“Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 83:9 Mean?
The psalmist asks God to repeat His past military victories against Israel's current enemies. The specific references—Midianites, Sisera, Jabin, the brook of Kishon—all come from the era of the judges, particularly Gideon's victory over Midian and Deborah and Barak's defeat of Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. Both were miraculous victories where God defeated overwhelming forces through unlikely means.
Gideon's three hundred men routed the vast Midianite army. Deborah's forces defeated Sisera's iron chariots when the Kishon River flooded and bogged them down. In both cases, human weakness was the setting for divine power. The psalmist is essentially praying: do it again, God. What You did then, do now. Against these new enemies, repeat the old miracles.
This prayer of historical precedent is a form of faith: reminding God (and oneself) that He has a track record of defeating the undefeatable. The psalmist doesn't ask for something God has never done. He asks God to do what He's already proven He can do—just in a new context, against new enemies.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What past victory of God in your life can you point to and pray 'do it again'?
- 2.Why does God seem to choose situations with absurd odds? What does that reveal about how He works?
- 3.How does praying from God's track record strengthen your faith compared to praying from your anxiety?
- 4.What current 'impossible odds' situation in your life might be the setting God has chosen to display His power?
Devotional
Do to them what You did to the Midianites. What You did to Sisera. What You did at Kishon. The psalmist is praying from history—pointing God back to His own greatest hits and saying: again. Do it again.
This is a powerful model for prayer. Instead of trying to come up with something new to say to God, sometimes the most effective prayer is the most specific: God, You did this exact thing before. For Gideon, with three hundred men. For Deborah, at the river. Do it again. Different enemies, same God, same power.
The victories being referenced were all situations where the odds were absurd. Gideon's army was deliberately reduced from thirty-two thousand to three hundred. Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots against a ragtag Israelite force. God chose those settings specifically because they made His power unmistakable. Nobody could credit the victory to human strength when the numbers were that ridiculous.
If you're facing odds that look absurd—a problem too big, resources too small, opposition too strong—you're in exactly the setting where God does His best work. Pray from His track record. Point to Midian, to Kishon, to your own Red Sea moments, and say: do it again. He's the same God. The odds haven't changed His nature. They've just set the stage.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Do unto them as unto the Midianites,.... In the times of Gideon, who destroyed one another, trod in whose destruction…
Do unto them as unto the Midianites - That is, Let them be overthrown and destroyed as the Midianites were. The…
The psalmist here, in the name of the church, prays for the destruction of those confederate forces, and, in God's name,…
Prayer for their destruction as the Canaanites were destroyed by Deborah and Barak, and the Midianites by Gideon.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture