Psalm 83:17
May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.
Sermons
An Appeal to HeavenHomilistPsalm 83:1-18
Mental Tendencies in Relation to GodHomilistPsalm 83:1-18
Soul SpoilersS. Conway Psalm 83:1-18
What God is to His PeopleC. Short Psalm 83:1-18














That they may seek thy Name, O Lord. This is a very remarkable qualifying of our idea that psalmists prayed in a revengeful spirit for the destruction of the national enemies. In truth, their supreme idea was the glorifying of God, and they asked for judgments because through judgments would come the honouring of God's Name; and, in this honouring, the higher blessing for the foes themselves. Here the psalmist prays, "Fill their faces with shame;" but he sees in their humiliation the hope that they will be drawn to God.

I. WE MAY PRAY FOR THE HUMILIATION OF OUR ENEMIES.

II. WE MAY NOT PRAY IN VIEW MERELY OF THEIR SUFFERING.

III. WE MAY PRAY, IF WE DESIRE THEIR LASTING GOOD THROUGH THEIR HUMILIATION .

IV. WE MAY PRAY, IF WE SET. BEFORE OURSELVES THE GLORY OF GOD IN THEIR RECOVERY. It is a sign of triumph over hateful and revengeful feelings if we can pray God to deal with our enemies in the wisdom of his righteous love. It is not befitting that the Christian should ever think of judgments and punishments as merely destructive. To him all judgment is remedial, all punishment is corrective. God will get honour to his Name out of all his dealings. It should be shown that the "forever" and the "perish" of ver. 17 are to be treated as poetical terms. Or ver. 16 may be regarded as the better view, which the psalmist was hardly able to keep to. Ver. 17 falls back upon the harsher view of God's dealing with his foes. Christianity willingly lets pass the harsher view, and sets ever more prominently before us the better and more hopeful view. 'Speaker's Commentary' on ver. 16 says, "This is a feeling altogether peculiar to God's people." The object of all the judgments which the true prophet desires is to bring all nations into subjection to God. Their calamities will be converted into blessings, unless they persist in rebellion. - R.T.

I. UNGODLY MEN HAVE GOOD CAUSE TO BE ASHAMED —

1. Because of the wrong they are doing to their Maker. You pride yourself upon your uprightness and integrity; but must God alone, then, be made to Suffer through your injustice? Out of all beings, must He alone who made all other beings be the only one to be neglected?

2. There are many ungodly men who ought to be ashamed because they are acting in opposition to light and knowledge, contrary to their conscience, and against their better judgments.

3. Because of their postponements of what they know to be right.

4. Because of their violation of vows which they have made.

5. Because of their not loving the Lord Jesus Christ, and not trusting such a Saviour as He is.

6. A man ought to be ashamed who will not even think of these things.

II. Now, concerning these ungodly people, let me show you that SHAME IS A VERY DESIRABLE THING IF IT DRIVES THEM TO GOD. Hence the prayer, "Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord."

1. Sometimes shame attends the breaking up of self-righteousness.

2. I have known this shame to operate in some when they have done wrong, and have lost the repute they enjoyed among their fellow-creatures.

3. So have I seen failure driving a man to the strong for strength.

4. I have also known men brought to Christ with shame of another sort, shame of mental error leading to a humble faith.

III. THE LORD IS WILLING NOW TO RECEIVE THOSE WHO ARE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES.

1. You are the sort of man to come to Christ, because, first, you have the greatest need of Him. In the time of famine, we give the meal away first to the most hungry family.

2. If you are ashamed of yourself, you are the man to come to Christ, because you will make no bargains with Him. You will say, "Save me, Lord, at any price, and in any way!"

3. And you are the man who will give Him all the glory if you are saved.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Amalek, Asaph, Hagarites, Hagrites, Ishmaelites, Jabin, Korah, Midianites, Oreb, Psalmist, Sisera, Zalmunna, Zebah, Zeeb
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Abashed, Affrighted, Ashamed, Confounded, Destruction, Disappointed, Disgrace, Dismayed, Forever, Humiliated, Lost, Overcome, Perish, Shame, Troubled, Yea, Yes
Outline
1. A complaint to God of the enemies conspiracies
9. A prayer against those who oppress the Church

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 83:9-18

     5029   knowledge, of God

Psalm 83:16-18

     5816   consciousness

Psalm 83:17-18

     5836   disgrace

Library
Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500
In the second period of the history of the Church under the Christian Empire, the Church, although existing in two divisions of the Empire and experiencing very different political fortunes, may still be regarded as forming a whole. The theological controversies distracting the Church, although different in the two halves of the Graeco-Roman world, were felt to some extent in both divisions of the Empire and not merely in the one in which they were principally fought out; and in the condemnation
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History

Question Lxxxi of the virtue of Religion
I. Does the Virtue of Religion Direct a Man To God Alone? S. Augustine, sermon, cccxxxiv. 3 " on Psalm lxxvi. 32 sermon, cccxi. 14-15 II. Is Religion a Virtue? III. Is Religion One Virtue? IV. Is Religion a Special Virtue Distinct From Others? V. Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues? VI. Is Religion To Be Preferred To the Other Moral Virtues? VII. Has Religion, Or Latria, Any External Acts? S. Augustine, of Care for the Dead, V. VIII. Is Religion the Same As Sanctity? Cardinal Cajetan,
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Epistle xxxii. To Anastasius, Presbyter .
To Anastasius, Presbyter [1714] . Gregory to Anastasius, &c. That a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things (Matth. xii. 35; Luke vi. 45), this thy Charity has shewn, both in thy habitual life and lately also in thy epistle; wherein I find two persons at issue with regard to virtues; that is to say, thyself contending for charity, and another for fear and humility. And, though occupied with many things, though ignorant of the Greek language, I have nevertheless sat
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Epistle cxxi. To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville).
To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville). Gregory to Leander, Bishop of Spain. I have the epistle of thy Holiness, written with the pen of charity alone. For what the tongue transferred to the paper had got its tincture from the heart. Good and wise men were present when it was read, and at once their bowels were stirred with emotion. Everyone began to seize thee in his heart with the hand of love, for that in that epistle the sweetness of thy disposition was not to be heard, but seen. All severally
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that we must not take God's name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name.' I shall
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V.
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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