Psalm 83

Pleas for God to Destroy Israel's Enemies

This psalm is the last of the psalms to go under the name of Asaph.  Some Biblical scholars believe it was penned upon the occasion of a descent/attack upon Judah by the Moabites & Ammonites (the children of Lot) in the time of Jehoshaphat's reign.  Others believe it was written with a reference to a coalition formed against Israel by 10 neighboring nations.    

What is known for sure is that the Israelites were in danger and great distress, and the psalmist is making an appeal to God on their behalf.  He appeals to God's knowledge and His justice.

Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,

That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord,

Are the Most High over all the earth.  ~ Ps. 83:17-18

El Elyon is the name given to God that means the Most High.  This name designates God as the sovereign ruler of the universe.  We saw this reference to God back in Psalm 78:

Then they remembered that God was their rock,

And the Most High God their Redeemer.  ~ Ps. 78:35

It was the Most High God who was and is the Redeemer of Israel, and it is the Most High God who rules today over the affairs of men.  ~ Kay Arthur



WHAT CAN I LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• God is El Elyon, the Most High over all the earth

I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these. ~ Is. 45:6-7

HOW CAN I PRAISE GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• I praise God for His sovereignty - that He is Ruler over all, and that nothing can happen without the ultimate sanction or permission of God

The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand . . . for the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?  As as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?  ~ Isaiah 14:24, 27

PRAYER:

     You, O Lord, are El Elyon, Most High over all the earth.  How I bless You that You have made Yourself known to Your people, that You have made Yourself known to me.  Thank You that Your plans cannot be thwarted by evil - that what You have planned will come to pass.  I pray for deliverance from my enemies and from those things that strive against me, causing me to fret and feel anxious and diminishing my trust.  May I put my full weight on You, Father - would you bear me up in my weaknesses and complete Your perfect plan for me?  In Jesus' name I pray ~ Amen