Seeking God’s salvation
Like the ancient Israelites, the Church is up against great odds. We’re increasingly attacked by the secular media, entertainment industry, and intelligentsia in a materialistic society with no moral compass.
An Asaph psalm.
1 God, don’t stay silent on me!
Don’t sit there voiceless—
don’t hold back mute, God!
2 See what an uproar your enemies are in
how those who hate you
rear their heads in revolt.
3 Making cunning plans against your people
conspiring against those you treasure
4 they say, “Come on!
Let’s obliterate them as a nation
so the very name Israel is forgotten!”
5 With that one goal in mind
they’ve formed an alliance against you.
6 Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moabites, Hagrites
7 together with the people of Byblos
Ammon, Amalek, Philistia and Tyre.
8 Assyria has joined in too
as the powerhouse
behind Lot’s descendants.
9 Deal with them
as you did the Midianites—
Sisera and Jabin at the Wadi Kishon
10 destroyed at Endor
and left lying like dung on the ground.
11 Treat their generals like Oreb and Zeeb
all their leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna
12 who said, “Let’s take possession
of the pasturelands of God!”
13 My God, make them like tumbleweed
like stubble in the wind.
14 Like a wildfire devouring the forest
an inferno that sets mountains ablaze
15 pursue them with your hurricane
and terrify them with your tempest.
16 Cover their faces with shame
so they call on your name, Yahveh.
17 May shame and panic be their constant lot
until they disband disgraced.
18 May they acknowledge that you alone
whose name is Yahveh
reign supreme over all the earth.
This psalmist urges a silent God to speak and act against an international mob in uproar, God-haters engaged in a genocidal war against his people. While the nations listed virtually encircled Israel and often threatened its existence, this particular alliance matches nothing recorded in biblical history.[1] The reference to Lot’s descendants—Moabites and Ammonites—makes the alliance even more bitter since these peoples were related to the Israelites through Abraham. And the Israelites had tried to maintain the relationship, just as Abraham had treated his grasping nephew Lot generously.
The psalm’s second half mentions events in which God gave the Israelites resounding victories over oppressive nations, despite Israel’s extreme vulnerability.[2] The psalmist hyperbolically seeks a rout so complete the vanquished army won’t even get to bury their dead. Because like the enemies mentioned, this current alliance is treating God and his people with utter contempt.
Facing such an existential threat, the psalmist asks God to crush those hellbent on destroying Israel—chase them hard enough to leave them panic-stricken and disgraced, their alliance destroyed. The surprising twist comes in the psalmist’s request not that these nations be obliterated, but rather that they acknowledge God’s supremacy and seek the mercy he’s well known for and serve him too.[3]
Lord, while we’re not fighting for our lives like the ancient Israelites, our faith is in an existential struggle, attacked on every hand. Yet you reign supreme over all. Show your enemies that you’re sovereign over all so they humbly seek your grace. Turn us back to you, O God our savior. Amen.
During your free moments today, pray this prayer:
May the nations acknowledge that you alone
whose name is Yahveh
reign supreme over all the earth.
[1] The Assyrian empire existed from the 9th to the 7th century BC. So the psalm was likely written during that period.
[2] Judges 4-5, 7-8.
[3] Verses 17-18 ask only that the nations’ defeat force them to acknowledge God’s lordship. But verse 16 asks him to make the nations seek him—literally, “seek your name”—that is, that God’s judgment would bring the nations to know and serve him too.
