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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 judges, Israel was often weak and outnumbered, yet God gave them astounding victories time after time.

These victories were a reminder that Israel’s safety never depended on their armies, their weapons, or their strategies. It depended on God’s fighting for them.

Now the nation was in great and imminent danger of extinction. Israel’s enemies had made their intention clear: “Let us take possession of the pastures of God.” Israel is described as God’s pasture, the field where His flock dwelt. The land and the people alike were His. Therefore, like a shepherd guarding His sheep, God would zealously protect His inheritance. No human scheme or alliance could seize what belonged to Him.

After naming the nations that had risen against Israel, the psalmist pleads with God to intervene. His prayer is not driven only by the desire for Israel’s survival. He greatly desires God’s name to be recognized as supreme over the whole earth – “so that they may seek your face, O Lord.”

Here God reveals his magnificent purpose in choosing Israel. Through the prophet Isaiah, God showed his people that they were chosen to be a light to the nations. Isaiah 42 declares: “I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon.” Again, in Isaiah 49, God declares, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob. I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

The prayer for victory is not just aimed at a life of peace and prosperity for Israel. Rather, this will demonstrate to the nations that the Lord is the Most High over all the earth. The very people who opposed God’s inheritance may, through His mighty works, turn to seek His name. The psalmist’s vision is not narrow nationalism. It is global recognition of the glory of God, his rightful claims on all mankind.

If Israel had known God in truth, no enemy could have stood against them. Yet their rebellion and unbelief often led them into defeat, exile, and captivity. Their privilege carried responsibility. To be God’s chosen people was to be both protected and richly blessed, and accountable. They were called to enjoy the rich pastures of God and thus to show the world the goodness and faithfulness of God. Instead, through their hateful wickedness and disregard of God’s laws, they blasphemed him. And they were not spared from God’s discipline, as a result.

The psalm closes with the same theme: “Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.” Everything comes back to this: that God alone may be known as Lord, not just in Israel but across the earth.

Today, we dare not use these words to pray for victory when our nation goes to war against another. For God is not a respecter of persons during human conflict. His concern is not to take sides in national battles but to advance His kingdom. We need to constantly remember that our true enemies are not human at all.

As Ephesians 6 makes clear, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Our Lord and Christ has dealt the death blow to these forces through His death and resurrection. Yet the enemy still rages, seeking to deceive, discourage, and destroy God’s people through lies.

Our call is not to use physical weapons to exact vengeance on those who oppose or persecute us. Rather, we are called to use the armor of God—the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and prayer at all times. These are not just poetic images. They are the daily resources given to us to foil the attacks of the evil one.

And why do we stand firm? Not for our comfort, not even primarily for our own survival, but to glorify God, our Lord. Like the psalmist, let our hearts long for the day when people will see the greatness of God, through our victories but also through our trials – and even through our weaknesses. Through it all, may every nation see the majesty and the love of Christ.

Philippians 1:20 expresses it beautifully: “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” That is the ultimate aim. Not that we come out unharmed, not that our name is remembered, but that Christ is exalted.

When such a desire moves us, we can pray boldly before God. We can face spiritual battles fearlessly, for our Shepherd guards His pasture. We can live with confidence, like that old man in the village, for our Father guards his own and will not let go. And we can rest in the assurance that one day every nation, every people, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As we cry to him: “Arise, O God, and let them know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.” Let us live in humble faith and obedience before Jesus, the Son of God, with utmost reverence and godly fear. Thus, through us, others may come to that same knowledge—that He, and He alone, is Lord.