Psalm 10

BODY LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION

Body language is a significant aspect of communication, and any one of you that remember your mother looking at you like this [stand with hands on hips] will agree with that statement. In fact, Psychology Today suggests that 55% of communication is body language, 38% is tone of voice, and only 7% of the words we use are actually a significant aspect of communication. What we do indicates what we really think, and this is precisely the point that king David is making in .

Context: It is important to remember that while David wrote almost half of the Psalms, there were other writers as well, and the ancient compilers of the Psalter intended them to be read together. In other words, there is a flow to the Psalms. For example, While and 2 work together as an introduction, the Psalms begin with personal pleas from David as his kingship is challenged, and they progress toward national concerns regarding the covenant community of God’s people. While addresses the external pressures from other nations, deals with the internal pressure from within God’s covenant community.

BODY

David begins the Psalm with the eternal riddle regarding God’s presence in the midst of his people being oppressed by other so-called “members” of the covenant community, and then he highlights the only two possible responses.

I. The Eternal Riddle about God (1)

David is not posing a question that non-believers ask, as they don’t believe that God exists. This rhetorical question introduces the riddle about God that not only David’s generation of God’s covenant people ask, but the same question that those in the church ask today.

ILLUSTRATION: David never resolves the riddle of “Where is God,” but rather refocuses the question on the reality that God cares (v.14), and those who believe that will actually live out that belief in God, while those who say that they believe but fail to live accordingly actually do not believe.

APPLICATION: In light of David’s riddle regarding those who allegedly belong to the covenant community, it would be wise that each one of us listen closely and perform a self-assessment.

II. The Effectual Rejection of God (2-13)

In an upward progression of the worst response to the riddle to a not much better response to the riddle, David reflects on those who are effectively rejecting God by their behavior.

A. “THERE IS NO GOD” (2-4)

While they may say that there is a God, there behavior reflects that their “thoughts” are that there is no God. This is obvious because they are taking advantage of people as they proudly pursue the poor.

B. “I SHALL NOT BE MOVED” (5-7)

These people are prosperous and deceive themselves with a false sense of security in their gains. This would be like believing that you have nothing to be concerned about since you have bank accounts, board positions, and big salaries. Do you find security in your self worth?

C. “GOD DOESN’T SEE ME” (8-11)

For these people, “might makes right.” These people perceive God’s patience while waiting for their repentance as a lack of interest in justice.

D. “GOD WILL NOT JUDGE ME” (12-13)

If you don’t believe that your sin will find you out (), then ask David about Bathsheba!

ILLUSTRATION: These people have only an intellectual ascent to God, and their perceived lack of God’s action is “practical” or “theoretical” atheism. On the one hand, the functional atheist lives as if God does not exist, so they treat other wrongly. They simply live without the fear of God (c.f., states that “fear is the beginning of wisdom, and personifies Lady Wisdom as a relationship with God. If you do not fear God, you do not have a relationship with him!) . On the other hand, the practical theist has more than an intellectual faith, and decides daily to live by faith.

APPLICATION: This reality within the covenant community should stir each one of us to a careful analysis of our lives. Are you a functional atheist, or functional theist?

III. The Effectual Reliance upon God (14-18)

David expresses his reliance in God with four terms that he is not only saying but also living like he believes:

A. “GOD SEES” (14)

David notes that God not only sees but also has already been helping those who need his help. In other words, David believes that God has not only handled the helpless in the past but will do it in the future. His belief in that is apparent in his trust.

B. “GOD JUDGES” (15)

David’s natural desire for vengeance is satisfied with his reliance in God to judge the wrongdoers to the fullest extent of the righteous law. If you really believed that God would right every wrong, then you would have a less difficult time in forgiving people that wound you.

C. “GOD IS KING” (16)

David believes that God is the eternal king, so he doesn’t concern himself with the outcome. If you truly believe that Jesus is the King over the cosmos, why would you be bothered with sorting out the details of who is calling the shots?

D. “GOD DEFENDS” (17-18)

David knows that God will defend his people from the “man who is of the earth.”

ILLUSTRATION: As St. Francis once said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; and if necessary, use words!”

APPLICATION: On a scale of 1-10, how does your body language preach the Gospel? Is there one thing that you can do to move up one number?

CONCLUSION

This persistent reference to “face, heart, mouth, tongue, eyes, arm, and ear” is called anthropomorphic poetic language (i.e., assigning human body parts to words), which means that David is emphasizing the reality that the actions of our bodies reveal the beliefs of our minds. In other words, your actions reveal your beliefs. Body language is significant.

The most significant use of body language that I can think of is how Jesus spoke that he loved the world when he gave up his life in your place [share gospel].

As Spurgeon noted, unfortunately people give more concern to the weather than they do to their mortality and subsequent judgment.