When God Seems Far Away - Psalm 10

Introduction

Read Psalm 10

Psalm 10 (ESV)

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

He sits in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;

he lurks that he may seize the poor;

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

The helpless are crushed, sink down,

and fall by his might.

He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;

forget not the afflicted.

Why does the wicked renounce God

and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,

that you may take it into your hands;

to you the helpless commits himself;

you have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

call his wickedness to account till you find none.

The Lord is king forever and ever;

the nations perish from his land.

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more

Habakkuk 1 CSB

The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw. How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerateA wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted. Look at the nations and observe— be utterly astounded! For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it. Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth’s open spaces to seize territories not its own. They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards and more fierce than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like eagles, swooping to devour. All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand. They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it. Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their strength is their god. Are you not from eternity, Lord my God? My Holy One, you will not die. Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, you destined them to punish us. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are you silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself? You have made mankind like the fish of the sea, like marine creatures that have no ruler. The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook, catch them in their dragnet, and gather them in their fishing net; that is why they are glad and rejoice. That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet and burn incense to their fishing net, for by these things their portion is rich and their food plentiful. Will they therefore empty their net and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

The Character of the Wicked (vv. 2-11)

Arrogance (vv.2-4)

Psalm 10:2–4 CSB

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.”

We see first that David is telling God of the character of the Wicked. First, the wicked man is arrogant and boastful. He boasts in his desires. And through his arrogance and pride he not only ignores God, he actually curses and renounces God. In his mind, he acts and believes that there is no God who will hold him accountable for his actions.

Prosperity (v. 5)

Psalm 10:5 CSB

His ways are always secure; your lofty judgments have no effect on him; he scoffs at all his adversaries.

It seems the wicked are unfairly prosperous, which seems to go against our human understanding of how blessings should work. We tend to think that blessings should be for the righteous and curses should be for the wicked, but it doesn’t always seem to work that way in this world.

Why does it seem like the wicked often are the ones who are prosperous in this life?

Worldly prosperity is not the same as spiritual prosperity. While they do seem to get the things they want, it will not always be so. And the things they get aren’t worth comparing to the things they are missing out on.

Security (v. 6)

Psalm 10:6 CSB

He says to himself, “I will never be moved— from generation to generation I will be without calamity.”

Along with prosperity, the wicked seem to be secure. It doesn’t seem like they meet adversity.

Why does it seem like the wicked do not run against those opposed to them or even if they do, it seems like they’re stronger than those who oppose them?

Vile Speech (v. 7)

Psalm 10:7 CSB

Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

Here we see the wicked are characterized by their wicked speech. Often times we see actions as the truly harmful things, but we don’t think of words being harmful. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”

But we see that words do hurt and damage us. Words hurt more than we like to admit. Example, Will Smith and Chris Rock.

Violence (v. 8-11)

Psalm 10:8–11 CSB

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.”

Here we see the buildup of what his heart has been aiming for. Because of his arrogance and pride, his heart has led him only to think of himself and what is good for him. As a result, he has no respect for anyone else. When our hearts seek to love only ourselves instead of our neighbors, we can develop a heart of hatred which will in turn lead to violence and murder. Jesus says as much in His sermon on the mount. Murder begins with hate and anger in one’s heart. And our hearts become angry and hateful because we only think of how we have been wronged instead of thinking of other’s needs. The wicked man commits these acts of murder because he has pridefully only thought of his own needs, and he continues on with his direction because he thinks God has either forgotten or has not seen his evil acts.

David Asks for God to Act (v. 12-13, 15)

Psalm 10:12–13 CSB

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.”

Psalm 10:15 CSB

Break the arm of the wicked, evil person, until you look for his wickedness, but it can’t be found.

So what does David do in response to the wicked? The problem for David is not that he is one of the weak ones the wicked are taking advantage of. The problem for David is that it seems that God is tolerant of these acts and doesn’t seem to do anything about it. This is reminiscent of Habakkuk’s complaint against God. When Habakkuk complains that evil is going unchecked, God tells him that He is raising up Babylon to punish those who are wicked within Israel. Then Habakkuk comes back and says, “Alright, I know we need to be punished for our wickedness, but how can you use someone more wicked than us to punish us?”

Does it ever feel like God is silent concerning the wickedness and evil in our world? What do you do in those moments when the goodness of God is hard to see in how evil goes unchecked?

David’s response was to cry out to God in prayer. He asks God to intervene and help protect the weak against the wicked. Sometimes its easy to try and take matters into our own hands, but we need to remember to go to God and trust Him to work things out This doesn’t mean that He won’t use us somewhere along the way to make things right, but we ultimately need to trust Him and His judgment against the wicked.

How do we trust God to act, even when He seems silent?

David Reminds Himself of Who God Is (v. 14)

Psalm 10:14 CSB

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.

David can trust God because He reminds Himself of who God is. He reminds Himself that God does see what goes on and that He is the defender of the helpless and the helper of the fatherless. God will not allow evil to continue unchecked. It just may be that out of mercy and longsuffering that God allows it to go on for a bit. God is not blind, it may just be that He is giving the wicked a chance to repent before He deals with them. But God will deal with the wicked one way or another and David is reminding Himself of this truth.

David’s Confidence Is that God Will Eventually Judge All Sin (vv. 16-18)

Psalm 10:16–18 CSB

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.

David’s confidence in God is the knowledge that God will eventually judge all sin. He knows that God will have the final say towards all sinners.

2 Peter 3:3-7, 10

2 Peter 3:3–7 CSB

Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

2 Peter 3:10 CSB

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.

Scoffers and mockers will think they are getting off scott free, however, we are confident that God is not blind to the wickedness and that God will come through because He has before. He might be patient, but there’s coming a day when His patience will end. Because God has punished sin through the flood, and because He punished sin on the cross, we know God will fully punish all sin at the end.

So how do we live even when it seems God is silent towards evil and wickedness?

While we Wait, We Live by Faith (Hab. 2:4)

Habakkuk 2:4 CSB

Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith.

We’ve already noted the similarities between this Psalm and Habakkuk. Even when Habakkuk couldn’t understand what God was doing, God gave him this message and He compares the wicked to the righteous. The wicked are puffed up and arrogant and without integrity. It may seem like they’re going unpunished. But the righteous live by faith knowing that God is still in control and taking care of His people.

We remain faithful trusting God each day, even when we can’t see what He’s doing because we know God is a good, holy, and just God who will have the final say and will take care of His people, so it should affect the way we pray and place our confidence in Him to do what only God can do.