April 20, 2023 — Psalm 10

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—let them be caught in the schemes they have devised. For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart, those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord. In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”;all their thoughts are, “There is no God.” Their ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of their sight; as for their foes, they scoff at them. They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved; throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.” Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongues are mischief and iniquity. They sit in ambush in the villages; in hiding places they murder the innocent. Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net. They stoop, they crouch, and the helpless fall by their might. They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.” Psalm 10:1-12

“Psalm 10 laments over the enemies of the kingdom of Christ who terrify Christendom with force and cunning. These enemies direct the sword of worldly tyranny over the body and the net of false teaching over the soul. However, as it says in verse 7 (“His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression”), the enemies of the kingdom of Christ can do no more than curse; lie; and deceive. But in the end, the psalm shows our comfort, that such abomination shall perish with the end of the world. The psalm belongs in the Second Commandment and in the First Petition, as do all psalms of prayer.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

“Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.” Do not forget the oppressed. We often ask the question “Why does G-d seem to disappear to allow people to be hurt, oppressed, or even destroyed? We can say this has been the cry that echoes down from the ages. It is the eternal question — G-d, where are you? It is easy to become overwhelmed and bewildered when we do not see G-d at work.

I once sat with a mother who was just recently dropped off her daughter at a drug rehab facility. The daughter stated something to her mother to the effect of “How can I see the hand of G-d in my life when things are just so wrong?” The mother answered her, “We were able to get you into this rehab facility in just 6 hours — how can you not see the hand of G-d in your life?” We expect G-d to take care of things, keep us safe, deal with those who seek to do harm to others — yet when G-d is at work but not at the pace we expect, then G-d seems to be completely detached. The struggle comes in the distance between the trouble we are experiencing and the time in which G-d acts. In other words, we expect G-d to act immediately for problems we have been bringing onto ourselves, or others may have been waging against us for years and years. Wanting G-d to move according to our agenda and then being perplexed and even put out when G-d sticks to G-d’s timeframe is a sign of our lack of trust. We cannot tell G-d how or when to act, all we can do is pray and trust that G-d does love us and will act on our behalf.

Prayer: O Lord, our faithful and jealous God, restrain the craftiness and the power, the oppression and the deceit of Your enemies. Save the souls of the innocent from the snares of falsehood, and lead them to the knowledge of Your salvation in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Keep us in the true and saving faith, and grant us to walk worthy of Your name for the sake of Your Son, our Savior. Amen.

Pastor Dave