O my God, make them like a wheel Whereas they promise themselves a sure possession, let them be like a wheel, or a round ball, which is very unstable, and soon removed, and which, when once tumbled down from the top of a hill, runs with great force and swiftness, and stays not till it comes to the bottom. Bishop Patrick interprets the clause thus: “Let them not be able to stand their ground, but put them to flight, and make them run as swiftly as a ball down a hill.” As the stubble before the wind “Disperse all their forces like the chaff when it is blown about with a furious wind.” Some think that in this and the following verse the psalmist alludes to the manner of thrashing in Judea; which was generally performed on a mountain, where the corn was thrashed by means of a wheel which run over the stalks. The chaff, on account of this situation, was easily blown about by the wind; and, it being customary likewise to burn what remained, it is with great propriety that the psalmist concludes the description with these words, As the flame setteth the mountains on fire, Psalms 83:14. Where Dr. Waterland, instead of a wood, reads a forest. And it must be observed, that the woods or forests upon the mountains, in those hot countries, when they have once taken fire, either by lightning, or by the design of men, or by any accident, are wont to burn with great swiftness and irresistible violence.
Related Commentaries of Psalms 83:13
Psalms 83:13-14
13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;