我们当中很多人认为有水的地方就可以让我们休闲放松和游乐玩耍，例如在沙滩渡过一天。但对海员来说，风和浪是他们日常工作的必要组成部份，有时可能会是致命的敌人。为了要保证船只能经得起风暴，定期的维修则是必须的。
海员非常认真防备他们的敌人，而神的子民也需要这样做。诗篇83篇的作者回想神昔日怎样拯救衪的子民，他恳求神再次帮助他们，把敌人如尘土般吹去，或用火焰或狂风来恐吓他们，促使他们悔改。
起初，这几节经文令我们感到不安，然而经文形容的正是胜过敌人所需要的能力。神的能力不是霸道或残忍，乃是要显明神的慈爱和公正。敌人和神的子民从两个不同角度都会认识到，唯独耶和华是“全地以上的至高者。”
唯有神才能消除罪恶。被描述为风暴的神的作为具有极大的能力，它能够摧毁敌人。
我们可以呼求神护卫我们。耶稣自己也抵挡那仇敌撒但，在耶稣的真实案例中，祂运用神话语的能力 — 对此撒但是无法得胜的（路加福音 4:1-13）。
亲爱的神，求你保护我们不会受到你国度的敌人 — 罪恶、死亡、和魔鬼 －的侵害。我们为耶稣基督在我们生命中的能力感谢你。阿们！
诗篇 83:1-18
1神啊，求你不要静默！神啊，求你不要闭口，也不要不作声！
2因为你的仇敌喧嚷，恨你的抬起头来。
3他们同谋奸诈，要害你的百姓；彼此商议，要害你所隐藏的人。
4他们说：“来吧，我们将他们剪灭，使他们不再成国，使以色列的名不再被人记念。”
5他们同心商议，彼此结盟，要抵挡你。
6就是住帐篷的以东人和以实玛利人，摩押和夏甲人，
7迦巴勒、亚扪和亚玛力、非利士，并推罗的居民。
8亚述也与他们联合，他们做罗得子孙的帮手。（细拉）
9求你待他们如待米甸，如在基顺河待西西拉和耶宾一样，
10他们在隐多珥灭亡，成了地上的粪土。
11求你叫他们的首领像俄立和西伊伯，叫他们的王子都像西巴和撒慕拿，
12他们说：“我们要得神的住处，作为自己的产业。”
13我的神啊，求你叫他们像旋风的尘土，像风前的碎秸。
14火怎样焚烧树林，火焰怎样烧着山岭，
15求你也照样用狂风追赶他们，用暴雨恐吓他们。
16愿你使他们满面羞耻，好叫他们寻求你耶和华的名。
17愿他们永远羞愧惊惶，愿他们惭愧灭亡，
18使他们知道，唯独你，名为耶和华的，是全地以上的至高者。
"Pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm." - Psalm 83:15
Many of us think of the water as a place to relax and play, like on a day at the beach. For seafarers, winds and waves are part of their daily work and can be deadly enemies. Regular maintenance is essential to make sure a ship is ready for a storm that might come up.
Seafarers take their enemies seriously, and God’s people need to do that too. The writer of Psalm 83 recalls how God delivered his people in the past, and the writer pleads with God to help them again. The psalmist speaks of blowing the enemies around like dust or sending a firestorm or a tempest to terrify them and make them repent.
At first, these verses might make us uncomfortable, but they describe the power necessary to overcome the enemy. God’s power is not arbitrary or cruel; it shows that God is loving and just. Both the enemies and the people of God will come to know that the Lord alone is “Most High over all the earth.”
Only God can banish evil. God’s action, described as a kind of storm in these verses, has tremendous power to overwhelm an enemy.
We can call on God to defend us. Jesus himself had to defend against Satan, the great enemy. And in Jesus’ case, he used the power of the Word of God—and Satan could not overcome it (Luke 4:1-13).
Dear God, protect us from the enemies of your kingdom—sin, death, and the devil. Thank you for the power of Jesus Christ in our lives. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
