They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
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
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation. Easier said than done. Yet it shows how thorough going are the foes of the church. Theirs was the policy of extermination. They laid the axe at the root of the matter. Rome has always loved this method of warfare, and hence she has gloated over the massacre of Bartholomew, and the murders of the Inquisition.
When God seems to hold His silence and sit by unmoved, His people have leave to cry out, Lord, speak for us by providence and against our enemies; speak deliverance to us and disappointment to them. With Him saying and doing are the same thing.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 83:1-8