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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comTreasury of David - Psalms 83:9 - 83:9
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison '
10 Which perished at En-dor: they became as dung for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15 So persecute them with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storm.
Psa 83:9
“Do unto them as unto the Midianites.” Faith delights to light upon precedents, and quote them before the Lord; in the present instance, Asaph found a very appropriate one, for the nations in both cases were very much the same, and the plight of the Israelites very similar. Yet Midian perished, and the Psalmist trusted that Israel's present foes would meet with the like overthrow from the hand of the Lord. “As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison.” The hosts were swept away by the suddenly swollen torrent, and utterly perished; which was a second instance of divine vengeance upon confederated enemies of Israel. When God wills it, a brook can be as deadly as a sea. Kishon was as terrible to Jabin as was the Red Sea to Pharaoh. How easily can the Lord smite the enemies of his people. God of Gideon and of Barak, wilt thou not again avenge thine heritage of their bloodthirsty foes?
Psa 83:10
“Which perished at En-dor.” There was the centre of the carnage, where the heaps of the slain lay thickest. “They became as dung for the earth,” manuring it with man; making the earth, like Saturn, feed on its own children. War is cruel, but in this case its avengements were most just, - those who would not give Israel a place above ground are themselves denied a hiding-place under the ground; they counted God's people to be as dung, and they became dung themselves. Asaph would have the same fate befall other enemies of Israel; and his prayer was a prophecy, for so it happened to them.
Psa 83:11
“Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb.” Smite the great ones as well as the common ruck. Suffer not the ringleaders to escape. As Oreb fell at the rock and Zeeb at the winepress, so do thou mete out vengeance to Zion's foes wherever thou mayest overtake them. They boastfully compare themselves to ravens and wolves; let them receive the fate which is due to such wild beasts. “Yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna.” These were captured and slain by Gideon, despite their claiming to have been anointed to the kingdom. Zebah became a sacrifice, and Zalmunna was sent to those shadowy images from which his name is derived. The Psalmist seeing these four culprits hanging in history upon a lofty gallows, earnestly asks that others of a like character may, for truth and righteousness' sake, share their fate.
Psa 83:12
“Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.” Viewing the temple, and also the dwellings of the tribes, as all belonging to God, these greedy plunderers determined to push out the inhabitants, slay them, and become themselves landlords and tenants of the whole. These were large words and dark designs, but God could bring them all to nothing. It is in vain for men to say “Let us take,” if God does not give. He who robs God's house will find that he has a property reeking with a curse; it will plague him and his seed for ever. “Will a man rob God?” Let him try it, and he will find it hot and heavy work.
Psa 83:13
“O my God, make them like a wheel;” like a rolling thing which cannot rest, but is made to move with every breath. Let them have no quiet. May their minds eternally revolve and never come to peace. Blow them away like thistle down, “as the stubble before the wind.” Scatter them, chase them, drive them to destruction. Every patriot prays thus against the enemies of his country, he would be no better than a traitor if he did not.
Psa 83:14
“As the fire burneth a wood.” Long years have strewn the ground with deep deposits of leaves; these being dried in the sun are very apt to take fire, find when they do so the burning is terrific. The underwood and the ferns blaze, the bushes crackle, the great trees kindle and to their very tops are wrapped in fire, while the ground is all red as a furnace. In this way, O Lord, mete out destruction to thy foes, and bring all of them to an end. “The flame setteth the mountain, on fire.” Up the hill sides the hanging woods glow like a great sacrifice, and the forests on the mountain's crown smoke towards heaven. Even thus, O Lord, do thou conspicuously and terribly overthrow the enemies of thine Israel.
Psa 83:15
“So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.” The Lord will follow up his enemies, alarm them, and chase them till they are put to a hopeless rout. He did this, according to the prayer of the present Psalm, for his servant Jehoshaphat; and in like manner will he come to the rescue of any or all of his chosen.