June 2 Sermon: From Questioning to Trusting

This week's message explores the profound themes of Psalm 10. Delve into the dissonance between intellectual acknowledgment and practical faith, the cry for divine justice, and the reassurance of God's sovereignty. Discover how to align belief with action, especially when confronted by visible evil and suffering. Join us to deepen your understanding of living a life of faith.

Consider these questions as you listen to this message on Psalm 10:

1. How can we identify areas in our lives where there is a gap between our professed beliefs and our daily actions?

2. What are some practical ways we can participate in God's justice, based on the teachings of Psalm 10?

3. How does understanding God's sovereignty over evil and suffering change the way we respond to challenges and injustices in our own lives?

Trancript:

A theme that regularly comes through in the Psalms is the idea that it's one thing to intellectually ascend to the idea of God, and it's an entirely different thing to live consistently with that idea. Now last year when we looked at several different Psalms during the summer months, we saw the statement, the fool has sin in his heart, there is no God. And we'll see that statement again this summer. But we saw when we looked at that, that the idea that came through as we worked through that statement, was that a denial of the existence of a deity was not really what David was talking about there. There weren't a bunch of materialistic atheists running around in David's time. People generally believed in a deity. Instead, what we saw David saying with that statement, the fool has sin in his heart, there is no God, is the idea that we functionally say there is no God when we act in rebellion against him. We basically say there is no God who will judge my evil, my wickedness. We are denying God's activity, and ultimately we're saying there is no God to judge me. The whole while we believe that there is a God who exists, a God who has created all things. But we do not live in such a way that it's clear that we believe that he will judge us for our sin. And you and I know that this isn't just an issue from Bible times. In fact, each and every one of us is guilty of believing in God in practice, but not necessarily having our life match up with that conviction that there is a God. And it is actually a gift from the Holy Spirit when we're convicted of this. When we realize that our lives aren't matching up with what we say we believe. And regardless of our own journey or our growth in these types of things, this is something that we see consistently not only in our lives, but we see this out and about in the world. In any time and in any age, there is going to be a blatant disregard for the judgment of God. And there's also something else that we see as we observe this in the world even though we see evil and we know that god judges it it seems like those who are doing this wickedness are getting away with it that there won't be a judgment that this disregard for god is no different than my regard for god in fact maybe i feel like i'm getting it worse they're being rewarded with the things of this world and by my obedience to god things aren't going so well for me and as we move from psalm 9 which we looked at last week to psalm 10 we're going to see that theme that idea today and we'll be digging into the prayers of the psalmist here as he prays to god asking him to act and not only judge the wicked but to care for those who are being afflicted by the wicked so let's line out our three points today and we'll consider this psalm that transcends time and cultures and see how we can apply it to our lives today so the first thing that we're going to observe in this psalm is the reality of evil and suffering in a fallen world we know the reality is is there is going to be injustice and there is going to be oppression secondly we're going to take a look at the psalmist call for divine justice and this is important for us to know because we often feel as though we are being hypocrites praying for justice to be served on the wicked because we know that we're sinners ourselves but it's important that we remember that a prayer for god's justice to be done is not the same thing as us wanting our will or our justice to be done that's an important thing that we have to remember third we will see that we have an assurance of god's care for his people and he is sovereign and so we can trust that the lord of heaven and earth is going to do what is right and what is good so as we come to psalm 10 this morning it's important that i point out for you that that psalm 9 and psalm 10 were at one point a single psalm together and for reasons we don't know they were split apart and we know that they are together because they follow a familiar pattern of hebrew poetry actually starts out with a hymn of praise followed by a plea for god to come to the rescue of his people and then there is a lament about the actions of the wicked and then there's another plea for god to act on behalf of his people and then we get another hymn of praise as it closes up psalm 9 and 10 together have these characteristics they're they're kind of telling one big story here for us and so as we land so as we land in a 23th century In verse 1 of chapter 10, we are at the second lament about the actions of the wicked. And really, you have to appreciate this question that's being asked by David here in the first verse of Psalm 10. Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? I'm guessing that all of us have had this very relatable feeling go through our minds, and we've felt this in our hearts at some point in our lives. Whether it's something that we are experiencing personally, or something that we see in the world at large, you've probably asked God, why are you standing so far away from this? Why are you hidden in the midst of this time of trouble? And I honestly think that this verse is particularly poignant in our time.

