v. 6) were a tribe against whom the Transjordanian tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh fought at the time of the Jewish conquest of Palestine. These peoples, plus the tribal nations of Moab (v. 6) and Ammon (v. 7), were situated to the east of the Jews’ territory.

»»Identification of Gebal (v. 7) is uncertain. It might be a tribal area south of the Dead Sea linked with Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Amalek.

»»The Amalekites (v. 7) also lived in the area. Or Gebal might be a Canaanite and Phoenician port about twenty miles north of modern Beirut, known to the Greeks as Byblos. The modern site of ancient Byblos is called Jebeil (a variant of Gebal).

»»As for Philistia and Tyre (v. 7), these areas were to the west of Israel on the Mediterranean coast. Philistia was south, roughly what we today call the Gaza Strip. Tyre was to the north.

»»The tenth and last tribal or national power mentioned is Assyria (v. 8), the great and later very formidable power that always came down into Jewish territory from the north. It was Assyria under the leadership of Shalmaneser that besieged, captured, and destroyed Samaria, overthrew the northern kingdom of Israel, and deported its people in 721 B.C.

But that was later than when Psalm 83 was written. We know of no time in Israel’s history when these ten powers were actually arrayed against the nation. This makes the listing in verses 6–8 is probably a generalization. It is a way of saying that the Jews always seemed to be surrounded by enemies and in danger of being liquidated.

This has been the actual condition of Israel throughout history. Many peoples and nations have arrayed themselves against her.

We can start with Egypt. The fierce efforts of the pharaoh of the generation immediately prior to the birth of Moses to enslave and then kill the Jews is the first expression of anti-Semitism in world history and supplies a pattern that has been repeated again and again. God had blessed the Jewish people in faithfulness to his ancient promises to Abraham. He had said, Genesis 12:2-3 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

We know the result of this blessing. The nation under Abraham grew exponentially. The people literally became like Genesis 22:17 the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

u This growth created fear in Pharaoh, and he instigated a pattern of abuse and oppression that extended to the murder of the Jewish male children. The end of the persecution was not the destruction of the Jews. It was the destruction of Egypt. This occurred through the plagues effected through Moses. It culminated in the death of Pharaoh and his soldiers. They died when they tried to cross the waters of the sea that had parted to allow the Jews to pass over but had returned on their pursuers.

»»Next, there was the overthrow of their nation by the Assyrians in 721 B.C.

»»Then captivity by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.

»»Even with all of that, persecutions continued.

»»We know from the New Testament that the Jews were expelled from Rome in the days of the Emperor Claudius as recorded in Acts 18:2.

»»Jews were persecuted during the Middle Ages, both before the Crusades and during them. Thousands were abused, attacked, and murdered in Germany, France, Italy, and England.

»»In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries these earlier persecutions were repeated, only with greater intensity.

»»In the fifteenth century, 510 Jewish communities were exterminated in Europe and more were decimated. When the Jews were driven out of Spain at the end of that same century, they relocated to Italy, Holland, Egypt, and Turkey. But they were not allowed to stay longer than a few weeks or months in some places, and in others they were confined to a ghetto or Jewish quarter, as in Venice and Rome.

»»Coming to more modern times, we remember with horror the systematic attempt to exterminate the Jews of Nazi Germany and German-dominated states in the period leading up to and during World War II. More than six million Jews perished in Adolf Hitler’s death camps.

»»More recently we have seen the efforts of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian state’s desire to drive Israel into the Mediterranean Sea.

F In all the annals of recorded history there has never been a people so encircled by foes or as persecuted as the Jews have been. Yet surprisingly, the Jews have prospered.

In 1836 a world census indicated that there were then three million Jews living in many countries. A century later, in 1936, in spite of severe persecutions in which many Jews were killed, particularly in Russia, a second census indicated that the Jewish world population had risen to sixteen million. We are all familiar with the number of 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Even with those deaths, the worldwide Jewish population today is at pre-WWII numbers. The only explanation for this growth is that the hand of God has been on this people and that he has blessed them.

u Why has there been so much hatred?

