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1O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.
2See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.
3With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish,
4saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5For with one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against You—
6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,
7of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre.
8Even Assyria has joined them, lending strength to the sons of Lot.
9Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,
10who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.
11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12who said, “Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God.”
13Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.
14As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm.
16Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD.
17May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.
18May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
Understand This
Psalm 83, explained
What Psalm 83 is saying
The final Asaphite psalm, Psalm 83 is a communal lament responding to a coalition of nations conspiring to annihilate Israel. The psalmist catalogs ten enemy peoples forming an alliance with Assyria, then appeals to God by recalling His past military deliverances through Gideon and Deborah. The imprecatory petitions employ nature imagery—whirling dust, fire consuming forests, tempest—to request divine intervention.
The background behind it
The specific ten-nation coalition described is difficult to match with a single historical event, leading some scholars to see it as an ideal or composite threat. The inclusion of Assyria as a supporting power suggests a pre-exilic date, possibly during the 8th or 7th century BC.
Themes running underneath
The psalm's theology of holy war entrusts national defense entirely to God. The appeal to past deliverances (Midian, Sisera, Endor) grounds present hope in precedent. Remarkably, the stated purpose of the enemies' destruction is not merely Israel's survival but that 'they may seek Your name, O LORD'—judgment serves revelation.
Why it still matters
Psalm 83 models prayer in the face of overwhelming opposition by combining historical memory with urgent petition. Its surprising conclusion—that enemies would come to know God's name—introduces a missional dimension to imprecatory prayer.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.