Psalm 10

¹Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
² The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

³ For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
⁴ The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
God is in none of his thoughts.

⁵ His ways are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
⁶ He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
I shall never be in adversity.”
⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.

⁸ He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
⁹ He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰ So he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his strength.
¹¹ He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”

¹² Arise, O Lord!
O God, lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the humble.
¹³ Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”

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.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
¹⁷ Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
¹⁸ To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

This psalm begins by asking God where He is. I know we think this all the time when we see injustice. “God, why aren’t you doing something about this? How can you let this happen?” It’s a tough question for us. Haven’t we all heard people asking, “How can a loving God let x happen?” And how do we answer it? I don’t know. Sometimes I’m asking the question myself. The psalmist then further defines the situation from which God is missing.

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; he blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord

These people only care about their own gain, and they support others like them. Later, the author writes that the wicked man hates the poor and helpless. Worst of all, he not only does not trust in God, he renounces Him. Then, we get back to the biggest problem…

His ways are always prospering

This is the point when we all ask, “How can God let this happen?” The wicked man does wicked things and doesn’t follow God.

God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see

The wicked man knows he is wicked. He thinks, “If I am getting away with this, God must not care. He’s not watching me.” And so, he goes around doing whatever he wants.

But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, to repay it by Your hand

But God does see. There is an important lesson here. God isn’t just all about sunshine and lollipops. Bad things happen. Even to good people, and innocent people, and helpless people. That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care or that He isn’t watching or even that He won’t help any individual who asks. We need to wait on God’s timing. Sometimes going through bad times makes us stronger. Sometimes it makes us into a different person. Sometimes it improves our testimony. Who knows what God’s plans are? We need to stop thinking that we know what God’s plans are for the universe and have faith that He will take care of things in His own time.

The psalm then ends praising God for His justice, saying that He does help the helpless and brings down the wicked. We need to ask God for that, though, and not just expect it. Call to Him; then, wait for Him to work in His own time.