A PRAYER FOR JUSTICE AGAINST THE WICKED
TEXT: Psalm 10:1-18
Psalms 10:1-18 KJV Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? [2] The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. [3] For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. [4] The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. [5] His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. [6] He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. [7] His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. [8] He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. [9] He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. [10] He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. [11] He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. [12] Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. [13] Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. [14] Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. [15] Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. [16] The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. [17] LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: [18] To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
I. INTRODUCTION—THE MATTER OF INJUSTICE
-When Paul made mention of something that we may have overlooked in our rapid, hurried, and sometimes desperate look at the Scriptures. But if Paul had the stature of one of the greatest saints and preachers who has ever lived, I think that what he may have spoken should warrant our attention.
Romans 8:22-23 KJV For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. [23] And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 KJV For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. [2] For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: [3] If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. [4] For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
-There are things that good saints of God come in contact with on this earth that creates a sense of groaning and the pressure that comes from life. Obviously there are some matters that are more difficult to bear than others but one of those matters we often groan about is that of justice.
-We desire justice, we seek justice, and we want justice, and I believe that this is one of the matters of the Christian life. Once we receive the Spirit, there is an innate sense of justice that comes to us. Because we are partakers of the divine nature (Heb. 3:1; 2 Peter 1:4) we gain a very small portion of the feeling that comes with one of God’s attributes.
-One of God’s attributes is justice. Therefore when we are Spirit-filled there are moments where we feel this sense of God’s presence about us that deals with God’s sense of justice. When we see it not being fulfilled there is a longing that prevails in the heart of a saint.
-To stir your heart toward justice, all that we have to do is simply to open our eyes to those around us:
• The man who is laid off with about two years left until retirement and now is left with nothing.
• The person who has to endure the criticism of those who don’t know all the details of the story.
• The young man or young woman who is dropped by someone they are dating because they refuse to understand a commitment to purity and godliness.
• The person who is committed to holiness and lives a life that exalts God but never seems to catch the breaks.
• The person who is divorced and it seems as if everything their ex touches turns into gold despite them knowing so much more about their character than anyone.
• The children who seem to be trapped in conditions of poverty with no way out and parents that neglect them because of sinful pursuits.
• Public humiliation and private pain of the righteous.
-All of us come into contact with that kind of activity and if you have a heart for God, it can cause you to have feelings in your heart that sometimes aren’t the most productive in the world.
-How do we react to that kind of thing? Here is another reason that I am profoundly grateful for the Word of the Lord because it moves us into a place of properly responding as we should.
II. PSALM 10—A PRAYER FOR JUSTICE AGAINST THE WICKED
-This psalm is closely connected to the previous one. In fact, the absence of a superscription before Psalm 10 leads many biblical scholars to think that there perhaps should not be a chapter break between the two.
-Psalm 9 is a psalm of praise and Psalm 10 is a psalm of prayer. If ever I needed to understand this in my walk with the Lord it is now. I cannot ever separate the two of them in my life. Praise is closely connected with my prayer and prayer is closely connected to my praise.
-We will further see that Psalm 9 deals with the enemy that is outside of Israel and Psalm 10 deals with the enemy that is inside of Israel.
-Psalm 10 is a lengthy lamentation that falls into the category of one of the lament psalms. Sometimes we have a tendency to feel guilty about the focus of our prayer on ourselves. Psalm 10 ought to be such an experience that removes the guilt that you may feel over praying for yourself. Obviously our prayer does not need to be always focused on us but there are many times that you should and must pray for yourself.
-Psalm 10 is about people who say they believe in God but do not live in a manner that would exalt God. It is a sense of practical atheism at work. In my own walk with the Lord, I do not want this to be one of my characteristics; to say I believe in God but do not live like I believe in God.
A. Psalm 10:1—An Alarming Question
Psalms 10:1 KJV Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
-This is an alarming question that David asks. He can see the injustice of the wicked triumphing (at least for now). The success of sin and the wicked brought discouragement to David.
