We're going to take a look tonight at a psalm. Psalm 83, you know it's actually a psalm. It's a psalm. Psalms were sung by the children of Israel. These are in song fashion. What was the tune to it? I have no idea, okay? I don't know what tune they sung it to, how they sung it, but I do know that they sang the Psalms, and what a blessing they had to be to them. A lot of them are about things that were yet to come in the future, and talking about the things of how God was going to give them victory, and that's the nature of the Psalm that we see in Psalm 83. Does God's word say anything about all that has gone against Israel over the years and that continues to go on against Israel? Well, he does. Psalm 83 there is one of Israel's songs that is highly prophetic in nature and has some strong parallels to the things that we see happening in the nation of Israel even in our day. And that's what I want to point out tonight. The introduction of Psalm 83 calls it a song or psalm of Asaph. I told you last time Asaph was one of the three lead singers or music directors from the tribe of Levi. These men were actually appointed by King David to organize the temple choir. and the Holy Spirit directed Asaph to write this psalm. Not all the scripture is written by folks that we think about. We think of David. David was the sweet psalmist of Israel. Asaph wrote some psalms. There are other people that wrote some psalms as well. Davis is a more familiar one, but we see here that the Holy Spirit used Asaph to write this psalm through which he was able to see throughout world history down until the time of Jesus' return. I believe he saw the days we're living in and some things that were going to be going on in Israel in our day and the days that are after this. Now in the first four verses here, we read an urgent plea to the Lord God of Israel to rise up against those that hate God and they show that hatred of God by their hatred of and attacks against God's people Israel. Let me tell you, that is still true. If you hate God's people Israel, you hate God. Don't beat no balls about it. God still loves the children of Israel, and He's not done with them. And if you start poking at them, you're poking at God's eye. and so let's remember that. We're going to go ahead and read the first four verses and then we'll get into the other, but we see him cry out. He says there in verse number one, Keep not thou silence, O God, hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God, for lo, thine enemies make a tumult. They that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, come and let us cut them off from being a nation that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. And we know that verse four right there, we hear that in the news all the time. We see it on the signs of these protestors, these anti-Israel protestors, pro-Palestinian protestors. You see it, you hear it. It is a reality in the day in which we live. They want to see Israel wiped out. Now we see in verses 5 through 8 here we are introduced to a number of nations that neighbor Israel. They're conspiring together toward the same goal and that is the complete annihilation of Israel. Now we can see that in our day too, can't we? We know that there's a conspiracy all around Israel. They're having a fire on all fronts. To the west side, to the north side, to the east side. I'm certain they've had to shoot down to the south side too at some point. But listen, listen to what it says here. Verse 5, For they have consulted together with one consent, they are confederate against thee. Again, when you go against Israel, you're going against God. He says the tabernacles of Edom, tabernacles being the dwelling places, okay, the dwelling places of Edom, Edom being the descendants of Esau, okay, and the Ishmaelites, we know Hagar's son Abraham's firstborn, Ishmael, and he talks about Ishmaelites, and we'll talk about their area. of Moab, and of course Moab and Ammon that we're going to see here in verse number seven. They're the descendants of the ancestrous relationship of Lot's daughters and him, the Moabites and Ammonites. the Hagarins, okay, Gebel, and Ammon, and Amalek, and boy, we hear, when you read the Old Testament, Amalek comes up quite a bit, don't they? They really do. And the Philistines, of course, they are a longstanding enemy of Israel. The Philistines were the inhabitants of Tyre. Asher also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. In other words, they helped The Moabites and the Ammonites, the Moabites and the Ammonites were leading this campaign, so they have helped them. Selah. Now, we're introduced to a number of nations here, and this impressive list of Israel's neighbors allied against her isn't to be found anywhere else. This list, okay, this is the only place you're going to find this list altogether. All right? What's to be made of that here? Well, you know, there are some who believe that these verses are referring to wars that David fought. However, David never battled against such a large coalition of Israel's enemies. He battled a lot of folks, but he never battled a large coalition, that people that were allied together, that many people that were allied together. There are others who believe that this was fulfilled through King Jehoshaphat as recorded in 2 Chronicles 20. Go to 2 Chronicles 20 tonight and if you want to write that down and go read that, I encourage you to do that. But even that passage does not mention all of these nations listed here The Moabites and Ammonites are mentioned along with some others, but it's not the whole coalition. And then there are some who see this alliance as of the Jews enemies in the days of the Maccabees. Which is not found in scripture, but it is mentioned in the apocryphal book of 1st Maccabees 5. But in that account, it was the descendants of Esau, the Edomites, not of Lot, the Amorites and the Moabites that led the attack. Here, the leaders are the Amorites and the Moabites. So what are we to make of this list? Well, in my studies, I found a noted theologian, an exegete named Dr. Roger Levy. He offered another explanation in light of the Arab League's 1945 resolution. That was before my time, okay? I was born in 56. 