Psalm 83

God Promises His Care 

A Psalm of Asaph

1    O God, do not keep silent — be not quiet, O God, be not still.

2    See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads?

3    With cunning they conspire against your people. They plot against those you cherish.

4    “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

5    With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—

6    The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,

7    Gebal,  Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre.

8     Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.          Selah

9     Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,

10  Who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground.

11  Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12  Who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.”

13   Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.

14  As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

15  So pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.

16  Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O Lord.

17   May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace.

18   Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—

     You alone are the Most High over all the earth.

When Trouble Comes

(83:1-8)

The psalmist laments the great danger from the many enemies that hemmed in Judah to crush her. He prays that God would bring about His power to destroy them, as He had done in former times.  We too should turned immediately to God when trouble comes, asking Him to respond.

God’s enemies plot cunningly against God’s people—and against God Himself.  They conspired to destroy the nation and wipe out any remembrance of her.

      Then  Came A Powerful Deliverance

       (83:9-18)

Asaph’s prayed that God would use His power to overthrow Judah’s enemies.  Their defeat would shame them and cause many to turn to the Lord.  It closes with a reiteration of the prayer that the wicked be ashamed and disgraced. By trifling with people God cherishes, they would learn the hard way that God alone is the sovereign Lord and takes great care of his own.  

When we trust in Jesus Christ ... 
as our personal Savior, we become 
a child of God, one who is both born 
and adopted into the family of God. 
We become the recipients of God’s 
personal care by His loving character.
What God promises is perfect, so 
His care must also be perfect and complete. 

What are just "some" of His Promises? :

Exodus

• The Lord is faithful to his covenant promises and delivers his people through his powerful right hand (Exodus14-15).
• “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord?  Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (15:11).
• God brought his people in and planted them on the mountain of his inheritance (15:17).
• God promised that if his people would obey him fully and keep his covenant, than out of all nations they would be his treasured possession. Although the whole earth is His, they would be for him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (19:5-6).
• The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (34:6-7).

Leviticus

•  Among those who approach God He will show himself holy, and in the sight of all the people God will be honored (10:3).
• “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” (17:11).
• “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy” (20:7-8).
• “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt (personal bondage) so that you would no longer be slaves to (sin); I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high” (26:12-13).

Numbers

• “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (6:24-26).
• The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion (14:17).
• “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (23:19).

Deuteronomy

•  “The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son...” (1:30-31).
• “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything” (2:7).
• “Do not be afraid...  the Lord your God himself will fight for you” (3:22).
• “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” (4:7).
• “If . . . you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul” (4:29).
• “The Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory” (20:4).
• “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (29:29).

Joshua 

• “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (1:8).
• “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (1:9).
• “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed” (23:14).

Judges 

• Sin is not only destructive - but its cycles are monotonous; by contrast, God’s righteousness and saving acts are always life-giving and creative (3-16).
• False gods cannot deliver or save us when we are in trouble; it is only the Lord who can rescue us from the hands of our enemies on every side (8:34; 10:14).

Ruth 

• Personal commitment to following the Lord always leads to redemption and life (1:16-17).
• “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (2:12).

1st Samuel

• “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God” (2:2).
• “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor” (2:6-8).
• The Lord will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness (2:9).
• “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained” (2:30).
• “Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own” (12:21-22).
• “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7).
• “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness” (26:23).

2nd Samuel

•  “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (7:16).
• “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears” (7:22).
• “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect” (22:31-33).

and the list goes on... and on....