Catholic Commentary on Psalm 83

"Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth." (Psalm 83:18)

O God, Be Not Silent

Psalm 83 is a communal lament and imprecatory prayer against a coalition of nations conspiring to destroy Israel. The psalmist names ten specific peoples, from Edom and Moab to Assyria, who have made common cause against God's people: They have said, come, let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel's name is remembered no more. The prayer that follows is urgent: do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon. Scatter them, pursue them, fill their faces with shame.

The imprecatory psalms challenge modern readers because their language is so fierce. The Church teaches that these psalms can be prayed in two ways: literally, as the prayer of a community under genuine threat of annihilation, which is a real experience for many Christians today; and typologically, as the prayer of the soul against the spiritual forces that conspire against the life of grace. St. Augustine read the enemies of the psalms as the passions and vices that conspire to destroy the soul's relationship with God. The final verse gives the whole prayer its proper orientation: not revenge but revelation: Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the ultimate goal even of the most severe prayer in the Psalter is not destruction but knowledge: that they may know you are the LORD. Even our prayers for justice must be animated by the hope that those who oppose God will ultimately come to acknowledge him. Let that be the horizon of every petition we make against evil.

Prayer

Lord God Most High, be not silent. Do not hold your peace or be still when your people cry to you. Scatter every conspiracy against your Church, and let even your enemies come to know that you alone are the LORD. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

83
O God, Be Not Silent
A song. A Psalm of Asaph.
 
1 O God, be not silent; be not speechless;* 83:1 Or deaf
be not still, O God.
2 See how Your enemies rage,
how Your foes have reared their heads.
3 With cunning they scheme against Your people
and conspire against those You cherish,
4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation;
may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
 
5 For with one mind they plot together,
they form an alliance against You—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
of Philistia with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them,
lending strength to the sons of Lot.
Selah
9 Do to them as You did to Midian,
as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor
and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
the pastures of God.”
 
13 Make them like tumbleweed, O my God,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes a forest,
as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with Your tempest,
and terrify them with Your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame,
that they may seek Your name, O LORD.
 
17 May they be ever ashamed and terrified;
may they perish in disgrace.
18 May they know that You alone,
whose name is the LORD,
are Most High over all the earth.

*83:1 83:1 Or deaf

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