For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites. (Psalm 83:5-6) As we mentioned in the previous devotion, this psalm identifies the many nations who have, throughout history, exhibited great...

For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites. (Psalm 83:5-6) In these verses, Asaph begins to list the nations who have “taken crafty counsel” against God's people; nations with a long...

They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:3-4) Before we move on, I felt it...

They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:3-4) Embedded within these verses...

They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:3-4) As the psalmist reveals, the...

They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:3-4) In April 1922, Adolf Hitler...

Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. (Psalm 83:1-2) Jewish tradition says that this psalm was composed in response to a concerted attack...

I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” But you shall die like men. (Psalm 82:6-7) In the previous devotion, we discussed the fact that God's people are referred to as אלהים elohim -- gods -- and the reasons for it. In this devotion, we...

I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” But you shall die like men. (Psalm 82:6-7) In the opening verse of this psalm it is stated, “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.” Now again in this verse, men are...

They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are unstable. (Psalm 82:5) On the second day of Creation, the Almighty established a firmament in the heavens that “divided the waters which were under the...

They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are unstable. (Psalm 82:5) As the psalm continues, Asaph laments the fact that, despite the great responsibility given to rulers and judges, too many of them were...

Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 82:3-4) There is a clear and unambiguous message presented here: those with power and influence (e.g. judges, rulers)...