Showing posts with label Psalm 83. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 83. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2026
Psalm Meditation 1355
¶Proper 5
¶June 7, 2026
¶Psalm 83
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2083&version=NRSVUE
¶It is difficult to fathom what it is like to have national gods who are bound to the borders of the nation as those expand and contract through various wars and conflicts with neighboring nations. However, that is the situation here. Every attack on the nation is also an attack on YHWH. While the people are called upon to defend the physical borders, God is called on to help the people as well as to preserve the spiritual integrity of the nation. Any international conflict becomes a test of whose deity is more powerful than the other.
¶While we may not know what it is like to have our God vying against another, we do know what it is like to be picked on, even ganged up on in order to make us feel small in comparison to all those around us. We still find ourselves calling on God to watch over us as we are attacked by individuals and groups who believe they can use us as pawns and punching bags in their attempts to feel good about themselves. Whether we see ourselves going against flesh and blood or spiritual forces of some kind, we can call on God to bring those others to their knees.
¶Wanting God to come and beat down our enemies does not mean that it is going to happen. God is loving, forgiving, and generous to each of us and all of us. Waiting for God to smite our enemies, leaving us unscathed rarely happens. God comes to us, to those of us who are faithful, to move us in the direction of love, forgiveness, and generosity.
¶June 15, 2026
¶LCM
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Psalm Meditation 1223
¶Reign of Christ
¶November 26, 2023
¶Psalm 83
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+83&version=NRSVUE
(NRSV)
¶Aesop has a fable of the sun and the north wind arguing over which is stronger. To settle the question they agree to see which of them can get a man’s cloak off. The wind goes first and attempts to blow the cloak off of the man. In response he pulls it more tightly around himself. When the sun takes a turn, it sends warmth to the man so that he takes off his cloak, and the sun is declared the winner. It is Aesop’s way of reminding us that use of force is not an effective way to get things done.
¶The psalmist wants God to behave the way human rulers do by using force to accomplish a goal. We like to believe that the use of force works. While force may keep enemies at bay for a time, it is rarely a permanent solution. Eventually, the use of force turns into bullying and we have lots of enemies and very few friends, except those we have bought and paid for in some way. Lucky for us, God does not behave the way human rulers do, and is amazingly patient with each and all of us.
¶Psalms like this one are helpful when we are angry with others and, for now, want them to be destroyed and swept from the earth and everyone’s memory. They let us get the anger out of our system as they let us know that we are not the first or only ones to ever want an enemy destroyed. As the anger dissipates we are better able to see the more positive way that God is at work in our lives and in the world.
¶November 21, 2023
¶LCM
Monday, January 27, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1024
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
February 2, 2020
Psalm 83
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5 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 Assyria 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 Wadi 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 the pastures of God for our own possession.”
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 pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.
(NRSV)
In a time when each nation was thought to have their own local deity, it was easy to know that when our people and property were attacked it was an affront to our God. When all the surrounding nations have joined forces against us we can call on our God to protect us from those who are coming to get the people and property held as personal possession by YHWH. And while we are at it, we can tell our God how chase and chastise all these folks who see us as pushovers, thus insulting us and YHWH all at the same time.
It all gets more complicated when our concept of God broadens to a monotheistic view. There is only one God, and that one God created all things. God entrusted each one of us with the care of a portion of everything else in the created order. That being the case, it is harder to call on God to protect us from ’those people.’ When there are no people not created by YHWH, and all of creation falls under the power and protection of God, including those who do not acknowledge that power and protection, we can’t expect that our stuff is more important to God than anyone else’s. We can call on God for protection, but not because God cares more about us than those we see as other.
As monotheists we can’t assume that we are more valuable than any other person or group in creation. Our relationship with God may be more in line with what God asks from people, and maybe not. Either way, God does not love us more or less than another group. Recognizing that we are, each and all, in the family of God, needs to give us pause before we define a person or group as outside the love of God. “Let them [and us] know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.”
January 27, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
February 2, 2020
Psalm 83
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5 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 Assyria 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 Wadi 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 the pastures of God for our own possession.”
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 pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.
(NRSV)
In a time when each nation was thought to have their own local deity, it was easy to know that when our people and property were attacked it was an affront to our God. When all the surrounding nations have joined forces against us we can call on our God to protect us from those who are coming to get the people and property held as personal possession by YHWH. And while we are at it, we can tell our God how chase and chastise all these folks who see us as pushovers, thus insulting us and YHWH all at the same time.
It all gets more complicated when our concept of God broadens to a monotheistic view. There is only one God, and that one God created all things. God entrusted each one of us with the care of a portion of everything else in the created order. That being the case, it is harder to call on God to protect us from ’those people.’ When there are no people not created by YHWH, and all of creation falls under the power and protection of God, including those who do not acknowledge that power and protection, we can’t expect that our stuff is more important to God than anyone else’s. We can call on God for protection, but not because God cares more about us than those we see as other.
As monotheists we can’t assume that we are more valuable than any other person or group in creation. Our relationship with God may be more in line with what God asks from people, and maybe not. Either way, God does not love us more or less than another group. Recognizing that we are, each and all, in the family of God, needs to give us pause before we define a person or group as outside the love of God. “Let them [and us] know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.”
January 27, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Monday, June 29, 2015
Psalm Meditation 785
Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 5, 2015
Psalm 83
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5 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 Assyria 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 Wadi 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 the pastures of God for our own possession.”
