Psalms 83 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Composed sometime in the era of the kings of Judah, roughly 900 to 600 BC, and used in worship long after
Location
Jerusalem and the temple on Mount Zion, surrounded on every side by the small nations listed in the psalm
Audience
Israelites gathered for public worship, especially in a national emergency when enemy armies were on the move
Situation
A national cry for help, credited to Asaph, protesting that a whole ring of neighboring peoples has agreed together to wipe Israel off the map. The prayer names ten enemies, then asks God to scatter them the way he scattered earlier invaders.
Key Background
The list of enemies runs clockwise around Israel's borders, from Edom in the south through Moab and Ammon east of the Jordan River up to Tyre on the northern coast, with Assyria as the great power backing them. Ancient prayers of this kind often asked God to repeat a past rescue, so the psalm recalls Gideon's night victory over Midian and Deborah's defeat of Sisera at the Kishon River, both from the period of the judges. Asking that enemies be shamed and then seek God's name was standard courtroom language, an appeal to a judge rather than a private wish for cruelty.