Psalms 83:14
Ver. 14. As the fire burneth the wood,.... Or "forest" {m}; which is sometimes done purposely, and sometimes through carelessness, as Virgil {n} observes; and which is done very easily and swiftly, when fire is set to it; even all the trees of it, great and small, to which an army is sometimes compared, Isa 10:18, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; either the mountains themselves, as Etna, Vesuvius, and others; or rather the grass and trees that grow upon them, smitten by lightning from heaven, which may be meant by the flame: in like manner it is wished that the fire and flame of divine wrath would consume the confederate enemies of Israel, above mentioned; as wicked men are but as trees of the forest, and the grass of the mountains, or as thorns and briers, to the wrath of God, which is poured out as fire, and is signified by everlasting burnings.
{m} rey "sylvam", Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c. {n} Georgic. l. 2. v. 310. Psalms 83:15Ver. 15. So persecute them with thy tempest,.... Pursue them with thy fury, follow them with thy vengeance; cause it to fall upon them like a mighty tempest:and make them afraid with thy storm; God has his storms and tempests of wrath and vengeance, which he sometimes causes to fall upon wicked men in this life, to their inexpressible terror, and with which he takes them out of this world; and he has still more horrible ones to rain upon them hereafter: see Job 27:20. Psalms 83:16Ver. 16. Fill their faces with shame,.... For their sins, or rather through disappointment, not being able to put their desperate and deep laid schemes into execution: or "with lightness" {o}; instead of a weight of honour and glory upon them, let them be despised. R. Joseph Kimchi renders it, "fill their faces with fire"; let their faces be as if they were on fire, as men's faces are, who are put to an exceeding great blush, or are most sadly confounded and ashamed:that they may seek thy name, O Lord; not they themselves, who are filled with shame; for it is imprecated, that they be ashamed, and troubled for ever, and so as to perish, Ps 83:17 but others; for the words may be supplied, as in Ps 83:18 "that men may seek thy name, or that thy name may be sought": the judgments of God upon wicked men are sometimes the means of arousing others, and putting them upon seeking the Lord, his face, and his favour; that God would be merciful to them, pardon their iniquities, avert judgments from them, and preserve them from threatened calamities; and this is a good end, when answered; see Isa 26:9.{o} Nwlq Heb. "levitate", Piscator; so Ainsworth. Psalms 83:17Ver. 17. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever,.... As long as they are in this world, and to all eternity in another; a dreadful portion this:yea, let them be put to shame, and perish; wholly and eternally, in soul and body, for evermore. Psalms 83:18Ver. 18. That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah,.... Or, "that thou, thy name alone is Jehovah" {p}, a self-existent Being, the Being of beings, the everlasting I AM, the immutable God; for this name is expressive of the being, eternity, and unchangeableness of God, who is, and was, and is to come, invariably the same, Re 1:4 which is to be understood not to the exclusion of the Son or Spirit, who are with the Father the one Jehovah, De 6:4, and to whom this name is given; see Ex 17:6, compared with 1Co 10:9 Isa 6:8 compared with Ac 28:25, but to the exclusion of all nominal and fictitious deities, the gods of the Heathens; and the being and perfections of God are known by the judgments he executes, Ps 9:16,art the most High over all the earth; or,and that thou art, &c. {q}, being the Maker and the Possessor of it, and the sovereign Lord of its inhabitants, doing in it what seems good in his sight; see Ge 14:22, for the accents require two propositions in the text: the Heathens {r} give the title of most high to their supreme deity: the Targum is,"over all the inhabitants of the earth.''{p} Kmv hta yk "quod nomen tuum", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus. {q} "Quod tu, inquam, sis altissimus", Michaelis. {r} Pansan. Boeotica sive, l. 9. p. 555.
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