Because we can see... We what is going on all over the world. Now, David is lamenting oppression. He is lamenting injustice that he sees. And it is a great concern. But what does David really know about injustice and tyranny going on in other parts of the world in his time? I mean, how much could he know? Even if he did hear about something going on in another part of the world, and it becomes some knowledge. That he has then. It's still delayed by weeks, months, or maybe even years before he even hears about it. Now, in our time, it doesn't take much for us to be able to hear and receive messages about injustice. In fact, that's the kind of news that gets views. That is what gets clicks in our culture. And so it permeates so much of our modern existence. We always have bad news. Message of terrible things going on. In the world coming to us at all times. So this heartfelt question of the psalmist, I think it's something that we can deeply feel. And the statement that the psalmist makes in the next few verses are emotions that we feel as well. And these words here spell out the situation for us really well. Notice that the arrogance of the wicked is that they hotly pursue the poor. They are using their positions of, of power to go after those who are in need. Those who are most vulnerable. And that's the case in our world as well. It's the easiest, or it's easiest to take advantage of those who don't have much. Because they don't have the power to resist. The poor are ignored. They're quickly set aside. They're taken advantage of. This is true everywhere. But if you've ever traveled to a developing nation, you see the lack of awareness of what is going on for us. You know, we don't see it in front of us as much. But when you go to a developing nation, you see this right before your eyes. I haven't been to too many places in the world, but I've been to two areas that would be considered to be in the developing world. And I've noticed that even when things look decent on the main roads, as you get in behind the veneer, you see that things continue. They continue to get worse, and you see how the poor are taken advantage of. They are forgotten. They're easily discarded when they're inconvenient. When I was in Ethiopia this past January, the African Union was meeting in Addis Ababa. And they wanted to keep up appearances on how the city looked. And so they went around, and they rounded up the homeless men, and they threw them in prison. No trial. No due process. Not even a charge of any crime that they had committed. But they were thrown in some of the worst prisons in the world. They made the city look bad, I guess. So they were rounded up. Now look at verse 2 again. In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor. Does that not perfectly capture what I just told you about? This is the evil that we see in the world. And these are the things that upset us. And we can understand David's request here in this psalm, can't we? Let them be caught in the schemes they've devised. We want justice to be done. And we desire that they would experience the evil that they are enacting on others. But really, David doesn't dwell too long here on that hope. Instead, he gets to the big point of what he's saying here. The fact that their actions show that they deny God. Their evil actions show the true deep desires of their souls. It exposes their idolatry. And that with their actions, they renounce Yahweh. Their pride and their desires to satisfy themselves show what they're thinking.

There's no God. And again, the point isn't that they are philosophically coming to the decision that there's not a deity. That's not what this is saying. What David is telling us is that they believe that there is no greater judge who they will be held accountable to. When they pursue the poor, and they seek after gain, they are denying that they will ever be held accountable by God. And this is the main point and the big idea we're seeing here. But the psalmist continues the story. And it, once again, is something that we see in our world as well as we move on to verses 5 through 7. The wicked deny the judgment of God. And the way David states it here, you almost have to wonder, why shouldn't they deny the judgment of God? Why shouldn't they deny the judgment of God? They're not doing anything about it. God isn't doing anything. He isn't judging these people. They prosper in their wickedness. And we don't see the judgment of God against them. We know that God opposes them, but His judgment is out of the sight of the wicked. And it's out of our sight as well. In fact, we read that the wicked puff at their foes. That they're filled with confidence. And once again, why wouldn't they be? Why wouldn't they be? They've trampled down the poor. Their schemes have given them wealth, power, and influence. They don't feel as though they will ever be moved because they have everyone under their feet. And they don't only have them under their feet, they're stepping on their throats.

Why wouldn't they think they won't be judged? And the psalmist displays their arrogance by expressing this idea that their mouth is filled with cursing. It's filled with deceit. Their mouths are filled with oppression. Their schemes are not just something that's done in silence. It's not just done where it's hidden. By their speech, they are exposing who they are and what they are doing. They're not keeping it secret anymore. Their plans are spoken. It's out there in the open. Because they're telling, they're speaking of their oppression. Nothing is happening to them. They are getting by with it. Just fine. Just fine.

Be deceitful and a schemer.