The Egyptians feared and hated the Jews because of their numbers.

Europeans hated them because they were prosperous, because they were different, and because of warped religious sentiments.

Hitler hated them because they were not of Aryan stock. that Hitler stoked an aggression in the German people and then pointed them at the Jewish nation.

Yet these are not adequate explanations in themselves. The ultimate and only full explanation must be found in God’s words to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, when he said, Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Satan hates the Jews because God promised to send the Messiah through them. »»This is why he stirred up Pharaoh and his court. »»This is why he caused Herod to strike out against the Jewish babies at the time of Christ’s birth. »»This is why he used Adolf Hitler later. »»This is why we had Arafat and the Palestinians.

In the face of such hatred, the preservation of the Jews throughout history, in spite of their persecutions and scattering, has been both a mystery and a miracle.

Why? Why such hatred?

Because of the church. As Steve has been pointing out over and over in his walk through the Bible is that the church has been the plan all along. Satan hates God and he therefore hates the church and anything attached to it. The Jews were the tip of the spear that Satan sought to blunt.

The hatred he incited towards the Jews still stands today. It leaves a stench for all in the church. But Satan’s war has two fronts - - the Jews and the Church. This world’s hatred is aimed at the Jews and also aimed at the church. Both are surrounded on all sides by the forces of evil in every culture.

We are being called to ponder this as this section of the psalm ends with a selah in verse 8. We cannot always tell why these selahsoccur where they do, but this is an example of a pause well placed. It is important for us to reflect on the terrible persecutions of these ancient people of God before going on to the prayer that God might judge their enemies. It is important for us to pause and ponder today before we pray that God might judge the enemies of the church.

u The outline of Psalm 83 is easy. It consists of two main parts. »»The first describing the desperate situation in which the Jews found themselves. This is verses 1–8. »»The second an impassioned appeal to God to overthrow and destroy their enemies. This is verses 9–17. »»We could get more technical and separate the first and last verses also. »»Verse 1 as an introduction. And »»verse 2 as a conclusion.

uWe have discussed previously how an appeal to God to overthrow and destroy our enemies is something that bothers Christians in our time. We live in a polite society, and we have been taught to forgive our enemies rather than call down judgment on them. Because an ethic of forgiveness is part of our culture, most of us think of ourselves as being too nice to have such thoughts or to utter such a prayer. At least that is what we say out loud.

p What are we to say about this? The first thing is an observation on the psalm itself. Frankly, God did destroy Israel’s enemies in this way from time to time in the past. Whatever else the psalmist may be doing, he is at least appealing to a historical precedent. Two of these judgments are referred to in verses 9–12.

1. A victory over Midian recorded in Judges 6–8.

The psalmist refers to this victory in verse 9 and amplifies on it in verse 11. There, four of the Midianite rulers are mentioned: Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah, and Zalmunna. This was a striking victory, because it was won by Gideon and only three hundred eager men. The Midianites had been harassing the land and carrying off the harvests and were at this time encamped in large numbers in a nearby valley. Gideon started out with thirty-two thousand soldiers.

God said these were too many for him to use to defeat the Midianite armies. So, Gideon told all who were afraid to go home. Twenty-two thousand went back. Gideon was left with only ten thousand men.

God said this was still too many. So, the numbers were pared down even further to only three hundred.

With these fearless men Gideon then surrounded the Midianite camp by night, had each of his men blow a trumpet and suddenly expose a torch that had been hidden in an earthen jar, and shout, Judges 7:20 A sword for the Lord and for Gideon. The enemy soldiers were so startled and so frightened that they jumped up in the darkness and fled for their lives, drawing their swords and killing thousands of their own men in the retreat. F The soldiers which had encircled Israel were themselves encircled by the three hundred daring men and were destroyed.

