Pray for Justice (Psalm 83)

Pray for Justice:
We Need You Lord
(Psalm 83)

INTRODUCTION:
As much as we try to live lives characterized by love and kindness, gentleness and patience, it is also true that we might have people who don’t like us - maybe even hate us. Since Jesus was the most perfect person who ever lived and He was crucified, it should not surprise us that we cannot avoid stirring up animosity among other people.

But how do we handle it when we have “enemies”? Maybe even people who hate us because of our Christianity? How do we deal with that? Jesus said, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44).

Asaph was a song leader during the reign of King David. There were three other men named Asaph in the OT as well, but most of them are related to the worship service of the nation of Israel. There are 12 psalms which are connected to Asaph, which Asaph apparently wrote. This specific psalm - Psalm 83 - is a prayer for justice from God regarding enemies of Israel who actually wanted them destroyed.

ASAPH WANTS GOD TO HEAR - 83:1-3:
“O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.”

In this paragraph, Asaph calls for God to: 1) Not remain quiet; 2) Not be silent; 3) Not be still. In other words, Asaph wants God to: 1) listen, and 2) do something!

Why? Because God’s enemies are making an uproar. Those who hate God have exalted themselves against God.

But notice that these people do not, cannot, attack God directly. They, instead, attack God’s people. “They make shrewd plans against Your people,” prays Asaph. “They conspire together against Your treasured ones.”

Don’t forget that to attack God’s people is to attack God, just as Saul of Tarsus learned (Acts 9:4).

The command to “pray” is a consistent prayer from the lips of Jesus to us, His followers to pray in passages like Matthew 6:9.

“Treasured ones” is a term used to identify Israel at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:5.

In the NT, Paul tells us that the church is a “people for His own possession” (Titus 2:14).

HIS ENEMIES WANT TO WIPE OUT HIS NATION - 83:4-8:
“They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have become a help to the children of Lot.”

In verse 3, Asaph had said that the enemies of God were making shrewd plans against God’s people and were conspiring together against His treasured ones. Here, Asaph quotes the enemies saying to one another: “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation.” The enemies want Israel destroyed. Notice, “that the name of Israel be remembered no more.” They not only want Israel destroyed, but they want her forgotten!

What had Israel done? Israel was not really a militaristic people. They occupied the Promised Land, but they made no effort to go beyond that property. In fact, you recall that God specifically forbid Israel from taking the lands of certain other peoples, because God said that He had given other lands to those other peoples. So why was Israel hated so much? Perhaps one reason was their religious convictions; because they believed and understood that false gods were no gods at all and they were not worthy to be worshipped - that they were just wood and stone, gold and silver.

This “covenant” is what we would today term a “treaty.” These 10 nations have made a treaty with each other to destroy the people of God! This is the only time in the Scriptures that a covenant is made against someone!

Beginning in verse 6, Asaph mentions a number of nations which had been enemies of Israel for a long time and were now conspiring together, “with one mind” (unity) to destroy Israel; some of these nations were distant cousins of Israel:

Edom - from Jacob’s brother, Esau (Gen. 25:19-30)
Ishmaelites - from Abraham’s wife, Hagar (Gen. 16)
Moab - from Abraham’s nephew, Lot - his oldest daughter (Gen. 19:37)
Hagrites -
Gebal -
Ammon - from Abraham’s nephew, Lot - his youngest daughter (Gen. 19:38)
Amalek
Philistia
Tyre
Assyria
“the children of Lot” - would include Ammon but also Moab

It reminds me of the apostle Paul who had stirred up the anger, envy, and hatred of the Jewish people so that 40 men took an oath - made a “covenant” with each other - to not eat or drink before they killed Paul. The story is told in Acts 23:12-22. By the grace of God, Paul’s nephew overhead of the plot and Paul’s life was saved.

ASAPH REMEMBERS GOD’S PAST JUSTICE - 83:9-12:
“Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon, Who were destroyed at En-dor, Who became as dung for the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves The pastures of God.”

