Asaph’s Imprecatory Prayer
Psalms 83
September 20, 2020
Tonight we conclude the Psalms of Asaph.
They have been a unique and enlightening group of songs.
I personally love them because they are so packed with Asaph’s raw and honest emotion.
• From the great 73rd where he expresses his near apostasy.
• To the lengthy 78th where he laments Israel’s stubbornness.
• Even to the 82nd which we saw last week where he sings a warning to corrupt judges.
I often times can identify with his raw emotion and passion.
And it is only fitting that Asaph also include his own imprecatory Psalm.
You are certainly familiar with the imprecatory theme by now.
You may even find it surprising
That there are so many Psalms included in the Old Testament
In which God’s wrath is called down upon the enemies of Israel.
It remains a mystery to me how the church today
Can so easily overlook them or dismiss them
As outdated, unnecessary, or even unchristian.
I, for one, certainly believe that the church robs herself of a great blessing
In tossing these Psalms to the gutter as that which should not be prayed.
They are the perfect expression of righteous indignation.
Psalms 5:10 “Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”
Psalms 10:15 “Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.”
Psalms 58:6 “O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.”
Psalms 59:13 “Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; That men may know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah.”
And as you are now well-aware, those are just the tip of the iceberg.
The book of Psalms is filled with such prayers.
• As those who do not take our own revenge.
• As those who must respond with a blessing to our cursing enemies
• As those who turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.
• As those who submit to our governing authorities.
It is a refreshing blessing to know that there is a divine outlet
Where we may unleash the righteous fury which fills our hearts.
• How else are we to deal with the inward anger of injustice?
• How else are we to deal with the frustration of evil around us?
• How else are we to deal with the discouragement of apathy?
While it might feel nice at times to be like Nehemiah
Who looked upon the returning refugees who fell into sin
And cursed them, struck them in the face, and pulled out their hair,
WE ARE EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN AGAINST SUCH THINGS.
Instead we lay our frustrations at the feet of a righteous Judge.
We lay our indignation before the Holy One.
He alone has the right to judge.
He alone has the right to deal with the wicked.
And there is such safety in this for us.
For if I deal out my own revenge there is a very great possibility that my revenge will be unjust.
• There is certainly a chance that my reasons are selfish or my judgment is
unwarranted.
• Perhaps I don’t know all the facts…
• Perhaps I wrongly read the situation…
• Perhaps in my haste my motives were wrong…
None of us wants to be like James and John
Who would call down fire upon the Samaritans for failing to give lodging.
And so the great safeguard for us is that
In our frustration we lay our request at the feet of God
Who can rightly judge the situation, rightly judge our motive,
And then rightly respond to the situation.
I love the imprecatory Psalms.
I have grown to find great comfort in expressing them to God
When our world falls into godless chaos.
Now, at the same time it is important that Christ’s church
Understand the PURPOSE behind them & REASON for praying them.
And tonight we owe a debt to Asaph
For helping us understand the deepest motive behind such prayers.
And just to go ahead and kill any suspense,
There is but ONE REASON why we should ever pray such a prayer,
And that is for the glory of God.
• We DO NOT call down judgment on an enemy because he has upset our routine.
• We DO NOT ask God to smite the wicked because he has robbed me of my comfort.
• We DO NOT beseech God to crush our enemies because our life is hard.
That has never been the purpose.
That has never been the reason.
The SOLE REASON for asking God to rise up and deal with the wicked
Is that God might be glorified as God.
The truest imprecatory prayer has at its center
A frustration that God is not honored as He ought to be honored.
This is the lone reason for such a prayer,
And Asaph makes that abundantly clear tonight.
In fact, go ahead and fast-forward to the end of the Psalm.
(16-18) “Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O LORD. Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish, That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.”
The motive is very clearly stated.
• “That they may seek Your name, O LORD”
• “That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the
Most High over all the earth.”
Our Sunday school class has been studying Daniel.
• We can hear such similarity here
• As we recently saw God deal with Nebuchadnezzar and the rulers of Babylon
• Who had had such disdain for God that they actually invaded His temple, stole His utensils, burned His city,
• And then used His objects of worship in the worship of other gods.
Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream of a tree
Which was chopped down and bound for 7 years.
