I’m sticking with taking the Psalms in order again this week, and the next one is Psalms 10. I found it interesting that the first verse seemed to fit so well with my Saturday post on waiting “When the Dice Are in the Air.” If I had worked on scheduling my Sunday Psalms first I might have quoted that verse.
I think that this Psalms is a wonderful one for the state of our world right now. When you watch the news and the economy, it seems that the wicked and greedy are getting away with a lot. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer, and the middle class are moving in with the poor. The other day I read an article about food stamps, and how so many people who are on food stamps also have jobs but their jobs don’t pay enough to keep food on the table for their families. One woman worked for Walmart 25 hours a week at $8.08 an hour trying to support herself and her daughter. I did the math; that’s only $808 per month before taxes are taken out. But I’ll bet the CEOs and stockholders of Walmart wouldn’t blink an eye at dropping that kind of money for fun on a weekend. It’s easy to become cynical and think perhaps God has forgotten or doesn’t see.
But this Psalms, and scripture as a whole, reminds us that this perception is an illusion. In the end, the wicked and the greedy, those who care not for the fatherless and the oppressed, will see justice. God will restore those who trust in Him.
Psalm 10
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
he is haughty and your laws are far from him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will shake me;
I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.”
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent,
watching in secret for his victims.
9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover;
he lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
he covers his face and never sees.”
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.