A Prayer to Overthrow the Wicked
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Have you ever known a person where it seemed like it didn’t matter what they did they never got in trouble?
When I was in high school we had a homeroom class at the beginning of every day. It was only about 20 minutes long and it would be a time for us to do the pledge, hear announcements, and work on any homework that we needed to get done. It was also a class that was the same people, room, and teacher for all four years of high school. It was kinda fun to see how we all grew and changed throughout high school. We also created friendships that we probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Well in my homeroom class we had no rules. Looking back it is insane that we got away with as much as we did. (I speak of course about other people, not myself. I was a perfect little angel and never did anything wrong) My sophomore year of high school kids in my homeroom started to vape. It started off really subtle and discreet but eventually became very open about it. My teacher didn’t notice at first but when she found out she told us, “I don’t care what you do, but if it starts to give me a headache you have to put it away.” Which has to be a fire-able offense right? You can’t let minors smoke in the classroom. On top of that kids would cuss openly, play inappropriate music openly, sometimes they’d just leave to walk around in the hallways. It was amazing that nobody got in trouble. My buddy Austin and I made a promise to each other our freshman year. If we both made it to graduation we would wrestle each other our senior year on the last day of school. When we made that promise he was wrestling for the high school team and was expecting a growth spurt (he was about the size of Isaac Forsyth) I was six foot tall but I was slow and out of shape. By our senior year he was the same size but I had gotten up to six foot eight and had bulked up from playing sports and lifting weights. We made a ring of desks and wrestled our senior and the rules were, first to tap out or first to bleed, and I lost by technicality because I got a rug burn from the carpet on my knee.
Its funny to think about stories like this and laugh about how irresponsible my teacher was but there are times when people commit serious injustices and it seemingly goes unpunished. The psalmist feels this frustration in Psalm 10. For him he sees the world. He sees all the injustice and wicked people thriving and he asks God, “Where are you?”.
Lord, why do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of trouble?
There came a time when Saul was to be presented before all the people of Israel and would be recieved as king. Saul was a strong man. He stood literally a head taller than everyone else. He had all the physical attributes that you would want a king to have. So Samuel brought the tribes together and he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin. From the tribe of Benjamin he called forward Saul’s family. From Saul’s family he called forward Saul. The only problem was that Saul was not there. Everyone kind of looked around and were saying to each other, “maybe he’s late” and “maybe hes not coming”. While everyone is looking around the Lord said to Samuel, “He’s hiding by the luggage.” Put yourself in Samuel’s shoes. You’ve called together all the tribes of Israel to announce a king you don’t even want. You go to announce this great king that everyone wants to replace God with and where is he? He is hiding off in the corner. You can almost hear Samuel say to himself, “I’m getting too old for this” because in the very next chapter he essentially retires as judge over Israel. Despite his brief moment of cowardice Saul comes before the people and for the most part is widely accepted by the people.
God is not a coward hiding behind the luggage, but why does it feel like God is hiding? (10)
For our faith
Sometimes God allows dry seasons to give us opportunity to remain faithful. Theologically speaking God is everywhere. There is never a moment where He is far off. But it can feel like God has abandoned us. However, those moments give us opportunity to trust God and remain obedient to Him.
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’
“The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’
“The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
“His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.
“ ‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
As a demonstration of His patience
Typically when we ask God to deal with sin we are talking about other people. If God were to deal out the consequences of sin to the measure that people deserved right now we would all find ourselves dead and in hell. We all deserve death. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, God has dealt patiently with us giving us time to turn to Him in repentance.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Because He is working in ways we don’t understand
Did you know the story of Esther never mentions God. That’s intentional. The story of Esther is a story of God’s deliverance through a humble girl who was ripped from her home and forced to marry Xerxes king of Persia. She shows great courage and faithfulness in a story that feels like God is absent. This idea of God working behind the scenes is so uncomfortable to people that there were some that did not want to include it in the Hebrew Bible. However the story of Esther feels very familiar to us. There have been times in our own lives where God has felt absent but we have seen after the fact how he was really there working and bringing things into place.
Its a cliche but there is a poem about footprints in the sand. You’ve probably heard it. Jesus and this person were walking on the beach. In the sky were different moments from this persons life. The person looked down and noticed that at the most difficult moments of their life there were only one set of foot prints. They asked Jesus, “Why is it that at my most difficult moments you abandoned me?” To which Jesus says, “Where you see one set of footprints that is where I carried you.” This poem is true in part. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us, but He does far more than carry us every now and then. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. We are secure in Him.
Sometimes it feels like God is absent because WE are hiding from him
I know this is church and we like to pretend we have our walk with Christ figured out but if we are honest there are times in our lives when we can’t hear God’s voice because we aren’t listening. We go months at a time without ever studying His word. We become complacent in our prayers if we ever pray at all. It becomes routine and ritualistic rather than relational. God becomes very two dimensional to us. We begin to see the stories of the Bible as fairy tales and believe that God only exists within the confines of the Bible.
The wicked live as if there is no God
In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;
the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.
In all his scheming,
the wicked person arrogantly thinks,
“There’s no accountability,
since there’s no God.”
