Psalm 10 - From Times of Trouble to Calm Confidence

[Music] as we come to Psalm 10 we first notice that it is a psalm that doesn't have a title in the original Hebrew now many Psalms don't have titles that doesn't make it remarkable in any particular way except for the fact that it is set in the midst of several Psalms that do have titles several before it several after and there are some people who believe that Psalm 10 is actually the second half of Psalm 9 there's a few reasons why this is believed one of them has to do with what's called an acrostic arrangement that is supposedly linking the two Psalms however I would have to say that I think that there are more reasons to doubt this than to believe it I mean it could be true but this Psalm rightly stands on its own as a psalm of lament at the seeming prosperity of the wicked but it concludes with ultimate confidence in the judgments of god it's a beautiful psalm let's take a look at it together by reading first of all the first four verses of psalm 10 here we read why do you stand afar off Oh Lord why do you hide in times of trouble the wicked in his pride persecutes the poor let them be caught in the plots which they have devised for the wicked boasts of his heart's desire he blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord the wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God God is in none of his thoughts here we see the troubled heart of the psalmist and again we could assume it's David there are people who sort of assume that David wrote every Psalm that is not specifically attributed to somebody we do note that it's sort of in the midst of a collection of many Psalms of David but we just have to be honest Psalm 10 itself does not specifically attribute itself to any particular author now the idea why do you stand afar off Oh Lord the saw is asking a question that's well-known to those who follow God the concern the the anxiety over the seeming inactivity of God God why aren't you doing something the psalmist felt that God was afar off and was even hiding in times of trouble have you ever felt like that Lord I'm in trouble not only do I feel that you're distant from me it feels like you're hiding from me and Lord it's needful that you do something because look at verse 2 the wicked in his pride persecutes the poor that's why the psalmist is so troubled by the seeming inactivity of God he sees the wicked proud man who not only persecutes the poor as it says in verse 2 but he also approves of other sinners verse 3 he says he blesses the greedy and this wicked man also sins against God look at it there in verse 3 he renounces the Lord and in verse 4 he does not seek God in fact God is in none of his thoughts as it says there in verse 4 now we immediately recognize that anyone who renounces the Lord is sinful there's no question about that is there someone who gets up and says I renounce God or I renounce his Savior Jesus Christ anybody who would say that that that is a wicked thing to do it's sinful but I want you understand here the psalmist here puts the one who does not seek God and the one who does not think about God it uses that phrase there God is in none of his thoughts in verse 4 those people are in the same category as the one who renounces the Lord think about it somebody could reject God openly blaspheme him be the most aggressive antagonistic atheist around they are definitely in sin but it is also a sin simply to not seek God and to not think about God now people do not seek God this is a great sin people do not think about God this is also a great sin we as human beings have obligations to God as our Creator and as our sovereign and it is a sin for us to neglect our obligations to God as creator and sovereign and why do we commit these sins it says right there in verse four it says the wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God the wicked person turns a proud face towards God and ignoring God refusing to seek after him trying to push God away from our thoughts these are expressions of our perceived independence from God our perceived equality with God are some people even consider themselves to be superior to God listen this is pride this is neglect of who God is as creator every person who walks this earth has an obligation towards God because he is the one who has created them now it could be said of this proud wicked person as they're described in the song as verse four says God is in none of his thoughts at the same time this proud wicked person cannot not think of God later on the wicked person does think of God in verse 11 in this Psalm in verse 13 we see that the wicked person says God has forgotten God hides his face God will never see you see he's thinking of God even though he's trying not to try as he may he can't stop thinking about God I think it's fascinating that even the Atheist thinks about God they think about God all the time I suppose there's some atheists who think more about God than people who claim that they are not atheists they do everything they can thinking about God trying to push God out of their minds now David or whoever it was who wrote this Psalm again we don't have a specific author for this song says specifically let them be caught in the plots which they have devised this was the prayer of the psalmist regarding the wicked in other Psalms this statement is