Daniel made the dream clear:
Daniel 4:24-26 “this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. ‘And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.”
Nebuchadnezzar did not listen and wrath from heaven was poured upon him.
Daniel 4:28-33 “All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. “Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ “While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ “Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”
After the period of 7 years was over:
Daniel 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
What happened to Nebuchadnezzar
Is what Asaph prays will happen to the enemies of God.
Years later Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson Belshazzar was on the throne.
• He was well aware of his grandfather’s life lesson.
• He was well aware of God’s expectation of glory.
• And yet Belshazzar chose to throw a party with God’s golden utensils and worship false gods.
Daniel 5:17-22 “Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. “O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. “Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. “But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. “He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. “Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this,”
And you’ll remember as a result he saw the handwriting on the wall
And was killed that very night.
WHAT IS THE POINT?
• These men were not judged for conquering Israel.
• These men were not judge for exiling God’s children.
• That was actually the very plan of God.
These men were judged for failing to glorify God.
• That was the slight.
• That was the problem.
We’ve read it countless times in Romans 1; the great sin of humanity.
Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
And it is THIS RESPONSE of humanity
That CAUSES US TO RISE AND PRAY for the justice of God.
Asaph knows that, and tonight he has left us a jewel of an example
Of what such a prayer looks like.
First let me give you the setting.
TURN TO: 2 CHRONICLES 20:1-12
• You see that here that Israel is under siege by a confederation of her enemies.
• Jehoshaphat offers one of the famous prayers of scripture.
• Concluding with, (12) “O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
If you want to insert Psalms 83 into the narrative,
I personally like placing it between verses 12 & 13.
Because in verse 13 a descendent of Asaph
(perhaps the author of this Psalm)
Arises with an encouraging word from God.
(READ 13-17)
And if you want to see how the event ended up…
(READ 22-23)
Those armies turned on themselves and killed each other.
No can be certain, but the context seems very fitting for the 83rd Psalm.
So here we are.
Let’s break the Psalm down into 5 points tonight.
#1 THE DESPERATE CRY
Psalms 83:1
We don’t have to spend much time here,
But it is too wonderful and important to not single out.
“O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.”
Many times in our lives it seems as though God is nothing more than a token deity to us.
• He’s the God we pray to for sure…
• He’s the God we sing to…
• He’s the God we worship on Sundays…
• He’s the God we give money to…
But there are times in our lives
When even though we go through all those motions,
We feel like we have a handle on things
Whether God would move or not.
• We have our plans…
• We have our abilities…
• We have our security…
• We’ve checked every scenario…
• If God moves today, fine.
• If God doesn’t do anything today, fine.
• If God just sort of kicks back and takes a nap, fine.
Now certainly we know that we would not survive 1 second apart from the constant intervention of God since in Him we live and move and exist.
But you understand how at times
Our desperation point can be considerably low
And we can become so self-sufficient
That it matters not to us if God does something.
That is NOT Asaph’s belief.
• If God just sits there…
• If God says nothing…
• If God is apathetic…
THIS THING IS OVER
He is in a place of great desperation.
He is aware of the peril, he is aware of the danger,
He is aware of his own weakness,
And he is aware that God is his only hope.
GOD MUST MOVE.
Silence and complacency are not an option.
WHY?
#2 THE DEADLY CONFEDERACY
Psalms 83:2-8
You saw them in 2 Chronicles 20.
• It’s as if all the enemies of Israel have joined together at once to try and finish her for good.
But notice that is not how Asaph lists them.
• Asaph doesn’t reckon them to be the enemies of Israel.
• Asaph sees them as the enemies of God.
“For behold, YOUR ENEMIES make an uproar, And THOSE WHO HATE YOU have exalted themselves.”
It is what we spoke of this morning.
The hatred expressed against God’s people
Is only because they are God’s people.
John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
And, as we said this morning,
The only reason they attack God’s people is because they can’t get to God
(3-4) “They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
The goal is to completely exterminate God’s people from the earth.
• How happy the wicked would be today if they could put a permanent end to Christianity
• And stop the nagging call for repentance and demand that God’s righteousness be observed.
These wicked hate God.
These wicked hate God’s ordinances.
And so these wicked hate the people who proclaim them.
And in that hatred they have found unity.
They could not get along for any other reason,
But they can unify if it’s for the destruction of God’s people.