This Psalm gives us insight to how sin can hijack our thinking. There have been times in my own life where sin was in control. And when sin was behind the wheel I did anything I could to justify what I was doing. I don’t know if it is arrogance or ignorance or both, but sin has this way of convincing us that God will not see what we are doing. We feel like we can get away with it and that our sins have no consequences on our lives. The lie that God does not see is one believed by both the offender and the offended but as a warning to the offender and hope to the offended God reminds us that He is not far off. He sees all things. He knows all things.
His ways are always secure;
your lofty judgments have no effect on him;
he scoffs at all his adversaries.
He says to himself, “I will never be moved—
from generation to generation I will be without calamity.”
Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.
He waits in ambush near settlements;
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;
he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize a victim;
he seizes a victim and drags him in his net.
So he is oppressed and beaten down;
helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.
He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
he hides his face and will never see.”
Sin has convinced us God does not see but His judgement are much higher than we think
You may know this about me, but I love Batman. He is my favorite superhero. I love Batman because he is so dedicated to justice and because he is very psychological. He is always three steps ahead of his villains. He’s a detective. He is awesome. The criminals in Batman stories always feel like they can get out think Batman. They think that he can’t stop their criminal empires, or protect their victims. They do the same things this Psalm says that wicked people do. They brag about their power, they curse, they lie, they oppress people, they hide in waiting to kill the innocent, set traps, they lurk. They conceive all these convoluted plans to defeat Batman, but where is Batman? He is on a gargoyle hundreds of feet in the air ready to bring justice down on their heads.
Batman stories are fun but we have something so much greater than Batman. Our God is an avenger. The wicked make their plans and the Lord makes His judgement on high out of their sight. His ways are not our ways. Who knows the mind of our God that we should bring counsel to Him? The wicked think they have outsmarted God but forget He hears the cries of the afflicted and He responds with justice.
Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”
Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I’ll make one with you on this condition: that I gouge out everyone’s right eye and humiliate all Israel.”
“Don’t do anything to us for seven days,” the elders of Jabesh said to him, “and let us send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If no one saves us, we will surrender to you.”
When the messengers came to Gibeah, Saul’s hometown, and told the terms to the people, all wept aloud. Just then Saul was coming in from the field behind his oxen. “What’s the matter with the people? Why are they weeping?” Saul inquired, and they repeated to him the words of the men from Jabesh.
When Saul heard these words, the Spirit of God suddenly came powerfully on him, and his anger burned furiously. He took a team of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by messengers who said, “This is what will be done to the ox of anyone who doesn’t march behind Saul and Samuel.” As a result, the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out united.
Saul counted them at Bezek. There were three hundred thousand Israelites and thirty thousand men from Judah. He told the messengers who had come, “Tell this to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’ ” So the messengers told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.
Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us.”
The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
Afterward, the people said to Samuel, “Who said that Saul should not reign over us? Give us those men so we can kill them!”
But Saul ordered, “No one will be executed this day, for today the Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.”
Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let’s go to Gilgal, so we can renew the kingship there.” So all the people went to Gilgal, and there in the Lord’s presence they made Saul king. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
When an enemy stood against God’s people the Lord used Saul to deliver them out of their hands. The same is true for us. Our greatest enemies, sin and death, have been defeated at the hands of of our king. Jesus has made the way for sins to be forgiven and He will come again and do away with it once and for all. Notice who Saul gives the credit to in this story. It is the Lord’s victory. The Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.
Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand.
Do not forget the oppressed.
Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”
But you yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into your hands.
The helpless one entrusts himself to you;
you are a helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked, evil person,
until you look for his wickedness,
but it can’t be found.
Even when it feels like God is far off we can trust Him.
After the battle Samuel gives one last speech to the people. Samuel reminds them of how God had been faithful in the past
Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness. Now present yourselves, so I may confront you before the Lord about all the righteous acts he has done for you and your ancestors.
“When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and he sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, so he handed them over to Sisera commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. These enemies fought against them. Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ So the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely. But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king reign over us’—even though the Lord your God is your king.
As we look at this story we are reminded that God is faithful in the present
Just as the Israelites rejected God as their king and turned to the futility of their sin, we had rejected God as our king. Yet God offers forgiveness to us and it is accessible today. The lies of sin are tempting to believe. Sin offers us every fleshly indulgence we could ever ask for. It says the world is ours all we have to do is take it. But God tells us the world is His and He knows what is best for us because He created us. He has been faithful to His promise and offers us redemption through His Son.
Now we look forward to the day when God will remain faithful in His justice for all eternity
The Lord is King forever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble;
you will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,
doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that mere humans from the earth may terrify them no more.
There will come a day when Christ is king forever and ever. When the effects of sin and sin itself will be expelled from His creation, separated from Him in judgement. He will bring justice against it and make the world new again. There will be no more fear but we will rest with Him in eternity with Jesus as our king.
The book of Psalms is a book of prayers. I want us to take some time. Split up into groups of three and pray out loud as a group through some prompts I want to give you. I will close us out on each prompt and then introduce the next one.
Let this be our prayer: That God would overthrow the wicked.
That He would begin by overthrowing the wickedness in us
That He would overthrow the wickedness in our communities
That He would come back soon and restore the world as He has promised