Psalm 83: Get 'Em, God!

There are usually two different requests that a psalmist may make of the Lord.  Sometimes the psalmist seeks God's protection and blessing; sometimes he asks God to smite his enemies.  Psalm 83 is definitely a case of the latter.  

Asaph wastes no time at all in urging God to rouse Himself and destroy the enemies of both the Lord and the nation of Israel.  After all, to attack one is to attack the other, right?

Specifically, he names Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammonites, Amalekites, Philistines, Tyre, and Assyria as conspirators against the Lord and thus deserving of His wrath.  

The psalmist would have God do to His present-day enemies just as He had done in history to His foes.  There is very little mercy here - only a thirst for vengeance and justice to be dealt swiftly to Israel's plotting neighbors.  He is saying, "Get 'em God!"