O God, Linger Not in Rest

Psalm 83

(NIV)  O God, do not remain silent;
      do not turn a deaf ear,
      do not stand aloof, O God.

(KJV)  Keep not thou silence, O God:
      hold not thy peace,
      and be not still, O God.

(Rus)  Боже! Не премолчи,
      не безмолвствуй
      и не оставайся в покое, Боже.
         
      O God! Do not refrain from disclosing,
      Do not be silent,
      and do not remain/linger in rest

One can immediately get the sense of how desperate the psalmist felt as he penned this prayer, pouring his petitions out to his God.  The imagery of verse one, regardless of which translation, shows that the psalmist feels that God is not watching, is not caring, is not acting.  I found the Russian ("...and do not linger in rest") especially powerful.

But Psalm 83 is purposely place right after Psalm 82 for a very important reason.  Psalm 82 announces triumphantly that God reigns, He stands, He presides in the great assembly.  That is, Psalm 82 is to set the stage of our understanding so that when times of distress come upon us and our physical eyes and our natural understanding see not God, we will instead remember that God reigns: He presides, He stands, He acts, and He renders judgment!

We must remind ourselves that God does not linger in rest—indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  His eye is ever upon us His children.  He is ever ready to hear us.  Go then to His throne of grace to receive grace and mercy for your time of need!

Psalm 82

(NIV)  God presides in the great assembly;
      he renders judgment among the “gods”—

(KJV)  God standeth in the congregation of the mighty;
      he judgeth among the gods.

(Rus)  Бог стал в сонме богов;
      среди богов произнес суд.
     
      God stood in the crowd of gods;
      among the gods [He] delivered/uttered judgment.