sort of a confident expectation we saw that back at Psalm 9 the the the wicked will be caught in their own plots they will fall in their own traps here it's more of a heartfelt prayer large would you please do this now continuing on starting at verse 5 we hear about the pride of the wicked it says this his ways are always prospering your judgments are far above out of his sight as for all his enemies he sneers at them he has said in his heart I shall not be moved I shall never be in adversity his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression under his tongue is trouble and iniquity so here the psalmist is protesting to God cod look at this wicked person verse 5 his ways are always prospering that the wicked man seems to enjoy constant prosperity and he does so because it seems like God's judgments again in verse 5 are far above out of his sight the psalmist is almost praying Lord if you would demonstrate your judgment to this wicked person they would change their ways now this may sound like a complaint against God and in some ways it is Lord if only you would demonstrate your judgment to the wicked they would change their tune yet it should be seen more so as complete confidence in God's rule and authority the psalmist recognizes that the wicked could never prosper unless God allowed it so now he's appealing to God God no longer allow it but but notice the wicked person doesn't think that way as they are described here in verse 5 he sneers at them in verse 6 this is what the wicked person says I shall not be moved shall never be in adversity verse 7 describes him as being full of cursing and deceit and oppression you see the psalmist examines and exposes the sins of the wicked man the wicked man is not afraid of his enemies he sneers at them there's pride in sin in the wicked man's heart mentioned in verse 6 in his mouth mentioned in verse 7 and then verse 7 also mentions that there's wickedness under his tongue no wonder the psalmist was crying out saying God stop this kind of sinner by the way we are impressed at how often in the Psalms that the wicked speech of men is regarded it's think people think nothing of it today to be wicked and profane and even blasphemous in their speech but but it's regarded as a sin and as a sign of wickedness in the Psalms the old Puritan commentator John Trapp said this he said such cursing men are cursed men and truly it can be so now going on to verse 11 he's going to continue this description of the wicked person he says he sits in the lurking places of the villages in the secret place as he murders the innocent his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless he lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den he lies and wait to catch the poor he catches the poor when he draws him into his net so he crouches he lies low that the helpless may fall by his strength he has said in his heart God has forgotten he hides his face he will never see what a powerful and poetic description of the heart of this wicked oppressor of humanity it says there in verse 8 he sits in the lurking places of the villages the psalmist kind of examines the wicked man or men who had troubled him and key to the nature of this wicked man his secrecy he doesn't do what he does out in the open so verse 8 says he is lurking places he's in secret places his eyes are secretly fixed in verse nine it says he lies in wait secretly in verse 10 it says he lies low again secrecy and deception are key to the working of this wicked person but it's not just secrecy it's violence he's a bully did you see that in verse 8 he murders the innocent he focuses his violence against the weak verse 8 says the innocent the helpless verse 9 the poor you see this wicked person isn't manly enough or honorable enough to openly fight those who might effectively fight back know they're always looking to see how they can murder the innocent and the helpless and the poor if it could be even worse they boldly boast did you see that in verse 11 God has forgotten he hides his face he will never see you see for the psalmist this made the murder the oppression and the bullying of the wicked man all the worst because he did it all cherishing the thought that God had forgotten all about him that God would never see his wickedness against the poor and the helpless you know it is very common for people to think that God has forgotten their sins simply because it seems to those particular people that those sins were committed a long time ago that's not true you understand this don't you the time does not forget sins if you want forgiveness of sins time won't do it God must forgive your sins but people say well I've forgotten I don't remember other people have forgotten God has forgot God has not forgotten those sins now when we add this all together in this section verses 8 through 11 we can fairly say that this adds blasphemy against god to the wicked man's many sins against other people you can just imagine the psalmist's blood is boiling as he thinks about this smiling self-assured sinner and the pleasure that he takes in his sin by the way one more thing before we go on to verse 12 it's interesting how the wicked man boastfully proclaims God has forgotten and he finds a great comfort in that thought at least in the deceptive thought that God has forgotten no but for the believer for the believer it's a painful thought that God has forgotten I mean after all back in verse 1 why do you stand afar off Oh God why do you hide in times of trouble the idea that God has forgotten is painful to the believer but it is a false hope for the wicked person so now after this pouring out of the heart in the first eleven verses here now is the psalmist calling upon God for protection and vindication it's wonderful he says here in verse 12 arise O Lord O God lift up your hand do not forget the humble why do the wicked renounce God he has said in his heart you will not require an account the psalmist simply calls upon God to take action arise O Lord you see the wicked man finds comfort in the idea that God won't do anything against him but the psalmist prays no Lord arise against him lift up your hand against this wicked man now as I said before this is an untitled Psalm with no attribution of an author but as I said it's often assumed that David wrote this Psalm because it's arranged in the midst of several Psalms that are specifically attributed to David the seven or eight Psalms before this are attributed to David there's some 20 Psalms after this that are all attributed to David but this is kind of interesting he calls upon God to take action and if there's anything we know about this man David the son of Jesse both before he was a king and after he was a king this David the son of Jesse who later became the king of Israel he was a man of valiant and a man of a warrior spirit he wasn't the kind to stand passively back while the wicked murder and terrorized the weak and the helpless David was the kind of person to stand up and work on behalf of the weak in the helpless now the only exception to this would be was if the wicked man were in a place of God appointed authority such as Saul was in Israel perhaps and look I'm just throwing this out as a suggestion the text doesn't say this it's just an idea it's just a suggestion but perhaps this psalm was a cry of David for God to stop Saul because David knew that it was not his place to lift his hand against God's King anyway that's just an idea whether it was David or not we get the spirit of this do we not this complaint pours out again verse 13 why did the wicked renounce God you see he's going to answer that question in the next lines the wicked renounce God because they say in their heart here it's in verse 13 that God will not require an account you see the idea is that well God hasn't judged me yet he'll never judge me I'm doing okay now there must not be a God who will require an account of me a liquid George horn the old anglican bishop said of this he said the long-suffering of God instead of leading such a one to repentance only hardens him in his iniquity because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily he thinks it will not be executed at all and what an error of judgment that is now I want to understand that the observation that the psalmist makes here also has an inherent prayer within it the wicked man cries out and he says what does it say there in verse 13 you will not require an account you better believe that this is also a prayer Lord require an account from this wicked man who renounces you now the psalmist in verse 14 turns his attention to asking for God's help check this out verse 14 but you have seen for you observe trouble and grief to repay it by your hand the helpless commits himself to you you are the helper of the fatherless break the arm of the wicked and the evil man seek out his wickedness until you find none here in these two verses 14 and 15 the psalmist is very strongly and dramatically praying that God would take this case into his own hands he says after all Lord you have seen did you see that in verse 14 but you have seen for you observe trouble in grief you see as the psalmist reflected on it further he recognized that God had seen what the wicked man did and because God saw it and because God cares about the trouble and the grief of the poor and the helpless then it was appropriate to ask God to do something with it - as verse 14 says to repay it by your hand this was the confidence of the psalmist he had confidence in God's judgment that God would most certainly repay the wicked for their sins and God will answer the helpless and God will be the helper of the fatherless matter of fact verse 15 says that God will break the arm of the wicked and the evil man the psalm is called upon God to help the weak by shattering the wicked and evil man and to do it thoroughly to seek out wickedness until you find none wow a dramatic beautiful passage here let's conclude the psalm by taking a look at verses 16 17 and 18 here we read the Lord is king for ever and ever the nations have perished out of his land Lord you have heard the desire of the humble you will prepare their heart you will cause your ear to hear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may oppress no more don't you love that sort of beginning of the triumphant conclusion there in verse 16 where the psalmist just proclaims the Lord is king for ever and ever I mean after all the psalmist began almost in a state of despair because of the times of trouble but he ends the song with calm confidence in the reign of the Lord Yahweh the Covenant God of Israel as an eternal king reigning forever and ever you see God had long been declared to be the king of Israel you can find it way back in Exodus chapter 15 verse 18 and even when his people rejected his rule as we find in 1st Samuel chapter 8 verses 7 through 9 where the people of Israel rejected God Yahweh as their king and they wanted a human King um he is still the eternal king now again let me just make a speculation here and you don't have to accept this because I really am just thinking out loud I'm just speculating but if David wrote this Psalm especially if he wrote it during a time of persecution from King Saul then those words the Lord is king forever and ever would have very special meaning to David if he's the one who wrote this Psalm and if he wrote it in that particular season which are two things that we don't know for certain but it is always meaningful to recognize the reign of God even in troubled and dysfunctional times such as it was in Israel under the reign of Saul matter of fact he emphasizes the point here in verse 16 where he says the nations have perished out of his land that the psalmist here remembers the past victories of God against the cruel enemies of his people such as the Canaanites who occupied his land by the way don't you find it fascinating there how in here psalm a10 verse 16 it declares that the land of israel the land of canaan what we would say geographically today is zero it is his land it is Yahweh's land now we know that the entire world belongs to the Lord the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof yet we can say and we should say that there is a special way in which the land of Israel is his land and that's the context in which it's being spoken of here now remembering that God previously cast the Canaanites out of his land gave the psalmist even greater confidence regarding God's present help that's why he can say concluding so confidently in verse 17 you have heard the desire of the humble you will prepare their heart you will cause your ear to hear you see the psalmist here is continuing to express the calm confidence that he has in God God you will not abandon the poor and the needy but you will help them you will bless them now Charles Spurgeon made a very interesting observation on verse 17 where it says you have heard the desire of the humble Spurgeon noticed this that the psalmist does not say you have heard the prayer of the humble he means that but he also means a great deal more sometimes and I'm quoting Spurgeon here sometimes we have desires that we cannot express they are too big too deep we cannot clothe them in language at other times we have desires which we dare not express we feel to bow down we see too much of our own undeserving to be able to venture near the throne of God to utter our desires but the Lord hears the desire when we cannot or dare not turn it into the actual form of a prayer and that beautiful thought I love that in verse 17 Lord you have heard the desire of the humble which is an even greater thing of hearing their prayers and then it continues on in verse 17 to say you will prepare their heart that's another marvelous thing the psalmist reminds us that the spiritual preparation of the heart is a great gift it's an answer to prayer it's a mark of God's blessing again if I could quote Spurgeon he says surely none but the Lord can prepare a heart for prayer one old writer says it is far harder work to raise the big Bell into the steeple than to ring it afterwards this witness is true when the Bell is hung properly you can ring it readily enough but in that uplifting of the heart lies the work and the labor and just like you could raise a giant Bell into a tower God prepares our heart and then it can be wrung out in prayer afterwards you got to say you see a marvelous example of God's goodness and grace here Adam Clarke pointed this out and I'm just gonna sort of paraphrase his thought here in verse 17 you see that the Lord first of all prepares the heart to pray then he suggests the prayer you'll cause your ear to hear and then he answers isn't this a beautiful thing good God God prepares our heart to pray he moves us to pray he hears what is prayed and then he answers what we have prayed for this is a beautiful way that God works and it sort of reminds us of the verse from the New Testament in first John where it says that if we ask anything according to his will he will hear us it isn't that what we want we want to pray according to the will of God and so it is an entirely fair thing for you to claim God's promise here in psalm 10 verse 17 and say Lord would you please prepare my heart to pray would you help me to pray according to your will because let's remind ourselves the purpose of prayer is not to see my will done the purpose of prayer is to see God's will done and to the best of my imperfect ability I'm to try to discern what the will of God is and to pray that into action well the psalm concludes here with verse 18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may oppress no more you see the psalmist ends this beautiful Psalm 10 with the assurance of God's justice being applied to the wicked you see what began with a sense of despair in times of trouble has ended with calm confidence in God's justice and victory this is a wonderful thing to do throughout the Psalms compare the beginning of the psalm to the end of the psalm in the beginning of the psalm i'll read verse 1 to