WEDNESDAY 27th
Psalm 83
NIV (vv17-18) – ‘May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD— that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.’
ESV (vv17-18) – ‘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.’
In this psalm, the psalmist has surveyed what is going on in the nations with their attitude and behaviour towards the Children of Israel and the outworking of God’s plans toward them and he recalls what the enemies of God and of Israel are doing to seek to frustrate and to ‘destroy God’s treasured ones’ (vv2-4) He then calls upon God to take action, ‘Don’t let them get away with it’ ‘Do what you have done to others and destroy them’ (v9-10) In other words, he is asking the LORD God, to exact revenge, to punish them for their attitude and behaviour. But he has reason behind it all, not just to punish for punishments sake, but as it says in verse 18 ‘that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.’
As I read this psalm the words of a song came to mind, ‘Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered’, based upon another psalm, Psalm 68
Let God arise
And let His enemies
Be scattered
And let those who hate Him
Flee before Him
Let God arise
And let His enemies
Be scattered
And let those who hate Him
Flee away
(Men)
But let the righteous be glad
Let them exult before God
Let them rejoice with gladness
Building up a highway for the King
We go in the name of the Lord
Let the shout go up
In the name of the Lord
Since the birth of the Church, the enemies of God and the enemies of the gospel have sought to frustrate and to destroy we who have become God’s treasured ones who have been washed in his Sons precious blood, as we consider the crafty plans of the evil one which he seeks to put into action through governing authorities and other active organizations that seek to supress the Christian faith and persecute believers, may we make the same prayer that the psalmist made, ‘Lord, 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.’ It is a timely reminder again for us to pray for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus.