One of the comforting things about the Scripture is just how realistic it is about the world. The Bible simply doesn’t ignore the struggles and difficult realities of life. Ecclesiastes comes right out and says that when we die we will soon be forgotten. Paul’s letters constantly speak of the difficulty of the Christian life, using metaphors such as boxing or running a long race to show what it is like. But maybe more than any other book of the Bible it is the Psalms which convey our emotional struggles in life. The Psalms express frustration, fear, hurt, confusion, anxiety, delight, and almost every other emotion that we feel. The Psalms express life as we live it. They asks the questions we ask and seem to scream out frustration and confusion in the same areas we do as well.

Psalm 10 is no exception to this. This psalm, which we will study this morning, is a real and honest confession from the psalmist that he is confused, that he doesn’t understand God’s ways, and that he doesn’t get how his surroundings fit into God’s plan. It is his earnest cry for God to act in the here and now. It is a psalm which expresses much of what we have felt and thought, no doubt, and maybe what we’re even feeling and thinking this morning. So, how does Psalm 10 help us in dealing with times when we simply don’t understand why things are happening as they are? Well, it helps us in that it reminds us of God’s ways and our ability to approach him in prayer. Therefore, let’s turn and see what this psalm specifically teaches us about these things.

God can sometimes seem hidden in the face of great wickedness (1-11)

This is the beginning point of the psalm. The psalmist begins with a question addressed to God, saying, “Why, O LORD, do you stand afar off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (v. 1). The psalmist looks around at his surroundings, what’s going on around him, and it seems as if God is absent, distancing himself, and hiding when there is a time of trouble.

We love to tell repeat the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. They are not worshiping the true God, and so Elijah challenges them to a contest to see whose God can bring fire from heaven. As they pray in vain, Elijah mocks them, asking them if perhaps their God has gone to sleep or is using the restroom. Then Elijah prays, only after drenching the sacrifice in water, and God consumes the entire altar. We love stories like that. We say, rightly, “That’s our God.”

Could you imagine the scene if those worshiping Baal were the ones mocking and continuing to flaunt their wickedness before God and yet God remained silent? Could you imagine the story then? It would strike us as tragic and confusing. For our God is able to do anything he wants, so why would he remain silent, distant, and hidden on that kind of stage?

Well, that situation is much like the situation in Psalm 10. The psalmist asks God why he’s standing far off and hiding himself not because he’s simply having one of those days when he doesn’t feel particularly close to God. No, it’s because wickedness is running wild in the streets, men are mocking God, and God’s apparent lack of care causes them simply to sin more boldly.

Verses 2-11 describe the scene, the troubles, which cause the psalmist to question God. He writes, “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.\"

The wicked men are arrogantly pursuing those who are easy to prey on as they pursue the poor. He is sinful and boastful about it. He renounces God, saying, “There is no God,” for God appears to be doing nothing about it. And, again, the more he’s convinced that God doesn’t care the more boastful he becomes about his wickedness. He prospers in his wickedness, dismissing any thought that God judges. He declares that he shall not meet adversity but shall be as stable as the righteous. He curses and utters sin and mischief, no doubt, spreading slander and untruth. He sits in ambush so that he can pounce on those who are innocent and helpless and murders them. He seizes the poor, drawing them in like a lion gets his prey. They cannot stand up to him and he crushes them. He is a ruthless man, spreading his wickedness everywhere. It is a horrible scene, one that might not affect us much as we read it but would put images in our minds we wish we could remove if we were to see it. And the worst part of it is that he mocks God in the midst of this evil declaring, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

This scene is like that scene on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal – only reversed. God is the one being mocked. God’s people are those being humiliated and wondering why God is not answering them. God’s people are those whose lives are being taken while their God does nothing to stop it.

Can events like this really happen in our world? Yes. They can and they do. And there are times when God does not bring swift judgment and appears to hide himself and remain distant from the situation. Sometimes God chooses to act in such a way to allow wickedness and even mocking of his own name run rampant without bringing immediate judgment. In fact, he does it every day.

