Psalm 83 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 83 Short Summary:

In Psalm 83, Asaph, the author, asked God to fight against the nations that wanted to destroy Israel. They wanted to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Asaph called on God to give His people the victory, and to shame the enemies so they would know that the Lord alone is the “Most High over all the earth.”

Psalm 83 Summary

AUTHOR:

• Psalm 83 is a psalm of Asaph.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• Enemies threaten Israel with ambitions to destroy them and take their land.

• Asaph cries out to the Lord for help and recalls memories of God’s power from Israel’s history.

DEFINITIONS:

• Chaff (83:13) - Chaff is the useless part of a harvested plant, the leaves and other debris that surround the seed. The seed is kept, and the chaff is thrown away or burned.

OUTLINE:

• THE ENEMIES SCHEME, HOW WILL GOD RESPOND? (83:1-18):

  • God’s enemies were once again scheming against His people.

  • They wanted to wipe out the name of Israel off the face of the earth to a degree that no one would remember it.

  • These enemies included the people of Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moabites, Hagrites, Gebalites, Ammonites, Amalekites, Philistines, Asshurites, and the people of Tyre.

  • Some of these enemies (Moabites and Ammonites; Gen 19: 37-38) were the relatives of the Israelites. They were the descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew.

  • The psalmist prayed for God to do to these nations as He had done to enemies of Israel in the past.

  • He listed several notable enemies from Israel’s past that had been defeated by God, these included Midian (Num 31), Jabin and Sisera (Jud 4), Endor, Oreb and Zeeb (Jud 7), and Zebah and Zalmunna (Jud 8).

  • Asaph wrote, “O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!” (83:13-15).

  • Asaph asked God to shame them and make them know that the Lord alone is the “Most High over all the earth.”

APPLICATION:

• Today’s application is an Anti-Application.

• Since the Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans all ruined God’s plans and stopped His will from coming to fruition, we should be terrified every day when we watch the news and see new advocates of evil threatening to do the same thing in our day.