Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. Psalm 10 ESV
Far away - This is a part of the process for us, the stumbling about through the obvious, "look here, there is trouble." I have never said a prayer that God did not already know and know better the situation. Marvelous things happen there though, for what God does not need my counsel upon, has yet become a burden that I would like to leave here.
In arrogance - Now comes the reason for the Psalmist burden, the wicked, and how they do oppress the poor. Christ spoke against the religious rulers of His day, those that took widow's houses, and Jesus called out the fatherless and the widow as object examples of true religion. The song writer here is upset at those who prey on the weak and the poor. They, the wicked, feel justified though in their pursuit because God has not yet resisted them, so there must either be no God, or He is not interested in the affairs of men, or they reason that they are right with Him, much like the friends of Job. We find that there are those that are religious, and those that claim not to be, and yet among them both are those that prey upon the poor. There are those that promise the poor riches, that gather the strength of numbers that are held by the poor and direct it against their enemies, so that they may have more wealth. The Psalmist works through all of this and it is troublesome to him, like when David heard the story of the rich man who had taken the only sheep of the poor, he was moved to action, but he was that rich man. Oh how slow does the hand of God seem to move, yet He is not running out of time. How gracious is the love of God in that He has not moved so quickly against me. I was so arrogant, and still struggle daily.
But You do see - They do not get away, there is no darkness that covers men from the eyes of God, only the blanket over our own souls, the pride and vanity that conceals the truth from our hearts. We would like for God to move on our clock, to destroy the wicked that mock the Creator and hurt His creation, yet He is the One most offended, but He is the slowest to move.
You hear - He hears the desire of the afflicted, and the writer ends with God as king, no matter how we feel, and even in the quiet of our brokenness, a thought may pray what we cannot yet form into words. Who is Sovereign still? I go to You, God, not because I am making You aware, but because I am Your child and need to be reassured.
Far away - This is a part of the process for us, the stumbling about through the obvious, "look here, there is trouble." I have never said a prayer that God did not already know and know better the situation. Marvelous things happen there though, for what God does not need my counsel upon, has yet become a burden that I would like to leave here.
In arrogance - Now comes the reason for the Psalmist burden, the wicked, and how they do oppress the poor. Christ spoke against the religious rulers of His day, those that took widow's houses, and Jesus called out the fatherless and the widow as object examples of true religion. The song writer here is upset at those who prey on the weak and the poor. They, the wicked, feel justified though in their pursuit because God has not yet resisted them, so there must either be no God, or He is not interested in the affairs of men, or they reason that they are right with Him, much like the friends of Job. We find that there are those that are religious, and those that claim not to be, and yet among them both are those that prey upon the poor. There are those that promise the poor riches, that gather the strength of numbers that are held by the poor and direct it against their enemies, so that they may have more wealth. The Psalmist works through all of this and it is troublesome to him, like when David heard the story of the rich man who had taken the only sheep of the poor, he was moved to action, but he was that rich man. Oh how slow does the hand of God seem to move, yet He is not running out of time. How gracious is the love of God in that He has not moved so quickly against me. I was so arrogant, and still struggle daily.
But You do see - They do not get away, there is no darkness that covers men from the eyes of God, only the blanket over our own souls, the pride and vanity that conceals the truth from our hearts. We would like for God to move on our clock, to destroy the wicked that mock the Creator and hurt His creation, yet He is the One most offended, but He is the slowest to move.
You hear - He hears the desire of the afflicted, and the writer ends with God as king, no matter how we feel, and even in the quiet of our brokenness, a thought may pray what we cannot yet form into words. Who is Sovereign still? I go to You, God, not because I am making You aware, but because I am Your child and need to be reassured.
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