Psalm 83 - Prayer for Deliverance

In this psalm, Asaph prays about a possible onslaught on Israel by surrounding nations mentioned in verses 6-8. Those nations had not kept their plans secret. Indeed they rejoiced in the prospect of bringing an end to the existence of Israel.

What arguments does Asaph use in his prayer? First, he mentions that those peoples are the enemies of God, that they hate the Lord, that their combined action is an agreement against him (vv. 1-5). Second, he mentions the relationship that Israel has with the Lord - they are his people, his treasured ones. 

What requests does Asaph make to the Lord? First, he asks God to repeat previous expressions of his defence of his people when he defeated their powerful enemies (vv. 9-12). Second, he asks God to destroy them, and he uses several pictures to explain the intensity of his desire, such as a fire destroying a forest, or a hurricane causing fear and damage.

Why does Asaph pray in this way? His main reason is that he wants the name of God to be glorified even among those enemies. In verse 16, he prays that such adverse circumstances would lead those nations to seek God. In verse 18, he prays that such a divine intervention would lead to those nations discovering that the God of Israel is the exalted Sovereign everywhere.

Asaph reminds us that prayer requests should be based on valid evidence of divine power being exercised - he took his information from God’s previous actions in the past. He shows us too that requests should be heartfelt - his illustrations of what divine action would look like indicate his intensity. His requests further show that he realised that heavenly blessing is more important than earthly success - it would be better for those nations to be crushed if they came to know God as a result. And his requests remind us of the words of Jesus that we should pray for our enemies.

The equivalent of Israel today is the church. It is under attack from secularism in some places and religious and political persecution in other places. Asaph’s prayer instructs us about how we can pray about such situations.

Of course, we should take note of the sense of urgency that the psalmist has in verse 1. His dilemma is that God so far has not intervened and stopped the threatened attack. Why does God seem to be inactive in the face of such threats? Asaph’s dilemma is often our dilemma.