Psalm 10

If you’ve ever felt like God was distant… or even like He wasn’t paying attention.  If you’ve ever been frustrated that people doing shady things don’t get what they deserve... this psalm probably resonates with you.  Life doesn’t always play out in ways that we deem to be fair or equitable and yet we can still see the justice and goodness of God. 

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_00 0:21

If you've ever felt like God was distant, or maybe that he simply wasn't paying attention, you've looked at the world around you and you've noticed that there are all different kinds of people that do shady things, they're sketchy, they're maybe even outright opposing God and his character or even goodness in and of itself, and yet they seem to be doing just fine. They've got plenty of money, and they seem to be evading justice at every turn. If you've ever felt like that, then my suspicion is that Psalm ten will resonate with you. Welcome to Meet Me in the Word. Once again, my name is Timothy Stobey, and I really do mean it when I say in the intro that you're right on time. Don't feel the need if this is your first time or you've missed a few days, that you need to go back and do all kinds of homework. This isn't about that. This is about just jumping back in and appreciating this weekly rhythm, this kind weekly rhythm that we have going where we get to look at the breadth of God's word as we go through it. So once again, we're in Psalm 10, and just a little tidbit of info here for us. Quite possibly, this is a continuation of Psalm 9, and therefore we think, written by David, even though it doesn't say that there at the beginning of it, the reason we think that is that these two psalms together complete one acrostic poem, which of course would be in Hebrew. I won't read both of them here. We handled Psalm 9 last Monday, but I did read them together earlier this morning when I had my own quiet time with the Lord. Go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word to Psalm 10, and then I'll pray for us and we'll jump into it together. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you so much for today. God thank you that you you do see things, and Lord, we're we're saying that right now by faith. We ask, Jesus, that you would meet with us today, that you'd help us to know you a little bit better. Amen. All right. Psalm ten. Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. He boasts about the cravings of his heart, he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. In his pride the wicked man does not seek him. In all his thoughts there is no room for God. His ways are always prosperous, your laws are rejected by him, he sneers at all his enemies. He says to himself, Nothing will ever shake me. He swears, no one will ever do me harm. His mouth is full of lies and threats, trouble and evil are under his tongue. He lies in wait near the villages, from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims. Like a lion in cover he lies in wait. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. His victims are crushed, they collapse, they fall under his strength. He says to himself, God will never notice. He covers his face and never sees. Arise, Lord, lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, He won't call me to account? But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted. You consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you, you are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked man, call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out. The Lord is king for ever and ever. The nations will perish from his land. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted, you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror. Go ahead and take a moment to listen to God, and then we'll continue together. Let's make a few observations. And this is a lengthier psalm, just like last week's like Psalm 9. And so I won't unpack all of this. I'm trusting that you're doing your your own work all along the way as the Lord leads you. But the first bit that that really stands out to me is this emphasis on pride. The wicked man, as it describes him, whoever him is, the wicked man is proud. And we see that there in verses two through six. We see that emphasis on just the character and the nature of this person who is proud. And we see that in this idea that he brags about his cravings. I don't know if you've ever bragged about your cravings. Sometimes, you know, I know in my own life, like we kind of joke about it a little bit, like I'm I'm really craving some, I don't know, some chocolate or some baseball or something like that. But but this is different. This is he's craving things that that are they have control over him. And he just he tends to go to that that space. He is so full of self. Again, this is another bit from verses two through six. He's so full of self that there is no room for God. And I found that part to be really, really striking. This idea that that he says there in verse four, David writes in verse four, in his pride, right? The wicked man does not seek him, him being the Lord. In all his thoughts there is no room for God. He's so full of self, again, that there just is no room for the divine. There's no room for the Lord to enter in and to lead or to guide or to do anything of benefit in his life. And then finally in this section, it says that he does experience prosperity and then he sneers at others. There's something maddening about that, isn't there? This idea that people can rebel against God and seemingly do well for themselves. Perhaps, though, this success isn't as enduring as the wicked man would hope. The second bit is there in verses 7 through 11, we're still looking at this wicked man, but now we see him more as a predator, and it's just building that picture of what this wicked man is like. He goes after people who are innocent, he goes after people who are unsuspecting, just going about their daily business. He's that kind of adversary who who isn't necessarily bombastic or loud or those kinds of