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 pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
(NRSV)
When YHWH was seen as a tribal deity, watching over one group of people, it was easier to know what the will of God was and who the enemies of God were. At that time YHWH wanted justice and righteousness for this one group of people and anyone who challenged the sovereignty of Israel was an enemy of both God and the people. Even then, the concept of justice and righteousness was hard to agree upon. At least the outside enemies were easy to identify; they were the folks who wanted to take the land and destroy the people who lived on the land given by YHWH.
As our concept of God broadened it became more and more difficult to see who the enemies of God were. In land wars there were people on both sides who claimed to follow the same God. We were still quick to proclaim that God was on our side even as those we fought against made the same claim. It is probably closer to the truth to say that God was with the people on both sides of the fight and was saddened that we chose such an evil way of settling our differences. There were truth and lies on both sides, as has often been the case.
While there are still the life and death battles of guns and bombs over resources, we also have battles of ideas as to what constitutes justice and righteousness. It is quite likely that there is sincerity on every side as we declare that we have the complete word of God in this matter. Here is where the difficulty arises. If one person or group can plumb the depths of the mind of God on any question we have a god that is too small to meet all the complexities of life as it has always been. The task we have before us is to refuse to draw hard lines about God’s truth in our discussions and disagreements. There is a kernel of truth, a word of justice and righteousness in each argument and idea. It is a process of listening to each other, a refusal to pick sides, all while keeping our hearts tuned to God.
June 29, 2015
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 5, 2015
Psalm 83
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5 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 Assyria 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 Wadi 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 the pastures of God for our own possession.”
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 pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
(NRSV)
When YHWH was seen as a tribal deity, watching over one group of people, it was easier to know what the will of God was and who the enemies of God were. At that time YHWH wanted justice and righteousness for this one group of people and anyone who challenged the sovereignty of Israel was an enemy of both God and the people. Even then, the concept of justice and righteousness was hard to agree upon. At least the outside enemies were easy to identify; they were the folks who wanted to take the land and destroy the people who lived on the land given by YHWH.
As our concept of God broadened it became more and more difficult to see who the enemies of God were. In land wars there were people on both sides who claimed to follow the same God. We were still quick to proclaim that God was on our side even as those we fought against made the same claim. It is probably closer to the truth to say that God was with the people on both sides of the fight and was saddened that we chose such an evil way of settling our differences. There were truth and lies on both sides, as has often been the case.
While there are still the life and death battles of guns and bombs over resources, we also have battles of ideas as to what constitutes justice and righteousness. It is quite likely that there is sincerity on every side as we declare that we have the complete word of God in this matter. Here is where the difficulty arises. If one person or group can plumb the depths of the mind of God on any question we have a god that is too small to meet all the complexities of life as it has always been. The task we have before us is to refuse to draw hard lines about God’s truth in our discussions and disagreements. There is a kernel of truth, a word of justice and righteousness in each argument and idea. It is a process of listening to each other, a refusal to pick sides, all while keeping our hearts tuned to God.
June 29, 2015
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Monday, October 15, 2012
Psalm Meditation 644
Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 21, 2012
Psalm 83
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.
4 They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more."
5 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 Assyria 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 Wadi 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 the pastures of God for our own possession."
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 pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
(NRSV)
While I believe that God answers prayer, I also believe that God has the sense not to answer every prayer by jumping up and doing what we have asked. There are times in which God uses our prayers to teach us about ourselves and to remind us how God works in peoples’ lives. We are very aware that God does not fix things, to make them the way we want them to be. God is more likely to be with us as we live into a situation than to make it the way we wish it were. God is more likely to suffer with us, through the way things are than to make things the way we want them to be. God is more likely to change our hearts than to change the folks around us.
This doesn’t alter the fact that we want our enemies destroyed and that we want God to do it for us. God is happy to hear the needs and wants of our hearts in our prayers. It gives God the opportunity to show us what it means to follow after God’s own heart. God may also open our minds to a new strategy for dealing with our enemies. We may discover ways to protect ourselves, find effective ways to apply the force we have against our enemies, or we may find that we have found a way to turn enemies into allies in some way.
God is not deaf to our prayers. God hears them with an ear toward wholeness, for us and for those around us. God wants us to experience and express the bitterness, rage and vindictiveness that are in our hearts against those we count as enemies. God wants us to trust and know that there is power beyond our own in every situation. God wants to redeem us from our suffering, not by taking it away but by showing us that we are not alone.
October 15, 2012
Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 21, 2012
Psalm 83
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.
4 They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more."
5 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 Assyria 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 Wadi 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 the pastures of God for our own possession."
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 pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
(NRSV)
While I believe that God answers prayer, I also believe that God has the sense not to answer every prayer by jumping up and doing what we have asked. There are times in which God uses our prayers to teach us about ourselves and to remind us how God works in peoples’ lives. We are very aware that God does not fix things, to make them the way we want them to be. God is more likely to be with us as we live into a situation than to make it the way we wish it were. God is more likely to suffer with us, through the way things are than to make things the way we want them to be. God is more likely to change our hearts than to change the folks around us.
This doesn’t alter the fact that we want our enemies destroyed and that we want God to do it for us. God is happy to hear the needs and wants of our hearts in our prayers. It gives God the opportunity to show us what it means to follow after God’s own heart. God may also open our minds to a new strategy for dealing with our enemies. We may discover ways to protect ourselves, find effective ways to apply the force we have against our enemies, or we may find that we have found a way to turn enemies into allies in some way.
God is not deaf to our prayers. God hears them with an ear toward wholeness, for us and for those around us. God wants us to experience and express the bitterness, rage and vindictiveness that are in our hearts against those we count as enemies. God wants us to trust and know that there is power beyond our own in every situation. God wants to redeem us from our suffering, not by taking it away but by showing us that we are not alone.
October 15, 2012
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