Learning to Pray
Pt.3 Psalms: A Prayer for Justice
Intro:
There are times in life where there are no words. Like a gift that is unexpected and just what you needed… When she said yes… When a child takes your hand and looks up at you and smiles… When you see the sun set over Lake Michigan on a warm summer evening…
There are also those times in life when there are no words for other reasons. Watching the towers fall on 9/11. Seeing the gaping hole that used to be a building in OKC. When you heard the number of young people killed at Columbine, V.T. and Sandy Hook Elementary. And now this past week we have Boston to which, we have no real words to express, no understanding, just violence and pain.
As a result of the bombings in Boston lives have been shattered, parents mourn, brothers and sisters are maimed, because of the violence of evil men. A seemingly normal day transformed into a day we will not soon forget- the scenes will be etched in our memory forever.
The question on everyone’s lips is the question we have asked over and over again when things like this happen: why? How is that evil is allowed to rip and tear at innocents, to run rampant, so we ask why, but what we really want to know is where is God? Where is God when things like this happen?
We can understand accidents, we can deal with disasters, even illness and disease… but when it comes to acts of violence, we want answers!
We have been talking about prayer for a couple of weeks now, specifically how to pray. When it comes to tragedy in life how do you go about praying about it? What do you say? How do you say it? If there is one thing I believe it is that we should be praying for those affected by the events of this past week, but I also believe that that we should be praying for how it affects us! Let me ask you, how do you feel when you see these kinds of events unfold on TV? Are you angry? Do you want justice? Does it make you scared? Or worried? What does it make you feel?
As I have been saying, God wants to hear from you, he wants you to connect with him. So how do we connect with God when we feel such anger? When we are scared? When all we want is justice? For that, I say turn to the Psalms. The Psalms is a book of prayers that has everything from super happy good time prayers to prayers of dashing our enemies children’s heads on the rocks! From times of blessing and peace, to anger and despair. Today, let’s look at Psalm 10.
1O LORD, why do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide when I am in trouble?
2The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor.
Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.
3For they brag about their evil desires;
they praise the greedy and curse the LORD.
4The wicked are too proud to seek God.
They seem to think that God is dead.
5Yet they succeed in everything they do.
They do not see your punishment awaiting them.
They sneer at all their enemies.
6They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us!
We will be free of trouble forever!”
7Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.
Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.
8They lurk in ambush in the villages,
waiting to murder innocent people.
They are always searching for helpless victims.
9Like lions crouched in hiding,
they wait to pounce on the helpless.
Like hunters they capture the helpless
and drag them away in nets.
10Their helpless victims are crushed;
they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.
11The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us!
He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”
The Psalmist asks the question, where are you God? Why do you stand so far away? Why are you hidden? Where are you? It is a question that says, we trusted you to take care of us, why do you allow bad things to happen… Have you ever felt like God abandoned you? As if he didn’t care?
When my kids were little and we had to take them to get their shots…
They look at you and say why? Why do you let them do this? Not because they hate you, but because they trusted you—they believed that you would look out for them… and no matter how you try to explain to them why they needed the shot, it doesn’t matter, because all they feel is the fear and the pain.
This is what the Psalmist is expressing. He doesn’t understand why these bad things have happened, and he just looks at God and asks why.
Rich Mullins wrote a Song entitled “Hard to Get” and in it he wrote
Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While You're up there just playing hard to get?
And I know you bore our sorrows
And I know you feel our pain
And I know it would not hurt any less
Even if it could be explained
And I know that I am only lashing out
At the One who loves me most
Sometimes we don’t know the answer, we don’t understand why the bad things happen, and even if it could be explained I really don’t think it would hurt any less. So when we pray, ask the question, ‘Where are you?’ ‘Where were you when this happened?’ Why do you stand so far away?’ We ask because we trust him. We ask because we believe him when he says he is a God of Justice. We ask him because he is a God of Love. And if we truly believe these things we will cry out where are you! We ask because we trust him to take care of us, because he is our father.
Look at vs. 12
12Arise, O LORD!
Punish the wicked, O God!
Do not ignore the helpless!
13Why do the wicked get away with despising God?
They think, “God will never call us to account.”
14But you see the trouble and grief they cause.
You take note of it and punish them.
The helpless put their trust in you.
You defend the orphans.
15Break the arms of these wicked, evil people!
Go after them until the last one is destroyed.
I don’t know about you, but when I hear of events like these I feel helpless. I see the loss, the hurt, and the fear and I don’t know what to do, it is so far away… I don’t know what to do to help.
The OKC bombing is very personal to me… yet when it happened I felt helpless…
As you read the words of the Psalmist, you can hear the cry for justice. He cries for punishment, for God to break the arm of the wicked… He wants justice!
We may not be able to go to Boston to help, but we can pray for justice. Pray for those who were victimized, pray for the families, and pray that God’s justice will prevail! That he will help the helpless, and that he will call into account those who did this evil thing.
When you pray remember that you are not helpless or weak, you have the strong arm of the Lord to call upon! So when you pray, pray for Justice!
Look at vs. 16
16The LORD is king forever and ever!
The godless nations will vanish from the land.
17LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless.
Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
18You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
so mere people can no longer terrify them.
I have talked about the OKC memorial before… there are three sites that kill me every time I see them…
One thing is for sure, in tragedy, hope can always be found.
I think that people are looking for hope. People are looking for some small shred of hope in this life to let them know that God hasn’t forgotten them… that he cares, and that he is not far away as we presume. And the Psalmist echoes that hope. He reminds us that God is the king forever, that he knows our troubles, our sorrows, our anger, our fear. he reminds us to cling to that hope, to continue to trust in God, and believe that one day all of this madness will come to an end, and justice will be served!
We just need to continue to trust him. Trust that he sees all that is happening, and trust that he will carry out justice and that he will defend the defenseless! When you pray, pray with this hope in mind!
I think we all know that these are perilous days, and our culture is set in its ways. I know it seems that God is far off, that he has forgotten us, however, don’t believe all that you see. He is ever present and near. He sees all and knows all, and one day he will make all things new! In the mean time, continue to trust God, he is the only one we can turn to in times of trouble. Pray. Pray the questions, cry for justice, and look for hope.
