Psalm 83

A Psalm of Asaph Petitioning God for Protection from an Alliance of Enemies

The author Asaph was the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s era (1 Chronicles 15:17-19, 16:5-7; 2 Chronicles 29:13). 1 Chronicles 25:1 and 2 Chronicles 29:30 add that Asaph was a prophet in his musical compositions.        - David Guzik

Asaph was one of David's chief musicians (1 Chronicles 6:39; 15:17,19; 16:5,7; 2 Chronicles 5:12).  He was also the ancestor of a group of temple musicians (Ezekiel 2:40-41).  The name might have come to represent his descendants or the musicians who followed him rather than Asaph himself.           - Kevin R. Warstler and Sheri L. Klouda

Scholars are not sure of the specific circumstances that motivated the composition of this psalm.  But as a response to a growing threat against Israel, Asaph prayed for God to defeat His people’s gathering enemies and to deliver them from danger in the same way He had in the days of the judges. 

All that is certain in regard to the psalm is that it was written in view of a threatened invasion by combined armies, and the prayer is, that God would give help, as he had done when the nation had been threatened on other occasions.                - Albert Barnes

This is a psalm of national (communal) lament, and it is the last of the psalms attributed to Asaph (Psalms 50, 73-83).              - Thomas Constable

God, Do Not Be Deaf or Silent

Vs. 1 - God, do not keep silent. Do not be deaf, God; do not be quiet.

From the first lyric, there is a sense of urgency to this song.  To Asaph, enemies were moving closer, but God was not; surrounding nations were communicating threats, but God seemed deaf and mute.  He wanted YHWH to be the noise-maker, the mighty Protector of His people.  

Your Enemies Conspire Against You

Vs. 2-3 - See how your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have acted arrogantly. They devise clever schemes against your people;

Vs. 5 - For they have conspired with one mind; they form an alliance against you

In contrast to the Lord’s silence and apparent inactivity (1), the adversaries made an “uproar,” lifting their heads in a defiant gesture of independence.                    - Kevin R. Warstler and Sheri L. Klouda

Scholars cannot, with certainty, connect this list of Israel’s enemies to any specific threat in their recorded history.  But the lyrics were applicable to any impending danger.  

From Asaph’s perspective, a threat to Israel was a threat to God Himself.  They didn’t just hate the Jews, Asaph said they hated God.  His confidence was rooted in God’s covenantal promise to curse those that cursed His chosen (Genesis 12:3).

The psalmist listed ten nations or peoples that were part of this confederacy against Israel and her God. It seems the children of Lot (specifically, Moab and Ammon) led this attack and the other eight nations helped them.                 - David Guzik

Deal With Them

Vs. 9 - Deal with them as you did with Midian, as you did with Sisera

Vs. 11 - Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna

Asaph prayed that God would deliver His people, as He had in the past during the Judges Period. God had destroyed the Midianites with Gideon’s small band of soldiers (Judges 7-8). Oreb and Zeeb were the Midianite commanders (Judges 7:25), and Zebah and Zalmunna were the Midianite kings (Judges 8:5-6; Judges 8:12; Judges 8:18). God defeated the Canaanite coalition near the Kishon River, and the town of Endor, through Deborah and Barak (Judges 4). Sisera was the Canaanite commander and Jabin the Canaanite king. These were both powerful victories that ended the domination of these enemies of Israel.      - Thomas Constable

Israel faced threats to her existence in the days of the Judges, and God delivered her. Asaph’s prayer reminded Israel of God’s previous rescue of Israel, using it as a reason to trust Him in the present crisis.       - David Guzik

May They Know You Are God

Vs. 18 - May they know that you alone—whose name is the Lord—are the Most High over the whole earth.

There is a deeper desire in the psalmist’s heart than the enemies’ destruction. He wishes that they should be turned into God’s friends, and he wishes for their chastisement as the means to that end.         - Alexander Maclaren

It is a benevolent thing to desire that men may be brought to the knowledge of the true God, though it be through the discomfiture of their own plans, by defeat, or by suffering.            - Albert Barnes