So far, Asaph has asked God to listen to him and do something (verses 1-3) and he has told God why (verses 4-8). In this paragraph, Asaph asks God to be just in His punishment, just as God has done before…

“Midian” was the nation which attacked Israel during the time of the judges, specifically Gideon (the story is told in Judges 6-8). “Sisera” - the military commander - and “Jabin” - king of Canaan - attacked Israel during the time of Deborah, the judge (told in Judges 4-5).

In verse 10, Asaph will comment that God made these peoples “as dung for the ground.” That is, God turned them into fertilizer. That is a figure of speech, in the same way we might say, “He made ‘minced meat’ out of them.” God was just in defending His people in the past; Asaph is asking for that same justice and fairness again.

“Oreb and Zeeb” were leaders of Midian who were conquered by Gideon (Judges 7-8). “Zebah and Zalmunna” were kings of Midian who were conquered by Gideon (Judges 8).

These peoples wanted to take over God’s people, the “pastures of God,” but God inspired His people His people to fight against these enemies and, through their hands, God was able to bring victory to Israel.

When you are dealing with people who are criticizing you and putting you down, who are maybe working behind your back to destroy you or your influence, perhaps you should remember your relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe you need to remind yourself that you are Christ’s and that He has done great things for you in the past, and He will do great things for you in the future.

That is what Asaph is asking for now. However, he does not just want them destroyed. Asaph wants them converted…

EVANGELISM IS AT THE HEART OF ASAPH’S PRAYER - 83:13-18:
“O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind. Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire, So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm. Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish, That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.”

Asaph returns to addressing God and asks God to make these enemies “like the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.” In other words, make them useless, no longer dangerous. Think of “tumbleweed.” He wants God to be like “fire that burns the forest. Like a flame that sets the mountains on fire.”

In verse 15, Asaph calls on God to pursue these dangerous enemies with His “tempest,” His powerful stormy abilities, to “terrify them with Your storm.”

In Deuteronomy 32:35, God tells Israel to leave vengeance in His hands. In Romans 12:19, Paul tells Christians the same. That means that when we feel like we need to “get back” with someone… just pray to God and put it all in His hands. Then trust Him for the results that will be good and right and holy.

Asaph asks God to “fill their faces with dishonor,” so that they will realize what they are doing and “seek Your name, O Lord.” Do you see that there is an element of evangelism in Asaph’s prayer? He doesn’t just want his enemies punished. He wants them converted, to seek the name of Jehovah God.

Asaph asks God to work so that these enemies will be ashamed of their behavior, to awaken their moral consciousness and acknowledge they have treated Israel wrongly. And be “dismayed forever” because of their wickedness.

“Let them be humiliated and perish,” Asaph prays, so that they may “know that You” - Jehovah God - “alone, whose name is Jehovah” - are the “Most High over all the earth.” Asaph prays that his enemies will come to know Jehovah God as the true and only God and will know Him and worship Him as such. “God Most High” is one of the very oldest names of Jehovah God, first used in Genesis 14:18-20.

In the story of Queen Esther, we see where the Persians were going to kill and wipe out all the Jews in the Persian Empire. The king gave the Jews the legal right to defend themselves and, in the end of the story, many Persians actually were converted and became Jews!

It is hard to keep the glory of God in focus when we are overcome with anger.

Just as we see with the apostle Paul, even the enemies of Christ, our enemies can be converted. We should never underestimate the power of the word of God in the lives of others and conduct ourselves in a way - especially with our enemies - that might lead them to Christ and to obedience to the gospel.

When we feel that conflict in our hearts, the conflict between getting back at someone who did us harm and the knowledge that we need to reflect Christ in our lives with the prayer that we can lead our enemy to salvation, remember Colossians 4:5-6:

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” And pray for wisdom.

CONCLUSION:
Take home message: We might have enemies in our own lives, for whom we pray that God will be just in dealing with them. Let us also pray that they will be converted to the gospel of Christ and become our spiritual family!