No Match for God

God has unrestrained ability to destroy His enemies. Psalm 83 reminds the reader of this fact by making references to some situations in the past that He dealt with swiftly and decisively.

The Hagarites mentioned in verse 6 are only mentioned elsewhere in the Bible in 1 Chronicles 5. They appear to be enemies of Israel, and the account says that the Lord ‘delivered them into their hands’ in the days of Saul. It wasn’t a random deliverance however. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of God. Israel, at that particular moment in their history, had put their trust in Him. As a result, He saw fit to save them from those who were against them. The outflow of bold trust in God is His willingness to deliver.

The references to Jabin and Sisera harken back to Judges 4, where Israel was being judged for their wickedness. God sold them into the hands of Jabin, the king of Canaan at the time. Sisera was the captain of his army. When God decided to deliver the children of Israel from their oppression, a woman named Jael invited Sisera into her tent to rest. While he was asleep, she drove a tent peg through his head. God subsequently subdued Jabin and then Israel prevailed.

This event happened near Endor (meaning, “the fountain of Dor”). It seemed to be a stronghold of spiritual wickedness as evidenced by a statement in Joshua 17:12: “Manasseh could not take possession because the Canaanites persisted in that land. Saul wanted to consult a medium and his servants knew exactly where to find one: in Endor (1 Samuel 28:7). But Psalm 83:10 says that Sisera and Jabin perished there, and in fact says they became as dung. Yes, God is capable of turning wicked people into piles of manure.

Oreb in verse11, meaning “raven”, was a chief of the Midianite army and an enemy of Israel. The meaning of the name Zeeb is ominous: “a wolf that prowls at night”. Wolves prey on sheep and so they are a danger to the flock. The account of demise of these men is found in Judges 7, where Gideon and his army decapitated them both. The head of the snake cut off. Destroyed. Rendered utterly harmless now.

Zebah and Zalmunna, also in verse 11, were leaders in the Midianite camp. In Judges 8, Gideon boldly pursued them, even though his army was few in number and tired, because he knew that God had already gained the victory for him. Interestingly, one meaning of Zebah is “deprived of protection”, while another meaning is “the flesh of slain animals”. Similarly, Zalmunna means “shade has been denied”. No shade, no refreshment and no protection is not a good position to be in.

God is not shy about displaying who He is: it says at the end of the chapter that “God is most high over all the earth (Psalm 83:13). The point of Psalm 83 is that wicked people, whether kings, armies, spiritists… are no match for God. God is victorious over all evil, and His victory is our victory when we trust Him. His victory is our victory when we are bold in the face of adversity.