Every day wickedness happens in this world and men escape judgment. They continue to live, often avoiding punishment from our government, and seem to prosper in this world created and governed by God. And in this psalm this first question is never answered. Psalm 10 never reveals to us why God chooses to allow his name to be mocked and his people abused without bringing immediate judgment. Other parts of Scripture do give us some answers. In 2 Peter 3, Peter declares that in the last days men will pursue their evil desires and scoff, saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). And Peter’s answer is that you don’t need to forget about the flood, which was just a shadow of the judgment to come. Then he also adds that though God might appear slow in acting, he delays because he is patient, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance.

We know that’s true. And aren’t we thankful that God is patient with us, for if he were not, none of us would have lived long enough to come to faith. None of us should have lived past the instant we first displayed our rebellion against God, which we display from throughout our lives. There is not an answer, however, given in Psalm 10. The question is simply asked, and so let it simply be a reminder to us that there are times when God will seem silent, far off, and hidden in the midst of great wickedness. It does not mean he has removed his love from you or is punishing you for something; his thoughts and ways are simply beyond ours.

But the psalmist does give us some words of comfort. We are reminded in this psalm as well that even in those times when God seems hidden and wickedness is running rampant, God is still the righteous judge of the universe, carrying out his redemptive plan.

God is still judge in those times, carrying out his sovereign plan (16)

Moving down a bit in the psalm before we come back to the psalmist’s petition to God in verses 12-15, we see that he declares in verse 16, “The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.” Though the Bible declares that God’s ways at times are that he mysteriously seems silent and distant, we are not to take that to mean that he is no longer reigning. Rather, he is king forever and ever.

In fact, the reason the psalmist begins with the question as to why God is hidden is because he knows that God is reigning and all-powerful. If I were in an arm-wrestling match with Arnold Schwarzenegger and lost, I wouldn’t expect anyone to be asking me why I lost. If someone who is 6’4” and weighs 155 pounds loses to a professional bodybuilder, you don’t ask him why. It’s obvious why. He simply could not do otherwise.

But that is not the case with God. He is not limited because he is weak. He is not limited because he is blind or unaware. He is not limited because he is busy and has other things on his mind. No. If God does not act in the way we think he should act it is not because he is no longer reigning but because, as the king who reigns forever, his plans are beyond our comprehension.

In fact, this is why it is so difficult for the earlier followers of Christ to understand that he was the king of God’s kingdom, that God’s kingdom had come. They expected that once God’s king set foot on the earth the wicked were going to be immediately judged. That’s why Jesus has to tell them that the mystery of the kingdom is that the tares will not be removed from alongside the wheat until that final day. It doesn’t mean he is less than king; it simply means that he is allowing the tares to remain. It’s why John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he really is the promised one because John was in prison and about to die, and Jesus ended up not stopping it. Was it because he couldn’t stop it? Of course he could have. Was it because he wasn’t king? Of course he was and is king. It was simply because his ways appear quite mysterious to God, even as William Cowper wrote, “God moves in a mysterious way.”

There will be times when God seems silent, distant, and hidden when wickedness is running amuck, but we do not have to doubt that he is the king and reigning. We simply can know that what appears as the foolishness of God is wiser than our wisdom.

But we can also know something more. We also can comfort ourselves by reminding ourselves in these times that God sees everything and is taking everything into account for the coming judgment.

God constantly sees and is taking everything into account for coming judgment (13-14)

In verses 12-15 the psalmist lifts up his prayer to God. He makes requests of God in verses 12 and 15, but right in the middle of these requests he asks questions, saying, “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” (vv. 13-14).

The psalmist asks why the wicked man declares that God will not call him to account because the psalmist knows better. He wonders why God allows the wicked man to say things that are untrue, which leads us to see from these verses that God does see, he does note, he will take things into his hands, and is a refuge for the helpless and fatherless.