1945, Arab League made a 1945 resolution to eradicate the Jewish state, and when you take a look at the list of the nations that are in that, it's very interesting. The ten regions from Psalm 83 actually make up the area of the seven founding states of the Arab League, which played a significant role in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. When you take a look at, let's look at the participants here. They're named differently. Here, they're named Edom, Ammon, and Moab. That's talking about the area of Jordan. The Hagarites, that would be Syria. Syria. Tyre and Gebel, the area of Lebanon, where they're having the problem with Hezbollah right now. And the Ishmaelites, that's Saudi Arabia and also Yemen. And then Asher is the area of Iraq. And then Amalek and Philistia, Egypt was in possession of the Gaza Strip in 1945, and Amalek and Philistia would be in that Egypt area. Okay, so you got all of those groups, the seven founding states of the Arab League. Now, there's another theologian named William MacDonald, who found great similarities between this psalm and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Now, all of these things are an indication of those that we see surrounding Israel ever since 1945. We're talking about hostile neighbors that they can't even get along with one another, really. I mean, they don't agree in every area. I mean, there's more than one type of Muslim There's a Shiite and a, I don't know what they, I know you hear several different types of them, and they go against one another. But, they may not agree with everything, but they are in agreement that Israel needs to be annihilated. That's what they agree on. And even now, they work together toward that end. Now, in verses nine through 12 of this Psalm, Asaph reminds the Lord of the overwhelming victories in the past. I like that. Whenever you battle enemies, you need to think about how the Lord's gained victory in the past, don't you? It's always a good thing to look to the past. These verses quote military events that are recorded. When we were in the book of Judges, we saw them. Judges 4 through 8. Notice all this stuff occurred before Asaph's time, but he points back to that. Look at verse 9 through 12 here. He's crying out to the Lord here. Do unto them, the group we just got through reading, do unto them as unto the Midianites. As to Sisera and to Jabin at the brook of Chison, which perished at Endor, they became as dung for the earth. make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeb. Yea, all their princes as Zeba and Zalmunna, who said, let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. So I'll encourage you also to not just read that passage in 2 Chronicles 20 that I mentioned a while ago, but also read the passages that involve this, and that's Judges 4 through 8. That occurred before Asaph's time. Now, he was telling the Lord that this was yet another plan of destruction by Midianite princes. The pastures of the Lord God had been given to his people Israel. And like a shepherd, this is where he led them to grace. However, the Midianites, along with those they were allied with, they intended to rip away from the Jews and they wanted the those that they were allied with intended to rip the land away from the Jews, yet the Lord himself would once again give them a great victory over these enemies. Israel's great victories of the past encouraged Asaph to pray for victory over Israel's current and future enemies. Let me encourage you. Be encouraged for what God has done in the past. And say, Lord, you know, the way you've taken care of this in the past, this is nothing too hard for you. You can handle this. And that's what Asaph was doing. You know, the Lord allows hardships to come sometimes so that his people will realize that they can't manage it on their own. Now as long as you want to try to manage it on your own, the Lord's going to let you. Until you really get to the point where you realize, you know, I tried this, I failed, Lord, I need your help. I need your help. And lean upon Him. And we see the prophet Jeremiah put it this way, and you can write Jeremiah 3, 23 down. He said, Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. I mean, you may hope for some help elsewhere, but your help is going to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Jeremiah 3.23. Now look at Psalm, hold your place there in Psalm 83. We'll be right back. Look at Psalm 121. Psalm 121. We'll see this very thing again here. Again, these Psalms were saying, and you can just imagine, they're reminding themselves where their help comes from. In Psalm 121, verse one, it says, I will lift up