-You cannot but help to have this ominous feeling about America even now as you see sin being exalted in every market square and public arena in America. Increasingly those who are righteous are finding more and more that they are out of step with the direction and tone of this climate in America.
-Even the most lukewarm and uncommitted church attenders are finding that they are being out-foxed by this momentum that is taking place. . . Why do You stand afar off, Lord? Why are You hiding Yourself in the times when we need You the most?
-That is the feeling that David is pouring out to God in his prayer. To make it even more challenging, it almost feels as if God is indifferent to all of it.
Charles Spurgeon—To the tearful eye of the sufferer the Lord seemed to stand still, as if he calmly looked on, and did not sympathize with his afflicted one. The Lord appeared to be afar off, no longer “a very present help in trouble,” but an inaccessible mountain, into which no man would be able to climb.
-It is not so much the trouble that seems to be the issue as it is the distance by which the Lord seems to be separated from the godly. Yet we all know that no matter what comes in our direction, the Lord is there!
B. Psalm 10:3-4, 11—The Action of the Wicked against God
Psalms 10:3-4 KJV For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. [4] The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
Psalms 10:11 KJV He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
-That alarming question that David raises now is followed by his description of the wicked actions against God. Look at how they are operating against God:
• He brags on his sin that was the desire of his heart.
• He exalts the man who gains money by dishonest means (“blesseth the covetous”).
• He refuses to seek God.
• He never even thinks of having God in his thoughts (Paul goes after this in Romans 1 and 3).
-What motivates all of this? The connection is actually in verse 2 where it addresses the matter of pride.
-All of that should motivate us as men and women in our service to the Lord to do everything we can to oppose pride and the treacherous place that it puts us into. Pride makes us silly boasters and braggarts. But it is especially contemptible when it comes to bragging sinners.
-It is part of the routine for sinners to glorify themselves. But what is even more alarming is how that those who practice sin on a regular basis have a wrong understanding of the deeds of other sinners and also of God.
-How does this work? It causes sinners to praise ruthless and greedy men and then he will curse God:
• God is blasphemed.
• God is not sought for.
• God is shut out of all of his thoughts.
• They suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18-21). (Key is v. 18, “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”)
-At the root of this is pride. . . It is ever so hard to get a proud man to bend his knee in a place of prayer. It is ever so hard for a proud man to have a broken and contrite spirit and yet these are two areas that moves us toward God. . . Prayer and brokenness. . .
Thomas Manton—Pride gave us the first merit of death, and envy the first instance of it; the one was the mother, the other the midwife of human ruin. Adam was a sinner, but Cain a murderer; there envy tasted blood, and ever since it is glutted with it.
• Pride withdraws our heart from God.
• Pride lifts our minds up against God and blinds it.
• Pride revolts against bearing crosses.
• Pride disdains the blessings of God in exchange for the promotions of man.
• Pride takes God to court and accuses Him.
• Pride puts judgment, discernment and discretion to sleep.
• Pride pushes us to pursue carnal achievements and possessions.
-Nebuchadnezzar lost his reason and turned into a beast when he became proud. The same thing is repeated on a daily basis in 2014.
-Then David describes how that the pride mixes with covetousness and causes him to gain money through dishonest means.
-When we skip down to verse 11 and look at the last way they move against God, we find another troubling thing. He thinks that God is blind or at best forgetful. If we are honest this can be a huge problem for a real saint of God because he may wonder where God is in all of this difficulty of life.
-They say, “God has forgotten!” Sin causes a wrong understanding of the deeds of other sinners and also of the ways of God. A sinner will praise ruthless and greedy men from one side of his mouth and curse God from the other side of it.
-The inner thoughts of the wicked one are exposed in this very instance in Scripture! What has taken place outwardly is just an expression of their inward sin and godlessness (Matt. 5:21-30; Mark 7:20-23).
-The lesson for the saint in this is that we must carefully cultivate our own soul in such a way that inward godliness directs the steps of the outward man.
C. Psalm 10:2, 5-10—The Action of the Wicked against Man
Psalms 10:2 KJV The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
Psalms 10:5-10 KJV His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. [6] He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. [7] His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. [8] He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. [9] He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. [10] He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
-The characteristics of the wicked are spelled out for us:
• Arrogance—vv. 2-4—A contempt for God and man.
• Prosperity—v. 5—Rich and have everything at their hand. They laugh at holiness, reverence, and spiritual things.
• Security—v. 6—Their prosperity seems to help them have a great sense of security.
• Vile Speech—v. 7—They have destructive words they use.
• Violence—v. 8-11—David uses incredibly descriptive language when he notes their ways of violence. They operate like assassins, like lions, and like skillful hunters.
-All of these matters that are taking place can be directly attached to the work of pride in the wicked. Their ways are grievous (KJV). . . Their ways prosper at all times (ESV). . . This leads to great boasting.
-I would think that you have picked up on this matter as we have walked through the first nine psalms but I would like to camp out on it a bit more. The use of the tongue is a great matter.
Psalms 10:7 KJV His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
Psalms 10:7 YLT Of oaths his mouth is full, And deceits, and fraud: Under his tongue is perverseness and iniquity,
-In this one single verse, we find three of the most destructive uses of the tongue:
• Cursing—Words that seek to bring down evil powers on people.
• Deceit—False testimony and slander.
• Fraud—The work of intimidation; the use of fraudulent words.
-Further it describes the outcome of these three uses of the tongue:
• Mischief (Perverseness from Young’s Literal Translation)
• Vanity (Iniquity from Young’s Literal Translation)
-C. S. Lewis wrote a commentary on some of the selected Psalms and he had this to say about the matter of the tongue:
I had half expected that in a simpler more violent age when more evil was done with the knife, the big stick and the firebrand, less would be done by talk. But in reality the psalmists mention hardly any kind of evil more often than this one, which the most civilized societies share. . . It is all over the Psalter. One almost hears the incessant whispering, tattling, lying scolding, flattery and circulation of rumors. No historical readjustment are here required, we are in the world we know.
-May the Lord sanctify our own tongues in such a way that we are not guilty of this kind of thing!
-In the very next verse, he links up those who use their tongue for a bad cause with murderers and assassins. He puts them in lurking places. . . secret places. . . Which is where they lie in wait for the next victim to be swept up in their mayhem.
-The picture that David paints of them being lions who are attacking the prey appears in other places in the Psalms:
Psalms 17:12 KJV Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psalms 37:32 KJV The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
Psalms 56:6 KJV They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
Psalms 59:3 KJV For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.
Psalms 64:4-5 KJV That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. [5] They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
-Snares are laid all about us. Charles Spurgeon in his great work on the Psalms, The Treasury of David, included these lines when he was commenting on verse 9:
The close pursuers’ busy hands do plant
Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy want;
Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace;
Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base;
Snares tuck thy bed; snares surround thy board;
Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attack thy word;
Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion;
Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion;
Snares lurk in thy resolves; snares in thy doubt;
Snares lie within thy heart, and snares without;
Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath;
Snares in thy sickness; snares are in thy death.
-May the Lord keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins!
-The way that the poor and the needy have force used against them troubles David. (Multiple references among the prophets about this very thing: Isaiah 1:15-17; 1:21-23; Jer. 7:9; Ezek. 22:2-5.)
-One of the greatest examples of where the wicked attacked the helpless was in 1 Kings 21 where Naboth lost his vineyard because of the attack of the evil Jezebel and Ahab. You cannot help but reading that and having an outright reaction to say that “this is not right!”
-All through the hallways of history this kind of activity has been going on and one day, God is going to set all of it right!