2. The victory over Sisera recorded in Judges 4–5.

Sisera was the commander of an army fortified by nine hundred iron chariots, and he had terrorized the land for twenty years. The Israelite commander was Barak, who defeated Sisera’s army with ten thousand of the men of Israel.

In the rout Sisera was forced to abandon his chariot and flee on foot. He came to the tent of a man named Heber, whose wife was Jael. Sisera was exhausted and asked to be taken in so he could rest. While he was sleeping, Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a mallet, went to where he was lying, and drove it through Sisera’s temple into the ground so he died. Israel was delivered by the armies of Barak and by a courageous woman. The triumphs of Barak and Jael are celebrated in the Song of Deborah, the prophetess, in Judges 5:31 So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.

u Asaph was clearly drawing on this and other victory stories of Israel when he composed his psalm. He was saying, O Lord, as you have delivered us in the past, so deliver us again. Show yourself to be as powerful in our day as you have been for the generations that have preceded us.

F We may not pray exactly this way ourselves, but we can understand and sympathize with the prayer when we remember it in the context of Israel’s many and bitter persecutions throughout history. Would we not pray for the destruction of our enemies ourselves in such circumstances?

u The second thing we should notice about how Asaph handles his desire for judgment on the Jews’ enemies. He is careful not to speak of them as the Jews’ enemies so much as the enemies of God. Notice 83:2 Behold, your enemies roar, and those who hate you have lifted up their heads. The enemies and haters of God.

Even when it mentions the people themselves, as it does in verse 3, it is your people and your cherished ones. When the plots of enemies are mentioned, as they are in verse 5, these plots are against you.

Then in verse 12, the enemies of Israel are cited for trying to steal their land; but again, these are called the pastures of God. In every case, the psalmist says that it is God’s cause that is in danger, and therefore that it is God’s battle—not that of the people.

p This perspective makes a tremendous difference in how one thinks of judgment. If the evil is thought of as being against one’s self, then the call is for revenge. But if it is thought of as being against God, then our response is to leave justice in God’s hands and trust him for whatever he sees fit to do.

F And we can trust him! God is not indifferent! He himself says, Deuteronomy 32:35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. ® When we understand that, we can be like the man who always turned to God whenever he was attacked and said, They’re attacking your property, Lord. He left judgment to God.

u The final observation is the most important one of all. Here we see the way the psalm handles the encircling danger and the need for God’s timely intervention and judgment. It is the way it ends. It calls for judgment—that is true—but it ends by stating the purpose for that judgment: 83:16 that they make seek your face, O Yahweh.

We also see this in the last verse, 83:18 That they may know that you alone – your name is Yahweh – are most high over all the earth.

Even though they want deliverance and judgment, the ultimate desire of the psalmist - - is that other people - - even the Jews’ enemies - - might come to know and obey the true God.

That is precisely why we do not rush to calls for judgment. Judgment will come. The God of all the universe will do right as Abraham noted in Genesis 18:25. But this is still a day of grace. This is a day when men and women may still repent of their sin and seek after God that they might find him and be rescued from the wrath to come.

u Let me end by going back to the beginning of the psalm and reminding you of the greatest “non-answer” to that prayer in all history.

The first verse of Psalm 83 says, O God, do not remain at rest; do not be silent and, O God, do not be quiet.

One day many centuries after this was written, the Son of God was hanging on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem, where he had been encircled and condemned by his cruel enemies, and he in a sense prayed this prayer. He cried to God, Matthew 27:46 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God did not answer. He did not intervene to save Jesus from his enemies or rescue him from the cross.

p It was good God did not answer. God’s silence to Christ’s forsaken cry meant our salvation from the Father’s wrath. And it meant that we have the gospel and not just judgment to proclaim.

That means praying for the lost is not a hopeless cause or an act of futility. So often we do no understand God’s silence. When this happens to you, just look at the cross and know that God has a perfect plan.

PRAYER

Be safe everybody. Walk daily in God’s marvelous grace.