Sep-19-0516-That they may know that He alone is the Lord
516_That they may know that He alone is the Lord Psalm 83:1-8 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. 3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. 4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” 5 For they conspire with one accord; 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 Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah Vs.13-18 O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. 14 As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, 15 so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane! 16 Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord. 17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, 18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. During the Second World War, a small European village was constantly threatened by invading forces. The villagers lived in fear. One old man, however, never seemed shaken. When asked why, he replied, “This land belongs to my father, and my father will not let it go. Whatever happens, I know it is safe in his hands.” He spoke, not of his earthly father, but of God. He believed and knew that no army, no scheme, no power could ultimately prevail against God. That story captures the essence of Psalm 83. It is not simply about Israel’s survival in the face of overwhelming enemies. It is about the reality of God’s ownership of His people. Psalm 83 is a vehement appeal to God to protect the people of Israel from their enemies. “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.” For the psalmist, those who aimed to wipe Israel off the face of the land were not just political or military rivals. Their hostility was against God who had chosen Israel and chosen Canaan to be their possession. Psalm 83 describes how the ten nations around Israel conspired together, determined to annihilate Israel. Their goal was not limited to conquest or plunder. They wanted total annihilation. “Come,” they said, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” In this situation, the psalmist pleaded desperately for God’s intervention - for it was a matter of life and death. If God kept silent, if He held back His hand, His people would not survive. The words reach back into Israel’s history. In the days of the