Psalm 10
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.
This is a familiar refrain.
We can all identify with David here. We often feel that the righteous are the only ones who suffer while the wicked continue to get their way while being disobedient.
We feel that the Lord is far away, and has hidden Himself from us in our time of trouble.
In this psalm, the psalmist makes a very important first step of turning to God. Many times Christians are tempted to turn to the ungodly, rather than to God, but that is a mistake we must avoid with God’s help.
Verse 2 talks about arrogance. This is one of the more subtle sins that goes unrecognised by most Christians. We see it in others, but it is hard to spot when we show traces of arrogance. Pride and arrogance can be very hard to detect unless we are very honest and open with ourselves. We often only equate arrogance with being snobby and stuck up. These are obvious signs of arrogance. But there are more subtle ways that we are arrogant that we may not realise.
Arrogance, in its simplest form, is being concerned with self rather than with others. When we think our way is the best way, we are arrogant. When we think that people should be more concerned about us, then we are full of pride.
The arrogant are those who only think about themselves. That is all that matters: what they need to do or want to do. It’s the way of the world. If it feels good, then that is what you are to do and no one can argue with you.
When there is arrogance in our lives, there is no room for God.
In verse 5 David changes the theme to prosperity. The wicked man’s ways are always prosperous. But this is all that matters to the ungodly. He is full of pride and God’s laws are far from him. Because he has possessions, he sees no need for God.
But this leads eventually to a life of emptiness. Yes, they may have things, but what a miserable existence to have nothing else to live for than possessions. What joy is there to be able to get to the end of each day and say I have such and such?
Who cares, since these things have no meaning? The things that have meaning in life they have neglected. God has been cast aside in the pursuit of riches. Families have been neglected in an effort to attain more.
The things that really matter, like family time are ignored.
They may be prosperous, but why would we look longingly at that, since they have sacrificed all that matters in life to be in that position?
The arrogance of the heart leads to a false sense of security. The arrogant says that nothing can shake him and nothing will touch him. “I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.” We know those words are foolish, yet how often do we believe that lie?
Too often we have this idea that we should always be happy. The proponents of the prosperity gospel have made fortunes by feeding their gullible disciples the lie that God just wants you to be happy.
God doesn’t want you to be happy. He wants you to be holy.
He has never promised that the righteous would not endure troubles and heartache in life. In fact, the opposite was promised when Paul said that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. But God did make this promise: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” (Nahum 1:7). God says that He will be there to help us in our times of trouble. The ungodly believe that the accumulation of possessions will insulate them from trouble. They believe if they could just have a little more, then they will be secure, at ease, and be trouble-free. But this is a false sense of security, because God is only a refuge to those who trust in Him.
David goes on to describe the ungodly as those who are full of curses, lies, and threats. Have you ever used your tongue to cause trouble? I don’t think that we want to admit the answer, because if the truth be told, we have all used our tongues to stir up strife and create problems. But this is the characteristic of the ungodly and not the righteous. James warns us against the power of the tongue.
Rumours and gossip are very simple ways that our tongues cause trouble.
Verse 11 says, “God has forgotten; He covers His face and never sees.” As soon as this mentality creeps into the heart, sin is at the door. When we think in our minds that God does not see what we are doing and has forgotten our actions, then we have opened the door to committing all kinds of wickedness.
We think that no one sees, that no one is going to know, and our evil actions are not going to matter to anyone. When we believe that God does not see what we are doing, we are playing with fire.
The whole mood of the psalm then changes from verse 12. In the first half of the psalm, David cried out that God seems to be far away from him. He looks at the wicked and cannot understand how they are allowed to continue in their arrogance, prosperity, false security, vile speech, and violence.
And so what does David do? Exactly what we should do. He turns to God in prayer. “Arise, Lord! O God, lift up your hand.”
Instead of grumbling or forsaking God, we need to turn to Him and tell Him what we see and what we feel. He knows what is in our hearts – He wants us to be honest and open with Him.
No matter what we are feeling or what we are experiencing, we need to always turn to the Lord first. In times of trouble and suffering, turn to God first. In times of joy and victory, turn to the Lord first. In times of frustration and confusion, turn to the Lord first. The first step we take is so important for us and shows where our faith lies.
God sees all that is going on. Paul writes in Romans 14, “We will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: ‘As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
God sees the trouble and grief of every individual. He knows who is the oppressor and who is the victim.
David writes in verse 16, “The Lord is King forever and ever.” What a comforting thought this is. The Lord is always King and He always maintains power and control.
Ultimately, we must remember the reason that Jesus came – to die for our salvation. When life is good, be thankful.
When life is hard, be thankful. Be thankful that Jesus died for our sin and the sins of others, and take refuge in the absolute certainty that you were created for far greater things than what the world offers you. Jesus is the One who brings us the hope we need.
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.
This is a familiar refrain.
We can all identify with David here. We often feel that the righteous are the only ones who suffer while the wicked continue to get their way while being disobedient.
We feel that the Lord is far away, and has hidden Himself from us in our time of trouble.
In this psalm, the psalmist makes a very important first step of turning to God. Many times Christians are tempted to turn to the ungodly, rather than to God, but that is a mistake we must avoid with God’s help.
Verse 2 talks about arrogance. This is one of the more subtle sins that goes unrecognised by most Christians. We see it in others, but it is hard to spot when we show traces of arrogance. Pride and arrogance can be very hard to detect unless we are very honest and open with ourselves. We often only equate arrogance with being snobby and stuck up. These are obvious signs of arrogance. But there are more subtle ways that we are arrogant that we may not realise.
Arrogance, in its simplest form, is being concerned with self rather than with others. When we think our way is the best way, we are arrogant. When we think that people should be more concerned about us, then we are full of pride.
The arrogant are those who only think about themselves. That is all that matters: what they need to do or want to do. It’s the way of the world. If it feels good, then that is what you are to do and no one can argue with you.
When there is arrogance in our lives, there is no room for God.
In verse 5 David changes the theme to prosperity. The wicked man’s ways are always prosperous. But this is all that matters to the ungodly. He is full of pride and God’s laws are far from him. Because he has possessions, he sees no need for God.
But this leads eventually to a life of emptiness. Yes, they may have things, but what a miserable existence to have nothing else to live for than possessions. What joy is there to be able to get to the end of each day and say I have such and such?
Who cares, since these things have no meaning? The things that have meaning in life they have neglected. God has been cast aside in the pursuit of riches. Families have been neglected in an effort to attain more.
The things that really matter, like family time are ignored.
They may be prosperous, but why would we look longingly at that, since they have sacrificed all that matters in life to be in that position?
The arrogance of the heart leads to a false sense of security. The arrogant says that nothing can shake him and nothing will touch him. “I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.” We know those words are foolish, yet how often do we believe that lie?
Too often we have this idea that we should always be happy. The proponents of the prosperity gospel have made fortunes by feeding their gullible disciples the lie that God just wants you to be happy.
God doesn’t want you to be happy. He wants you to be holy.
He has never promised that the righteous would not endure troubles and heartache in life. In fact, the opposite was promised when Paul said that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. But God did make this promise: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” (Nahum 1:7). God says that He will be there to help us in our times of trouble. The ungodly believe that the accumulation of possessions will insulate them from trouble. They believe if they could just have a little more, then they will be secure, at ease, and be trouble-free. But this is a false sense of security, because God is only a refuge to those who trust in Him.
David goes on to describe the ungodly as those who are full of curses, lies, and threats. Have you ever used your tongue to cause trouble? I don’t think that we want to admit the answer, because if the truth be told, we have all used our tongues to stir up strife and create problems. But this is the characteristic of the ungodly and not the righteous. James warns us against the power of the tongue.
Rumours and gossip are very simple ways that our tongues cause trouble.
Verse 11 says, “God has forgotten; He covers His face and never sees.” As soon as this mentality creeps into the heart, sin is at the door. When we think in our minds that God does not see what we are doing and has forgotten our actions, then we have opened the door to committing all kinds of wickedness.
We think that no one sees, that no one is going to know, and our evil actions are not going to matter to anyone. When we believe that God does not see what we are doing, we are playing with fire.
The whole mood of the psalm then changes from verse 12. In the first half of the psalm, David cried out that God seems to be far away from him. He looks at the wicked and cannot understand how they are allowed to continue in their arrogance, prosperity, false security, vile speech, and violence.
And so what does David do? Exactly what we should do. He turns to God in prayer. “Arise, Lord! O God, lift up your hand.”
Instead of grumbling or forsaking God, we need to turn to Him and tell Him what we see and what we feel. He knows what is in our hearts – He wants us to be honest and open with Him.
No matter what we are feeling or what we are experiencing, we need to always turn to the Lord first. In times of trouble and suffering, turn to God first. In times of joy and victory, turn to the Lord first. In times of frustration and confusion, turn to the Lord first. The first step we take is so important for us and shows where our faith lies.
God sees all that is going on. Paul writes in Romans 14, “We will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: ‘As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
God sees the trouble and grief of every individual. He knows who is the oppressor and who is the victim.
David writes in verse 16, “The Lord is King forever and ever.” What a comforting thought this is. The Lord is always King and He always maintains power and control.
Ultimately, we must remember the reason that Jesus came – to die for our salvation. When life is good, be thankful.
When life is hard, be thankful. Be thankful that Jesus died for our sin and the sins of others, and take refuge in the absolute certainty that you were created for far greater things than what the world offers you. Jesus is the One who brings us the hope we need.