|
Psalm 10
(Psalms 10 KJV) "Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou
thyself in times of trouble?
The Psalm begins and ends (from v. 12) with the cry of the oppressed.
In between we have a classic description of the sociopath. It is worth a
little time to analyze this description of "the wicked." There are more of
them than one might think.
{2} The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be
taken in the devices that they have imagined. {3} For the wicked
boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD
abhorreth. {4} The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will
not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. {5} His ways are
always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for
all his enemies, he puffeth at them. {6} He hath said in his heart, I
shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. {7} His mouth is
full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and
vanity. {8} He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the
secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set
against the poor. {9} He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he
lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth
him into his net. {10} He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor
may fall by his strong ones. {11} He hath said in his heart, God hath
forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
It’s a shocking litany of deliberate evil. Most of us are used to
people who sin through weakness, who hurt other on impulse. But the
calculated evil of wicked men is hard for us to fathom, and as a result,
we are often slow to recognize it. And, therefore, are often victimized by
it.
This psalm is not a mere commentary on the state of the wicked, but a
prayer; the words are spoken to God, and it invokes a description of the
whole range of evil in a society at any moment. It is not necessarily a
personal prayer in that all these things are happening to you. They are
happening to someone in real time as you read these words.
{12} Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
{13} Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart,
Thou wilt not require it. {14} Thou hast seen it: for thou beholdest
mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth
himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. {15} Break
thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness
till thou find none. {16} The LORD is King for ever and ever: the
heathen are perished out of his land. {17} LORD, thou hast heard the
desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause
thine ear to hear: {18} To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that
the man of the earth may no more oppress."
It may be that not enough of us are praying this way. It isn’t that we
don’t know. We see it in the news every day. The psalm tells us that the
wicked think they are going to get away with it. If the righteous fail to
pray this prayer, the day of vengeance can be a long way off. But it will
come.
The last words of the psalm are especially poignant. There is no
segment of our society more oppressed than the legion of fatherless
children.
. |
|
The
Sinless Life
Have you ever
considered what it would mean if you could just live a sinless life?
Youth in Action
Never in our history have young people needed Bible learning and Christian
youth programs more than they do today.
|