God was seeing all of these things. In his mysterious way he may appear to be distant and hidden, but he is not. He may choose not to show his mighty hand in crushing his enemies and keeping his people from hurt, but is close to them, watching, and taking note of what’s going on. This psalm confirms that God may appear distant and hidden but it also reminds us that he never is. When we perceive his inactivity in a matter we can still remember that he is looking and taking note of what’s going on, that the righteous should continue to seek their refuge in him.

And so for us it means that we need to continue in righteousness, when it appears that God doesn’t care because the wicked are prospering and we’re suffering. We simply need to trust him and believe what we can’t see with our own eyes. When we do the catechism questions with Michael, one question we ask him is, “Can we see God?” He answers, “No, we can’t see God. But God sees Daddy, and Momma, and Michael, and Marie.” That wasn’t the textbook answer, but it gets the gist. We can’t see him, and sometimes we can’t even see the work of his hand, but we can know that he sees us and is taking note of what’s going on for that coming day of judgment. And we can know in the meantime that we need to trust and hope in him as our helper.

This psalm also reminds us, however, that we do not simply have to be passive in such struggles though but that God has given us the privilege to pray for justice.

God has given us the privilege to pray for justice (12, 15)

The psalmist doesn’t say, “God I don’t understand what’s going on, so I guess I’ll just sit here and watch what’s going on around me.” No, rather he prays in verses 12 and 15, “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. … Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.” He boldly requests of God to act and show his power in breaking the power of the wicked. To break his arm is a metaphor for breaking his power. The psalmist boldly asks God to bring justice to the situation.

And so it is our privilege to do the same. For example, in the fight against abortion, we can counsel and give money to things like Birthchoice. We can spread news that abortion is the murder of an innocent life. Yet we may still see this killing of innocent children running rampant in our world. So should we then just stop and say it is hopeless? No. We should approach God and pray for justice. We can pray as our Lord commanded us, “God, let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” You and I can pray and know that the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. We trust God when we don’t understand, but we also cry out for God to act.

Then the psalmist gives us one more detail of comfort. We can know that though God might seem hidden, there is a sure and certain judgment coming on that last day.

We can know that God’s coming judgment is sure (17-18)

The Psalmist ends declaring that God will act. He writes in verses 17-18, “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.”

There is coming a day when God will show that he has heard the afflicted, that he has brought them through, that they were right in seeking him as their refuge, and that the wicked will be held to account. It is sure because God is king and judge. It may seem like God has waited a long time, but on that day we will know his judgment is perfect.

So what then should we do?

First, we need to trust God when we don’t understand why he seems silent in the midst of our struggles. We need to trust that his ways are best. We need to trust that as the reigning King his plans are infinitely more perfect than ours. We need to trust that he sees us, is taking note of what’s going on, and cares for us. Trust him in all these things today.

Second, pray. Pray for God to act. Pray for justice. He has given us that privilege. God does not respond to our prayers by saying, “What are you thinking to ask me to act?” No, he’s the one who told us to pray and told us that our prayers are effective. He has given us examples of prayer for justice throughout the psalms, including Psalm 10. He is the one who told us to cast our cares upon him. He is the one who has told us to entrust vengeance to him. He is the one who has told us to let our requests be made known to him. So pray, and ask God to move and bring justice.

Finally, we should pity the wicked, seeking to make them disciples of Christ. What makes us different from the wicked is simply what we have received from God. Therefore, pray for those who persecute you. Share with them the gospel. Seek to make them disciples of Jesus Christ.

Yes, there are times when God will seem hidden and distant, but we can trust that he is still reigning, carrying out his plan and that he sees us and hears us and is taking note of all that is going on. We can pray to him, sharing with him our requests and desires, knowing that our prayers are effective. And, knowing there is a terrible judgment to come, we can seek out the wicked that they might hear the gospel and believe. Aren’t we glad that Christ sought us out when we were his enemies? Indeed, so let’s declare our hope in him and trust in him even as we come to the table. Amen.

WICKEDNESS AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD