The Gentiles in the Psalms
They did not remember his power-- the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, the day he displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan
The following verses show what God did to Egypt because of the obstinance of her pharoah. The ten plagues are here enumerated, culminating with the deaths of all the firstborn. Again in verse 55 of Psalm 78 we read: He drove out nations before them and alloted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
The Lord drove out the heathen nations for his chosen people. He took the land that he had given to the Canaanites and bestows it now on Israel. The Canaanites have become hardened enemies of God. And to the enemies of God comes this warning from Psalm 92: For surely your enemies, O LORD; surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.
God tells the nations, the Gentiles, that he means business. He demonstrates his power--calamities, wars, strife, inflation, etc. In Psalm 97 we see a very graphic display of God's power: Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightening lights up the world; The earth sees and trembles
All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols-- worship him, all you gods!
But the Gentiles do not alone receive a blanket condemnation in the Psalms. Israel is not perfect. God's chosen people also fall away. The apostasy of his chosen race must also be dealt with. The medicine for this illness is twofold--natural disasters such as drought and famine and the use of the Gentiles to torment Israel. Psalm 106 reports: Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them. Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
Again, the LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Just as the Canaanites turned away from the LORD, and their inheritance was snatched away, so also with the children of Israel. They continually fell away until God took them from their inheritance--Israel for the rest of time and Judah for seventy years. Many of the Psalms beseech the LORD to help with the latest enemy. God uses the Gentiles to advance the cause of his Kingdom.
The punishment of Israel was no easier than that of the Canaanites. Psalm 79 tells us:
O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
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