Luke 23:12 “Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.”
• What else could bring enemies like Herod and Pilate together but the murder of Jesus?
• What else could bring enemies like Pharisees and Sadducees together but the murder of Jesus?
Acts 4:27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,”
Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, Israelites.
They were all enemies of one another
Unless they could come together to oppose the righteous one.
The same is seen here.
(5) “For they have conspired together with one mind; AGAINST YOU they make a covenant.”
AND WHO ARE THEY?
(6-8) “The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah.”
Most of them we recognize.
There is wicked “Edom”
• Who first despised their birthright and then despised the one who received it.
• They are the ones who found no place for repentance, though they sought for it with tears.
We see also the rejected “Ishmaelites”
• The very picture of works based religion.
• The one who mocked the child of the promise and God commanded to be sent away.
There are the children of incest “Moab” and “Ammon”,
• The children of Lot and the defilers of Israel who thought it wise to hire Balaam to curse the children of Israel
• And if that would not work, would seek to defile them with immorality.
There is “Amalek”
• The father of Agag, the wicked king of the world who tempted Saul and who Samuel hacked to pieces.
We see the infamous children of “Philistia”,
• The notorious bullies of Israel, who only hated truth and righteousness and sought more than once to snuff it out, even at one point stealing the ark of God.
And there is “Tyre” with them,
• Those back-stabbing traitors who furnished the very wood for the temple they now attack.
• Soldiers for hire who only love this world and who have no convictions beyond what will make them rich.
And we spot “Assyria”,
• Perhaps the silent funders of all this evil, who have brought these men together.
• Indeed the one who will one day conquer all of them together, but today using them to destroy Israel.
None of them are true allies unless they can unite against the true God.
It seems every enemy has come at once
To annihilate the witness of God from the earth.
And Asaph has thus told God, He cannot sit this one out.
This is a deadly confederacy.
#3 THE DOCUMENTED CASES
Psalms 83:9-12
I love Asaph, because not only does he ask God to arise,
But he also reminds God of the type of deliverance that he is looking for.
Asaph pulls from the history books of Israel
Two unique times of deliverance.
These two incidents have this in common.
• They were unlikely victories for Israel because in each scenario Israel was incredibly weak and the enemy was incredibly strong.
• And in both cases, God not only routed the enemy, but did so in a way that shamed them.
Those are the two incidents Asaph wants God to remember here.
The first he mentions was with reference to Gideon.
(9) “Deal with them as with Midian…”
• Remember Gideon, the somewhat skeptical judge who laid out a fleece before
going to war.
• You’ll also remember that God forced Gideon to whittle down his army to just
300 men before He allowed him to fight.
When Gideon approached the Midianites he was greatly outnumbered.
Judges 7:12 “Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.”
And yet, when Gideon’s men smashed their pots and blew their trumpets
The Midianites slaughtered themselves.
Asaph prayed:
(11-12) “Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves The pastures of God.”
These were the Midianite kings whom Gideon captured
And put to death with the sword.
You can see why Asaph likes that one.
• We, like Gideon are outnumbered and about to be destroyed.
• We’re asking You to do for us what You did for him.
• That’s exactly what God did in 2 Chronicles 20.
The other historical case Asaph brings up is that of Sisera.
(9b-10) “Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon, Who were destroyed at En-dor, Who became as dung for the ground.”
• This was during the days of Deborah and Barak.
• Sisera was the commander of the army of Jabin, King of Canaan.
• They afflicted Israel with 900 iron chariots and they oppressed Israel for twenty years.
When Israel cried out, God promised to deliver Israel,
And to give the glory of victory to a woman.
It was meant to shame Sisera and embarrass him
That a woman would defeat him.
When Barak went to fight Sisera God routed Sisera’s army.
Judges 4:15-16 “The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left.”
You can understand Asaph’s interest.
But the rest of the story is what Asaph has in mind.
• Sisera, the lone survivor, fled the battle.
• In his escape he came upon a woman named Jael who was the wife of one of their allies.
Here’s the story:
Judges 4:18-21 “Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. He said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.'” But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.”
He was not only defeated, he was humiliated.
It was a clear point that you should not mess with the people of God.
Even women are able to defeat you in battle if God is on their side.
