May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.
This psalm was written when King Jehoshaphat faced a dreadful confederacy of enemies, not only Ammonites and Moabites, but forces mustered from Syria and distant lands that nearly overwhelmed Judah. The poet enumerates these many nations to show how urgent the prayer for God's aid must be, and to stir us to greater confidence that He will defend His Church against all who conspire to extinguish it.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 83:1-18
Where no good result followed, and the men remained as fierce and obstinate as ever, justice was invoked to carry out the capital sentence. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish. What else could be done with them? It was better that they perished than that Israel should be rooted up.
Let the enemy's fate be what befell Midian, Sisera, and Jabin: total rout. God is unchanging toward His people and unchanged against their foes. The Midianites were routed by their own terror more than by Gideon's three hundred; Sisera's army became as dung on the earth. So shall these confederates perish, and Israel be preserved.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 83:9-18