things. It's not that, it's being sneaky, it's setting a trap, it's lying in wait and then pouncing and and taking advantage of people who are innocent, just unsuspecting and trying to live life. The second bit there is that he tells himself the lie, and that's me interpreting here a little bit, but he tells himself the lie that God turns a blind eye to his schemes. He says to himself, God's not looking. He's not really all that interested. He covers his face, right? He never sees, he's he's looking the other way. I can do whatever I want. He has that sense of entitlement. The psalm then shifts in a pretty major way as we as we come to verse, I think it's verse 12. Yeah, verse 12, arise, Lord, right? There's this call, Lord, bring justice against the wicked man and for those who are afflicted. And I think justice is both of those things, right? It speaks out against those who are in the wrong, those who have done right the crime, or they are the ones who are oppressing the ones who don't have. Justice comes along and says, no, no, you don't get to do that. And it speaks against wickedness and for those who are being afflicted, those who are oppressed. Call him to account. David is bold in this request, and rightfully so. Call him to account. God, you see what others don't. If we believe that God can see into our hearts, then that's true about the good things, about recognizing intentions, which we really do kind of hope for, don't we? We have that tendency to be in that space where we're like, well, God, you know my heart, you know that I'm not trying to do the wrong thing. But it's also true when we're trying to conceal. God, call him to account. You see what others don't. You are the one, lastly here, you are the one who helps people who are without, people who are in that place of truly being victims. And then finally, that last movement that really comes there in the last about three verses, there's this declaration of who God is, this reminder that he is excellent, that he is praiseworthy, the Lord is king, the Lord listens, the Lord defends the oppressed and the and the fatherless. Those three things are so critical, I think, in our understanding of who God is. The Lord is king, his rule lasts. Nothing will stop him or stop his authority. The Lord is king. So whoever these wicked people are, whatever they're doing, whatever their perspective is on how long they get to be, you know, king of the hill or the bully on the block, whatever that might be, the Lord is ultimately king. And so we can look to him and rest in that idea that justice does come, that the Lord does pay attention, he does listen, that's that second part again, right? The Lord listens. And then he doesn't just listen without regard or without care. He defends the oppressed and the fatherless. I don't know about you, but that does my heart a world of good. And as I try to make sense of the world around me and of my own life, I keep coming back to places like this that remind me that God really is good. And whether these things take place in a way that makes sense to me or I deem to be just or good, I can trust that God is there. Let's reflect a little bit and take this and apply it to our own selves as we seek to just walk, I don't know, closer, better, more in step with Jesus. I have really just two things I wanted to highlight. The first one is what characteristics do I nurture in me? And I'm really kind of pulling back and looking at this psalm from a distance. And while this psalm absolutely is about asking for God's justice, asking God to intervene in the lives of those who are wicked and those who are innocent, I was thinking about this from the perspective of like, well, what's going on in me? And and so I'm coming back to that idea again. What characteristics do I nurture in me? What things do I foster? Let me explain a little bit more. I may not boast about my cravings and my appetites. And I'm thinking here like about the negative ones. I may not boast about those things, but do I feed them? Right? Do I justify them? Do I kind of go through life and like, oh, well, that's just kind of who I am? Or even fostering those things that I know really shouldn't be present in my life, but no one's looking, so I'll foster this little thing that I like to do or I like to partake in. Why, you know, is that true of me? So again, I may not boast, but do I foster those things or nurture those things that shouldn't be there? Secondly, kind of on the other side of the equation, do I consider the grief of others and move toward them like God does? By the way, I ask these questions, and some of them, I think if we if we sit in them, they can feel pretty penetrating, they can feel invasive. My heartbeat here isn't to make you feel bad about yourself, but just to invite that genuine introspection where we can just come before the Lord, knowing that he is good and kind, and that he just desires for us to grow closer to him. So as we think about that other side, do I consider like the fatherless, the oppressed, the ones who are without? Do I consider those who are who are in grief perhaps because they've lost a loved one, but but maybe just the grief that they're experiencing in life? Do I move towards them like God moves towards them? Food for thought. Last question What does this psalm teach me about the nature of God? What do I learn about him? I'm not going to lead you any further than that, but rather invite you just to take time and continue continue listening to God, asking him to just show himself to you. I think that he's giving us a good picture of himself. Is it complete in Psalm ten? Of course not. But we do catch a glimpse, and I'm inviting you to step into that space. Let's go ahead and pray. Jesus, thank you that you are you are aware. Thank you that you see us, that you know our situation, you do know our hearts. Thank you that you understand and know everybody perfectly well, and that you love and that you care for the people, for humanity. God help us to mimic you where we can, to represent your heart well. God, would you lead us today? Amen.