Seder 33: Psalm 83---National Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

 Psalm 83 is an imprecatory psalm, in the same category as Psalms 35, 58, 69, 109, and 137.  It is a national lament asking God to intervene against the enemies of Israel.

A number of specific enemies are listed.  Commentator Willem Van Germeren asserts that these enemies can be seen as symbolizing the enemies of God's people in any era.  He divides them into three categories:

• troublers---Edom, Ishmael, Moab, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia.
• seducers---Gebal and Tyre;
• oppressors---Assyria.

This is a prayer that exhibits love for enemies.  The prayer is that these enemies be corrected so that they would come to seek the true God---verse 16.

The enemies plot against God's "treasured ones," a reference back to Exodus 19:5.  The words attributed to them, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation," (verse 4) compare them to the rebels at Babel (Ge 11:3-4).  The enemies want autonomy from God, and so they plan to wipe out God's representatives.  Ultimately they are fighting against God (verse 5).

The prayer refers to previous times when God had delivered his people during the era of the Judges under Gideon and Deborah and Barak (Judges 4-8).  The request is for God to rescue Israel again, as he had in the past.  This rescue will be a witness to all nations and lead enemies to submit to God.

Seder 127: Psalm 58---Crying Out Against Injustice

 Psalm 58 is classified as an imprecatory psalm, like 35, 69, 83, 109, and 137.  It begins with a rhetorical question:  "Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?" (ESV)  Here the gods being referenced could be the members of the divine council that God placed over the nations at Babel.  As we also see in Psalm 82, these heavenly beings have often mishandled their responsibilities.  The only just government in the world comes from God.  All other authorities are imperfect.  

The psalm compares wicked rulers to venomous snakes that cannot be controlled by their handlers (vv 3-5).  Since they actively oppose God and plan, the psalmist prays for God to deal with them, expressing some of the most colorful imprecations in scripture.  He prays that the wicked would evaporate or melt away and no longer see the light of day (vv 7-8).  

Verse 9 is one of the most obscure verses in the Bible.  "Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!"  The midrash on Psalm 58 proposes that the imagery here is of destroying briar shoots before they can turn into brambles.  

The psalm ends on a note of confidence that God will judge the wicked and bring justice to the world.God's kingdom will advance, and the righteous will be rewarded (vv 10-11).