Who Will Be Silent and Still?


Psalm 83
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.
3They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones.
4They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant—
6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
7Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
9Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God.”
13O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
14As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!
16Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace,
18that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.

It is a difficult life that is surrounded on every side by enemies. I feel blessed because I don’t sense that my life looks like that very often. In this psalm the writer is borrowing history to make a point with God about the dire situation in which Israel finds herself. And to the psalmist, it appears that God is doing nothing to help. Verse 1 gives us insight into Asaph’s frame of mind. "O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!" Troubled and fearful hearts often become impatient and seek to prod God into action.

The words of verse one tumble through my mind on a loop and I think about those times when God seems silent or distant. As I think back over those times I am certain that it was I who was distant, not God. It was I who was distracted and inattentive. God was still there and God is always moving; a point which the psalmist proves in later verses. He lists those nations and tribes that have been defeated by God Himself. Those defeated peoples are called “dung for the ground” and “whirling dust” (or tumbleweed in another translation). God is always faithful. God is never still.

The hatred of others is not an issue for God. Jesus brings up this truth and even promises them it will happen, while speaking with His disciples about The End Times in Matthew 24:9. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake." Should others choose to hate me for my faith, I need only remember that it isn’t the first time this has happened and God knows all about it. Instead of dwelling on those enemies, my time is better spent dwelling on the victories of God. He is not silent and He is never still. I need to be the one who is silent and still. Yeah – that’s the hard part.

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