<<  PSALM LXXXIII. >>

A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.

1. O God, keep not thou silence:
Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult;
And they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3. They take crafty counsel against thy people,
And consult together against thy hidden ones.
4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from
being a nation;
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5. For they have consulted together with one consent;
Against thee do they make a covenant:
6. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre:
8. Assyria also is joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. [Selah
9. Do thou unto them as unto Midian,
As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
10. Who perished at En-dor,
Who became as dung for the earth.
11. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb;
Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;
12. Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession
The habitations of God.
13. O my God, make them like the whirling dust;
As stubble before the wind.
14. As the fire that burneth the forest,
And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
15. So pursue them with thy tempest,
And terrify them with thy storm.
16. Fill their faces with confusion,
That they may seek thy name, O Jehovah.
17. Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;
Yea, let them be confounded and perish;
18. That they may know that thou alone, whose name is
Jehovah,
Art the Most High over all the earth.

1. O God, keep not thou silence:
Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult;
And they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

General Subject. Combats of the Lord with the hells. P. P.
I. See Psalm xviii. 1. R. 279.
1-6. The hells wish to destroy all things of the church. P. P.

3. They take crafty counsel against thy people,
And consult together against thy hidden ones.
4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from
being a nation;
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

3-9. To consult together against the hidden ones, to cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel should be no more in remembrance, is altogether to cast out interior things, the tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagarenes, Gebal, and Ammon are they who are in the externals of worship and doctrine. Philistia with Tyre are things which they speak concerning internals, but they are not in them. Asshur who is an arm to the sons of Lot, is reasoning by which they fight for externals and against internals. A. 2468.

5. For they have consulted together with one consent;
Against thee do they make a covenant:

5-7. The evil of self-love, which is such that it does not admit the truths of faith, thus neither the doctrinals of truth, is described in various passages of the Word by Esau and Edom, and at the same time the state of the church when it becomes of this quality. A. 3322.

6. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre:
8. Assyria also is joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. [Selah
9. Do thou unto them as unto Midian,
As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
10. Who perished at En-dor,

7-9. The hells that rise up against the Lord are enumerated. P. P
8. See Psalm lvi. 1. A. 9340.
Falsities by which truths are attacked are signified by the Amalekites. A. 1679.
Where Asshur is mentioned what is of reason, either true or false is signified. A. 1186.

11. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb;
Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;
12. Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession
The habitations of God.

10-12. They will be cast down and subjugated. P. P.
13. From the places where they have made spurious heavens for themselves. P. P.

13. O my God, make them like the whirling dust;
As stubble before the wind.
14. As the fire that burneth the forest,
And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
15. So pursue them with thy tempest,
And terrify them with thy storm.
16. Fill their faces with confusion,
That they may seek thy name, O Jehovah.
17. Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;
Yea, let them be confounded and perish;

14-18. Prayer to the Lord to overthrow them. P. P.
16. See Psalm xi. 6. R. 343.
See Psalm xi. 6. E. 419.

18. That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah,
Art the Most High over all the earth.

19. That it may be known that power belongs to the Lord alone. P. P.

Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)