They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
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 taken crafty counsel against thy people. Whatever we may do, our enemies use their wits and lay their heads together; in united conclave they discourse upon the demands and plans of the campaign, using much treachery and serpentine cunning in arranging their schemes. Malice is cold blooded enough to plot with deliberation; and pride, though it be never wise, is often allied with craft.
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