Why are you so far away, Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Arrogant, wicked men devise evil schemes to hunt down the weak.
These men boast about the cravings of their hearts;
They bless the greedy and revile the Lord.
They do not seek the Lord — in all their thoughts, there is no room for God.
Somehow, these arrogant, wicked men prosper in all their ways;
they reject the laws of the Lord,
sneering at all his enemies.
They say to themselves, “Nothing will ever shake us,”
and swears, “No one will ever do us harm.”
His mouth is full of lies and threats,
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait in our communities to murder the innocent.
In secret, he looks for his next victim to ambush.
Like a lion in cover, he lies in wait to catch the helpless.
He catches them and drags them off.
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 revile God? Why does he say, “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 otherwise remain a secret.
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.
You defend the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere mortals will never again strike terror.
Reflection
Drug dealers. Gang leaders. Men and women filled with anger. Those who prey on the weak. Surely God sees them all.
When I read Psalm 10, I can’t help but see the faces of people we have encountered who are arrogant and wicked. While I know and will continue to preach that all are made in the Image of God, their present behavior is far from Godly. They are lost in a world that applauds the loud and swallows the quiet.
The surprisingly contemporary nature of this psalm reminds me that there is nothing new under the sun.
In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
Psalm 10.2
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
The attributes of these arrogant, wicked men are troublesome:
- hunt down the weak
- boast about the cravings of their heart
- bless the greedy
- revile the Lord
- full of pride
- rejects the laws of the Lord
- sneers at his enemies
- full of lies and threats
- lurks around waiting to ambush the innocent
- drags off the helpless
- crushes his victims
As I write these down, my soul is troubled because I have come face to face with evil, arrogant men. I’ve watched these men feed the weak illicit drugs and promises that only serve to make their lives worse. At the beginning of each month, they appear to extort what little money some people have to survive. They offer no hope. They thrive on hate and threats. They look for opportunities to harm others, to literally beat them into the ground.
They sneer at law enforcement and continue to grow their territory. If they are arrested, they quickly bond out and retaliate against those under their control even more.
Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Psalm 10.12
    Do not forget the helpless.
Lord, I know you hear the cries. I know you can change hearts, even the arrogant and wicked. I know you see the oppression, the poor, those who barely survive on the streets. Lord, hear my cry! Hear the cry of long ago:
Break the arm of the wicked man;
Psalm 10.15
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.
You, O Lord, know the pain and suffering in this world. You, King of kings, see all. I can only stand here and offer hope to the hurting, a brief safe haven from the vile and ugly world. Remind me once again that you see the unseen, you hear the unspoken, you feel the pain.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
Psalm 10.17-18
    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.
Lord, give us strength to spread your Gospel message to the dark places of this world. Grant us the courage to stand between the hurting and the wicked. Protect us each day as we trust in you to defend those who call upon the name of Jesus for help.
And we will be faithful to give You the Glory. Amen