you again why do you stand afar off Oh Lord why do you hide in times of trouble listen that's difficulty isn't it but verse 18 you will do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may oppress no more beautiful contrast between the beginning and the end I like this from G Campbell Morgan regarding this he says this under the rule of God the day must come when the man who is of the earth may be terrible no more these were the concluding words of the song and they make a fitting answer to its opening question it is indeed a fitting answer to the question God isn't standing afar off God isn't hiding from his people he is active and he is at work we need to trust it even when we can't see it or even even when we don't sense it now before we leave this wonderful Psalm 10 it's fair again for us to just ask the question where do we see jesus in psalm 10 how does this Psalm point to Jesus I'm gonna suggest three ways maybe we could come up with more than that but here's three that Psalm ten points to Jesus first of all Jesus is the one who came to save the wicked ones described in this Psalm now I understand the spirit of the psalm and we share the spirit of the psalm don't we basically Lord here are the wicked here's how wicked they are go get them and that really is the spirit of the Sobhan listen sometimes that is the outpouring of our heart and there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself we hear of the boastful nature of the wicked here in verse three how we blesses the greedy we see the proud nature of the wicked there in verse four we see the disregard that the wicked has for God how he thinks that God has forgotten about Moloch and we could go on and on the wicked people described in the psalm are bad indeed so what I want you to consider Jesus came to save the sick not the healthy Jesus came to save the wicked not the self-righteous and so even someone who is as bad as this Psalm points out can be saved by the grace and the power and the forgiveness of Jesus now again we we link our hearts with the psalmist in seeing and decrying the wickedness in the earth but at the same time we say Jesus we know you came to save such ones please bring your salvation jesus is the one who came to save the wicked ones described in this song if they would only humble themselves and repent before Jesus okay that's the first one number two Jesus is the ultimate evidence that God has not forgotten and is not hiding his face I mean that's what the wicked claim did you see that in verse 11 let me remind you of verse 11 it says he has said in his heart and it's talking about the wicked person God has forgotten he hides his face he will never see that's what the wicked claim that God has forgotten and that he's hiding his face listen if you want the ultimate evidence that God is not for God is not hiding his face it is in the person and work of Jesus Christ matter of fact God came adding humanity to his deity and he walked upon us among us I should say not only as the Son of God but as God the Son so that humanity could literally see his face the face of God could be seen in Jesus Christ now it's a remarkable thing isn't it it is evidence to us God has not forgotten humanity he's not hiding his face he came and lived and walked among us no this this boastful claim this this foolish claim of the wicked and verse 11 Jesus himself is the contradiction of it the ultimate contradiction of it then finally Jesus is the one we come to for help in time of need I like that line in verse 14 did you catch that the helpless commits himself to you I've got good news for you in Jesus Christ no one is helpless I love what it says in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 that there is help for us at God's throne of grace we can go there and find help at God's throne of grace in Jesus Christ no one is helpless he is the one to whom we can always come to for a help in time of need I love the fulfillment of that well we see of course this psalm pointing to Jesus we see this Psalm exposing the wicked person and we see the psalm giving us confidence in God's ultimate victory if you are troubled by these same questions that troubled the psalmist why do you stand afar off O Lord why do you hide in times of trouble those were the agonized cries from verse 1 realize God has come close to you in Jesus Christ spend some time to quiet your heart to open your Bible read of the great person and work of Jesus Christ and say Jesus thank you for drawing near to me I'm gonna pray just to that effect right now father in heaven thank you thank you that this Psalm ten promises that you will help the helpless that that you are not hiding that you have not forgotten us despite what the wicked say lord thank you that you have sent us this help not in a committee not in a in a in an app not in something as Lord you have sent this help to us not in a technology you've sent it to us in the person and the work of Jesus Christ and so we put our faith in you Lord Jesus and say help the helpless restore and strengthen the poor those who are oppressed be their champion and Lord do your work in this world we pray it in Jesus name Amen [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

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Length: 34min 31sec (2071 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 13 2020