And so you understand where Asaph is coming from.
You remember back in 2 Chronicles:
2 Chronicles 20:13 “All Judah was standing before the LORD, with their infants, their wives and their children.”
You see why Asaph brings it up.
• Here we are, a weak group of outnumbered people.
• We are not only men, but also women and children.
And we are surrounded by a confederate army that is far more than we can handle.
• We need You to do what You did for Gideon.
• We need You to do what You did to Sisera.
Arise God!
And then Asaph spells it out.
#4 THE DESIRED CHASTENING
Psalms 83:13-15
Here is Asaph’s Imprecatory Prayer.
“O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.”
Psalms 1:4-5 “The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”
Asaph wants God to show up and blow this mighty army away.
Asaph wants God to scatter them.
And then, Asaph wants God to pursue them.
(14-15) “Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire, So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm.”
Asaph wants God to be a consuming fire.
• He wants God to relentlessly chase them.
• He wants God to terrify them.
• He wants God to put fear in them.
• He wants God to show up and deal with His enemies.
And this again, church, is a prayer that God has preserved for us.
• When God’s enemies attack His people.
• When their only common ground is a hatred for God.
• When the church is outnumbered and weak.
• When we are unable to fight or take our own revenge.
• When God is mocked by those who have rejected Him.
Asaph gives us the prayer.
• We pray for God to scatter them like the dust.
• We pray for God to pursue them like fire.
• We pray for God to terrify them like a mighty storm.
This is Asaph’s prayer.
This is the chastening Asaph desires.
And certainly there are MANY WHO WOULD BALK
If they heard you pray such a prayer,
But it’s only because they do not understand the reason.
Many times we have referenced the Lord’s Prayer as we talk about these imprecatory Psalms.
Jesus taught us to pray.
Matthew 6:13 “’And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”
We understand that we need His strength to escape the evil one.
But do you also recognize the rest of that verse?
Because God alone should be receiving
The kingdom, the power and the glory.
And that is Asaph’s motivation.
#5 THE DIGNIFIED CAUSE
Psalms 83:16-18
Certainly the requests are drastic.
• “Fill their faces with dishonor,”
• “Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever,”
• “And let them be humiliated and perish”
He doesn’t just want them to be defeated,
He wants them to be embarrassed
That they ever had the audacity to attack God’s people.
He wants them, years later, to tell the story to their great-grandchildren
About the dumbest thing they ever tried to do.
He wants them to be like Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 4:1-3 “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound! “It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. “How great are His signs And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.”
And then Nebuchadnezzar would tell the story of his own stubborn foolishness and how he should have never exalted himself above God.
That is what Asaph wants.
• (16) “That they may seek Your name, O LORD.”
• (18) “That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.”
SO LISTEN CLOSELY HERE.
• Certainly Asaph is concerned about destruction, who wouldn’t be?
• Certainly Asaph would like earthly deliverance, we would too.
But the driving force behind this prayer…
The driving motivation in Asaph’s heart…
IS NOT that he is able to live life as normal and get back to comfort.
The driving passion of this prayer is that God is mocked.
These people hate God
And they think they can wipe His name from the earth
If they wipe out His people.
And that arrogance is more than Asaph can handle.
And so Asaph prays that God rise up and defend His own name!
They have no fear of God.
Asaph prays that God would change that.
What a great prayer!
We are beginning to see it in American now.
• The church is starting to become the focus of certain political factions.
• The battle lines are being drawn.
• We actually have a governor in California who has declared war against the church.
Right now it’s still pretty civil.
• It’s nothing more than scary letters and threatened fines or jail time.
• And it’s because he does not yet have allies to support him.
But rest assured, when Edom shows up and Ammon comes with them
And Moab signs the agreement and his allies give him strength
Then the war will grow much more serious.
At the moment the church DOES NOT go to war,
At least not physical war.
We listen to Jesus and we focus on the gospel.
But in our prayer life…
In our prayer life we beseech God to arise and defend His own name!
We cry out to God to arise
And teach His enemies about the fear of the Lord.
And we do it because the kingdom and the glory and the honor
Belong to God alone and we will not be satisfied until He has it.
That is our prayer.
• Not for our ease…
• Not for our comfort…
• But for God’s glory.
That is the driving force behind every imprecation.
