God Implored to Confound His Enemies.
A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.
83 O God, do not remain quiet;
Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.
2 For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,
And those who hate You have [a]exalted themselves.
3 They make shrewd plans against Your people,
And [b]conspire together against Your [c]treasured ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out [d]as a nation,
That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5 For they have [e]conspired together with one mind;
Against You they make a covenant:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have become [f]a help to the children of Lot. [g]Selah.9 Deal with them as with Midian,
As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,
10 Who were destroyed at En-dor,
Who became as dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb
And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God.”13 O my God, make them like the [h]whirling dust,
Like chaff before the wind.
14 Like fire that burns the forest
And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest
And terrify them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with dishonor,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever,
And let them be humiliated and perish,
18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.
As we read the first passage here, we see Israel surrounded by enemies, even those who ought to be their allies–the sons of Lot and the Edomites, who were all their kin. Even today, we see the same from Israel’s enemies, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation…” As we look to the past in the second passage, we could likewise pray today that God would overwhelm and subdue those enemies.
But to what end? Is it just so Israel can live in peace and rest? As the psalmist continues, we see the ultimate goal of all God’s actions in verse 18. It isn’t about Israel, anymore than we should pray for things just for our own benefit. And so we should apply the same filter to our own prayers and requests. Are we praying for His will and His glory?
If not, we need to get our priorities in order. Certainly, we can ask for anything, and it’s up to God to say yes or no. Yet if we are trying to live for God, we ought to keep this in mind, that our prayers be to make His name known.