D. Psalm 10:1, 13—The Cry of Anguish from the Godly
Psalms 10:1 KJV Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
Psalms 10:13 KJV Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
-There is that great cry of anguish from the godly. We find that when we come to Scripture if we search out all of the implications that take place due to the anguish in men, it is one of the vehicles that God uses to work with men.
-David is concerned about this and makes the connection that when it seems as if the Lord is distant that wicked men seem to gloat.
-Churches go through seasons just as individual saints will go through seasons in their walk with the Lord. We should be extremely concerned if the Lord seems to be distant from our local church and from our individual life.
-Plead with the Lord in this matter when you feel a distance from Him.
-The word “contemn” in the KJV could also be understood as spurn, disrespect, renounce, provoke, scorn, blaspheme, or despised God in their heart.
-There can be a great spiritual weariness that settles in on believers and those of the redeemed church who can hear the thousands of voices that are crying out against the holiness and righteousness of God. David was at that exact place!
-The wicked were saying:
• There will be no judgment for us!
• There will be no hell for us!
• There will be no reckoning day for us!
• We celebrate our depravity!
• We curse that little church!
-However, you must have a clear understanding that this apostolic church is now 2000 years old. None of its detractors have managed to kill it yet. It has been through the fire, it has been through the flood. . . It’s the Church Triumphant!
E. Psalm 10:12, 15-18—The Prayer Request of the Righteous
Psalms 10:12 KJV Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
Psalms 10:15-18 KJV Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. [16] The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. [17] LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: [18] To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
-David has a response to all of this activity of these wicked men:
• v. 12—He asks God to act.
• v. 14—He reminds himself that God does see what is taking place.
• v. 16—He knows that there will be an eventual judgment.
-In David’s mind, he is thinking about the judgment that is coming in this life. As we have tracked through the previous psalms, that has been one of the concerns of David. He wants his enemies to get what is coming to them on this earth, in this life. He wants judgment to come here and never even considers the judgment that is coming.
-I need to remind you that the greatest judgment is not what may be meted out down here but after we die:
2 Peter 3:3-7 KJV Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, [4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. [5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: [6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: [7] But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:10 KJV But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
-Rest in this fact that just as certainly as our salvation rests in the work of the New Birth in us, there is also coming a day that justice and judgment will be imparted by God to take care of all of it.
III. CONCLUSION—A POWERFUL ILLUSTRATION OF GOD HAVING THE LAST SAY
-God will have the last say in all matters! No matter what end of the spectrum that men come from, they will ultimately answer to God.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century there emerged in Europe a man who tried his best to inflict as much damage on Christianity as he possibly could. His name was Friedrich Nietzsche. He was born in the home of a pastor of which his mother and father had come from a long line of ministers. His father died when he was a young man. When he was twelve he rejected the religious upbringing of his parents and blasphemously redefined God. This was the first step in a lifelong revolt against what his parents and the church had instilled in him.
His philosophies were radical, violent, and disastrous to himself and to society. He died a lunatic but his teachings lived beyond the grave and heavily influenced Adolf Hitler. The writings of Nietzsche led to the core beliefs of the Nazis and their construction of the concentration camps that killed millions of Jews. His book, The Will to Power, was at the core of Hitler’s beliefs and Hitler regularly preached what this book promoted. Nietzsche taught that Christianity was the “one great curse. . . the one immoral blemish of mankind.” He hammered away at the lie of lies: “God is dead! God is dead! God is dead!” He called for the removal of any moral restraints and called for the world to be ruled by the anti-Christ. God silently watched all of this man’s scorn and he judged him by having him locked up in a mental institution to spend the rest of his days in his mad rantings. (Adapted from John Phillips Exploring the Psalms, Volume 1, Psalm 1-88).
-Don’t let the question in Psalm 10:1 prevail in your mind:
Psalms 10:1 KJV Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
-Instead, you need to remember Psalm 10:16-18:
Psalms 10:16-18 KJV The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. [17] LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: [18] To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
Philip Harrelson
November 9, 2014
