The Purpose of Judgment
Psalm 83:1–18
That they may seek your name, O Lord. Psalm 83:16

Psalm 83 includes an impassioned appeal to God to overthrow and destroy Israel’s enemies (vv. 9–17). What are we to say about this? The first observation made by the psalmist is that God had destroyed Israel’s enemies in this way in the past. Asaph was saying, “O Lord, as you have delivered us in the past, so deliver us again. Show yourself to be as powerful in our day as you have been for the generations that have preceded us.” Second, the psalmist says that it is God’s cause that is in danger, and therefore it is God’s battle—not that of the people.

The final observation is the most important of all. It is the way the psalm ends. It calls for judgment—that is true—but it ends by stating the purpose for that judgment: “that they may seek your name, O Lord.” And in the last verse: “that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth” (v. 18).

In other words, although desiring deliverance and judgment, the ultimate desire of the psalmist is that other people, even the Jews’ enemies, might come to know and obey the true God.

That is precisely why we do not rush to calls for judgment. Judgment will come. The God of all the universe will do right (see Gen. 18:25). But this is still a day of grace, when men and women may still repent of their sin and seek after God that they might find him and be rescued from the wrath to come.

Let me end by going back to the beginning of the psalm and reminding you of the greatest “non-answer” to that prayer in all history. The first verse of Psalm 83 says: “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!” One day many centuries after this was written, the Son of God was hanging on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem, where he had been encircled and condemned by his cruel enemies, and he in a sense prayed this prayer. He cried to God, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). God did not answer. He did not intervene to save Jesus from his enemies or rescue him from the cross.

It was good God did not answer, for God’s silence to Christ’s forsaken cry meant our salvation from the Father’s wrath, and it meant that we have the gospel and not just judgment to proclaim.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.