IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

O God, Do Not Stand Aloof

Date: Jan. 21, 2022

Passage

Psalm 83:1-18 (ESV)

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

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

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 83:18

  that they may know that you alone,
    whose name is the LORD,
    are the Most High over all the earth.

This psalm is a prayer of urgent pleading with God to take action on behalf of Israel when they are threatened by an alliance of strong enemies (1-3). These enemies’ desire is for Israel to cease to exist (4). It’s also appropriate for us to pray for the Church of Jesus when it is threatened. The psalmist specifically names the nations allied against them (5-8) and recalls when God gave his people victory over such enemies in the past (9-12). The struggles we face today are part of the same, long-term spiritual battle. We can also be encouraged by remembering how God has acted for his people throughout history.

The psalmist makes clear his desire for God to defeat these enemies completely (13-15, 17). However, he concludes by asking that the enemies’ shame may lead them to seek God’s name (16), and—as a result of this victory—God’s name may be known throughout the earth (18). When we pray fervently in our distress, our desire can be purified until what we really want is for God to be known as the Most High. A true spiritual victory is for those who were once considered our enemies to come to God and be saved.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, thank you for all the ways you have answered your people’s prayer and saved them from strong enemies. Please enlist me as a prayer warrior today, so all nations may know you.

One Word: One Word: That all people may seek God’s name.

Daily Bread

Joseph Before Pharaoh

Genesis 41:1-36

Key Verse: 41:28

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