#814 Whirling Dust

O God, do not keep silence;

do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;

those who hate you have raised their heads.

3 They lay crafty plans against your people;

they consult together against your treasured ones.

4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;

let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

5 For they conspire with one accord;

against you they make a covenant—

6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites,

7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Asshur also has joined them;

they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

9 Do to them as you did to Midian,

as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,

10 who were destroyed at En-dor,

who became dung for the ground.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves

of the pastures of God.”

13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,

like chaff before the wind.

14 As fire consumes the forest,

as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,

15 so may you pursue them with your tempest

and terrify them with your hurricane!

16 Fill their faces with shame,

that they may seek your name, O Lord.

17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;

let them perish in disgrace,

18 that they may know that you alone,

whose name is the Lord,

are the Most High over all the earth. Psalm 83 ESV

A Psalm of Asaph. This is the last song to bare his authorship.

14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants, as he stood in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.… 2 Chronicles 20: 14-15

O God, do not keep silence - At Your word, O Lord, the heavens and earth came into being. Please God, just a word from You and it will all be made aright. The word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, and the faith of the prophet comes from the hearing of God's word, knowing that with God all things are possible. There is a real and present sense of danger, but what is that if God is willing to speak on our behalf? 

Your enemies make an uproar - They will not shut up, even for a moment, and they are confident in their numbers. Men say things with passion, with confidence, with posture, but always without full knowledge. They cannot see God, so in their minds He does not exist. They are celebrating before the battle, stirring one another up, and the echo of their own voice is all the confirmation they need to move forward. Others believe in the Creator, but because He does not take orders from men and His ways are not our ways, we would have nothing to do with Him.

…13“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts? 15 So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”… Malachi 3: 13-15

…11 Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” 13 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.… Jeremiah 18: 11-13

…45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”… 1 Samuel 17: 45-47

Come let us wipe them out as a nation - This has long been the story of Israel, even today, prayers go up to false gods, men conspire against God's people in every age. The Lord will always sustain a remnant.

…10 On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious. 11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.… Isaiah 11: 10-12

The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites - Edom is of the line of Esau, who despised his birthright. Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, the bond woman. This is an old feud. God had spoken and according to His word, "in Isaac shall thy seed be called." 

…11 The Angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” 13 So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”… Genesis 6: 11-13

Of the pastures of God - Men think they stand on the high ground, that they sit in the highest places. How lofty is the mind that did not create itself, that says, "mine" or "let us take". Life belongs to God. Every created thing belongs to the Creator. You will say, "my body, my mind, my god," but did not create yourself, nor will you be able to decide against death, it is borrowed ground and time.

- Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. Viewing the temple, and also the dwellings of the tribes, as all belonging to God, these greedy plunderers determined to push out the inhabitants, slay them, and become themselves landlords and tenants of the whole. These were large words and dark designs, but God could bring them all to nothing. It is in vain for men to say "Let us take, "if God does not give. He who robs God's house will find that he has a property reeking with a curse; it will plague him and his seed for ever. "Will a man rob God?" Let him try it, and he will find it hot and heavy work. C. H. Spurgeon

Fill their faces with shame - For shame does a man often seek the Lord, or cast it off unto his own ruin. If you cannot see the shame of sin then you cannot repent. If you cannot see shame then you will never know the beauty of the cross.