mine eyes into the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Let's pause right there. What kind of power did it take to make the heaven and earth? Man, almighty power. This is almighty God is what this is. That's where our help comes from. Notice verse three, he will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. A great psalm of dependence upon the Lord. Even right now, Israel looks to other places for help other than the Lord. We know that. You can see it in the news. She once had a strong ally in our United States. When the attack of October 7th last year took place in 2023, The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Britain joined the U.S. in making a joint statement of, quote, steadfast and united support to the state of Israel, unquote, which condemned Hamas and condemned them as appalling acts of terrorism. But if you notice in the news lately, As of late, support seems to be dwindling as allies are getting weary with the drawn-out conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, and they're calling for Israel to draw the war to a close and work out a ceasefire. And what did Israel do? They took care of Iran, what was it, yesterday? Was that yesterday or the day before? It was yesterday, wasn't it? Shot some missiles over there because they had shot them first. They had attacked Israel, and even though they were warned by leadership of our country, not to broaden the conflict. They didn't broaden the conflict. The conflict broadened the conflict. Iran is the one that broadened the conflict. They decided they were going to get into it. They were in it all along, by the way. They are the ones who guide Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the other Hezbollah Houthis and another H somewhere in there. Hamas, yeah. Okay. All of them, all of them, you know, all of them have that, the beginning, Hamas. But listen, when you hear the demands of Israel's allied enemies, you realize that nothing short of them vacating the land and vacating their lives is going to satisfy their enemies. If they were to give up the land, would they be satisfied? No. They're not going to be satisfied until every Jew is dead, period. Psalm 83 verse 4 there. They have said come and let us cut them off from being a nation. Well they want to do that, yeah. That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. How does that take place? Well you just got to get rid of every last one of them. That's what you got to do. Now let's see Asaph's call for the Lord God to intervene for Israel in verses 13 through 16. Verse 13, he says, Oh my God, make them, talking about the enemies, make them like a wheel as the stubble before the wind. I kind of envision a wheel turning with a stubble over the flames. I don't know if that's the right picture or not, but you know what stubble does? it, before the wind, it just blows out of control, doesn't it? As the fire burneth the wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire, so persecute them with thy tempest. We talked this morning about how the Lord's the one that's in control of the tempest. Amen? He's the one that's in control. And make them afraid with thy storm, with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord." That's where it's kind of surprising Asaph was actually calling for the enemies to take notice of the Lord. Fill their faces with shame that they may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled forever. Yea, let them be put to shame and perish. That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth. Now, we see some very strong language here, but notice that its aim is not complete destruction. He most certainly wanted the Lord to show himself powerful against Israel's enemies, but the ultimate goal of this song of Asaph is to the Lord God's glory. He wanted God to get the glory out of this. And the current events happening in the nation of Israel and in the whole world regarding Israel show us that the stage is being set right now for what the Lord will do to those who oppose him and his people. In the end, the Lord is going to get the glory. Amen. They're going to recognize. Well, we didn't think it was him, but it is. It is Him. Every knee shall bow, right? I'm getting ahead of myself here. There's fear that the world's superpowers, what the recognized superpowers, U.S., Britain, Russia, China, will form factions on either side of Israel and bring about World War III. That's why they're wanting Israel to tone it down. We don't want a World War III. Y'all fixing to cause a World War III? No. Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Turkey, and others allied with them all pose a threat against Israel, and they're the ones that are trying to stir this on a worldwide basis. They're trying to stir it in our country with all the anti-Israel protests. Who do you think is backing all of that? Now, on November 15th of last year, that was a little more than a month after the attack of Israel. October 7th, November 15th. November 15th of last year, the President of Turkey addressed his parliament in Ankara saying, Quote, I am telling Netanyahu you have atomic bombs, nuclear bombs, and you are threatening with them. We know this, and your end is near. You can have as many nuclear bombs as you want. No matter what you have, you are on your way out. That's what he said. That's in God's face. in your face, God. Just poking God in the eye is what it is. We know the Middle East is a powder keg and it's ready to explode. It's already a cup of trembling. To those mentioned here in this psalm, where will it end? What will be the final disposition of all we see in this passage? And I wanted to use this psalm to close us out of what we've been looking at in the book of Zechariah. We're talking about the same stuff. But what will be the final disposition of all we see in this passage? This alliance of hate. toward the Lord God, Jehovah, and His chosen people Israel. It goes back to Zechariah 12, verse 2 through 4. Listen to it again. It's familiar to you. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces. Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it, in that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness, and I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. With what the Lord wants from us in this day and time is He wants us to recognize the times that we live in and remain vigilant in exercising our faith in Him and obedience to Him. He emphasized two principles with regard to this return. Look at Mark chapter number 13. Mark chapter number 13, Luke verse number 32. Mark 13, verse 32. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, know not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch, and pray, for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning, lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. What I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch. That's what the Lord wants out of us. To watch. Amen? Look. Be aware of what's going on. And if you're not absolutely ready to meet the Lord, you need to get ready. Because it's getting close. How close? I don't know. This I know. We're one day closer today than we were yesterday at this time. Well, that's obvious. Yeah, it is. But we are. Don't be lulled to sleep. Don't be lulled into the fray either. I know of some folks who want to say that they are believers. But they join in with the Palestinians and say, you know, Israel did not write. Israel needs to give up what they're doing to Hamas and to the Houthis and to all of the H's there. They just need to give it up. They're just killing too many people. Who started out the killing? They're just trying to defend the territory that God has given to them. They're trying to defend themselves. It's either wipe out or get wiped out. One of the two. Make sure that you're not drawn into the fray and get on the wrong side of this, because if you do, you're going to get on the wrong side of God. And can I tell you, you don't want to be there. You don't want to be on the wrong side of God. Now, I missed one passage of scripture that I wanted to share, and let me take a look at it here, see if I can get it. Someone suggested that the most high God is one of God's millennial names, and that this psalm is pointing to the fulfillment actually of Isaiah 45. Let's turn to Isaiah 45. I don't know how I missed this a while ago. Isaiah 45, look at verse number 22. Verse number 22. And it says here, it says, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say, and the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. And the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. They're going to glory in Him one day, men. They'll be justified in Him, too. They'll come to a saving knowledge of Jesus all at one time. What a blessing that's going to be. But the most high God that is pointed out in that last verse of our text is one of God's millennial names. And that psalm is actually pointing to the fulfillment of this passage where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. All right. Make sure that you, where you need to be at with regard to the Lord in your own personal life because time is getting short. If you're not saved, you need to get saved. If you are saved, keep your eyes looking at Israel and keeping in the Scripture and pray for Israel. We're bound to pray for them. You say, but they're not going to be saved until the end of the tribulation period. Yeah, but you're still to pray for them. We're still to pray for them. We're still to want our nation to support them because it's good for our nation. If our nation fails to do that, it's not good for it. It's not good for you. It's not good for me. And so let's make sure we wind up on the right side of this. Let's pray. Father, we just thank you for this psalm, which kind of wraps up really what we've been taking a look at in the book of Zechariah. And Lord, we see how very easily that Asaph was seeing the days we live in and the days that shall come when all of the earth Every nation is going to come against them. Especially those that are around them right now. We see in our day, we see those in close proximity to Israel. They have no true allies right there with them. They are surrounded by enemies. Lord, help our nation to support Israel as it should. Help us, Lord, to pray for Israel. as we think about what's happening. Lord, may we be troubled by when we see them troubled, like October 7th last year. Our heart was broken to understand that so many died in a short period of time because of the attack there on October 7th last year. And our hearts are troubled whenever we see bombs going in, and maybe some of them hitting their mark, and some of the Israelite people losing their lives. Help us to pray. Help us to be what we need to be for you, Lord. And we pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.