Talk about family feuds; that’s what this psalm is about. The Edomites were descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac. The Moabites and Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. The Ishmaelites descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and his last wife, Keturah. Finally, the Hagrites descended from Hagar and another man by their son, the half brother of Ishmael. These “nations” were joined by five other nations to destroy Israel.
What did these nations want? “Come”, they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.” (Psalm 83:4). They wanted their land, their wealth, and who knows what else; they were evil people who did not believe in the Lord God of Abraham. They, the descendants of Abraham and Lot, had chosen false gods to worship. Those who worship false gods have always hated believers in the true God, and they do to this day. What did Jesus say about this? “If they hated Me, they will hate you.”
What did Asaph pray for? First, he reminded God who these enemies were opposing, “They devise crafty schemes against your people; they conspire against your precious ones. “Come”, they say, “lets wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.” Yes God already knew that, but God wants us to understand who are praying for and why. Second, Asaph prayed for the defeat of those nations. He prayed that God would scatter them like tumbleweed, chase them with Your fierce storm, terrify them with Your tempest and totally disgrace them. Why would he pray for those outcomes? He answered this question twice: “until they submit to Your name, O Lord,” and “Then they will learn that You alone are called the Lord, that You alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.”
It is all right to pray for the defeat of our enemies, but we should also pray they will surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. None of us is perfect; we are all sinners. The difference between us and others is only that we have applied the blood of Jesus Christ to our sins finding redemption. They need to find that same redemption. Listen to the words of Jesus: “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5: 44-45).