It's another thing to talk about it, isn't it? It shows that you know that even if someone found out, there's nothing that they can do to stop you. And I would argue that this is one of the peak signs of wickedness. It says, I know I'm doing evil and there is nothing that you can do to stop me. So let me tell you about it. And once again, I think this is something that we have seen, that we have experienced, in our lives. We have known and seen situations such as this in personal situations. And we've seen them at the highest levels of power and influence in our world. You don't have to study history very long to know that this has been a repeating theme of the human story since the fall, right? Whether it's something we have seen in our life right now or somewhere in the world or even in history that calls up feelings similar to the feelings of our loved ones. That calls up feelings similar to the feelings of our loved ones. So the psalmist here, it's something that we've felt and it will be something that we feel again. And so we can understand David's words very well in verses 10 and 11. We don't just understand them. I think we feel them. The oppressed are overcome and it feels as though God has forgotten. Evil and suffering are a reality in the world, but the response that we should have is not one of hopelessness. God has not forgotten. He has not forgotten. He has not hidden his face from the evil in the world. He does in fact see it. And so as we see this, we move on to our second point as the psalm shifts to a passionate plea for divine justice by David. And these are powerful words here. Arise Yahweh, lift up your hand. David calls out to God to do something about the oppression that he is seeing in the world. And this is truly. The right place to go when we see wickedness in the world. Because you and I, we are not the ones who can bring about justice. Now this does not mean that we passively sit by and allow injustice and evil to happen. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is we don't sit in a position where we can righteously put down the oppression that we see around us. We have to trust that the righteous one will do good. And notice that David makes my point for me regarding the statement, there is no God here. And it's about not believing that God will judge. We see that here. There's an acknowledgement of God, but a denial that he is going to do anything. A denial that he is a righteous judge. And David's statement here should give the oppressors great reason to fear though. Because he says, God is not blind to the actions of the wickedness. He does see what they have done that he might take it into his hands. The poor and the weak have their hands in bondage by the oppressors. But God's hands, they are free to judge. When people are helpless, he is their helper. And we see a powerful statement in verse 15. David calls for the arm of the wicked to be broken. If you are like, you read that and you cringe a little bit because you imagine an arm being broken right in front of you. And I believe that's the feeling we're supposed to have. That's the imagery we're supposed to see and feel as we read this. But David isn't saying here that he wants their actual arms to be broken. That that should be the punishment for everybody who's an oppressor. That their arm would be broken. That's not what David is saying. It might be fitting that they experience physical pain. Don't get me wrong. But that's not the idea that David is talking about here. The idea is that they are stretching out their arm in wickedness and in oppression towards the weak. And God wants that arm of oppression to be broken. He wants it to stop. He wants God to come down on them and not only punish them for what they're doing, but also cause them to not be able to do that wickedness going forward. Remember, a broken arm in the ancient world would have been way worse than it is now. Because there were no x-rays to see how to properly set it. No surgery to put in pins to help it heal straight. A broken arm would be rendered weak and maybe even lame in their time. So it's not just the idea of the arm being broken here that we're meant to see. The idea is that God is also doing something going forward. About the strength that they had to oppress people. He is making it weak. David wants God to do what is right. He wants him to stop their wickedness. And he calls out asking that it would be done until there is no more wickedness to be found. And spending any time in the Psalms will cause you to come across these themes. They are a regular idea in the Psalms. And as I was reflecting, on these ideas over the course of the week, I was reminded of the need for divine justice. Humans can do their best to do what is right. But our institutions fail and our judgments are fallen. This prayer from David should be our prayer. Lift up your hand, O God. Arise and do what is right. Because the chances are I am going to get it wrong. Even when I try to do what, I am fallen and I am sinful. I am not going to do justice like God is. In fact, chances are that if I have the opportunity to judge, I am going to relish in it. I am going to relish in my role as judge way too much. As much as we hate oppression, when we evaluate our sinful hearts, we know that we can quickly become the oppressors ourselves. We need God to be the judge of the wicked. Because we would become the wicked if we were allowed to judge. And I want us to deeply consider as a point of application this idea of praying like David does in this psalm. Too often, we have an attitude of, oh well, what can I do when we look at the injustice in the world? Or we end up thinking, well, it doesn't affect me or my loved ones directly. And, the justice and righteousness of God being done for the oppressed, it ends up not necessarily being on our prayer list. Because we push it aside. We don't want to deal with it. And so it's something that's not in front of us a lot. And so we don't pray about this that often. But here in this psalm, we get a wonderful example of how we should pray when it feels as though the wickedness of the world seems to flourish. We acknowledge it. And then we pray, not for our idea of justice, justice to be done, but that God would do His perfect will in righteousness. And we do so in hopeful expectation that this is what He will do. Because it's who He is. And we see this as the psalm closes up and we move on to our third and final point that we have an assurance of God's righteous reign and sovereign care of His creation. Look at the movement in the words of David here in this psalm. You know, we start with the idea that God is standing far off. That He isn't doing anything about the evil in the world. But as it closes up, we get these beautiful statements about the nature of God and what He does for the afflicted. And I don't know about you, but there are days where I need that movement in how I feel about the world. Instead of dwelling on the evil I see, I need the reminder of the forever rule and reign of the Lord of heaven and earth. Notice how this closing of the psalm starts out. It declares who God is and that the nations perish from His land. You know, in our human minds, the greatest power is the rulers of the nations of the earth. But David reminds us that those earthly powers are but temporary. An oppressive king will pass and the earth will pass. They will experience the judgment of God. It is Yahweh who reigns over all things and He hears the desires of the afflicted. He strengthens their hearts. He inclines His ear to them. And what good news this is. You know how it feels when you feel as though the world is against you. Your entire countenance is down, but hoping in God can strengthen your heart. It feels as though no one hears, but God's ear is inclined, inclined to the voices that no one hears. We have the promise that He will do justice for the most vulnerable. And this should build up our hearts and our trust in God because it is His justice that is so much better than just improving the earthly standards of people who have a tough go of it in this life. He judges rightly and He will continually do so because He reigns. And human history is filled with those who have done what is wrong. But the Lord of heaven and earth, He will do right. Humanity has fallen in sin and it is corrupt, but the Word of God from Psalm 10 here tells us that those of earth will strike terror no more. While there will always be affliction and oppression before our eyes, we can pray this psalm in confidence knowing that the sovereign Lord of history is in control and He will judge and one day all things, we'll be set to right. And I want us to consider how important these few verses here are for us in our modern time. As I mentioned before, we know more about bad things happening in the world than any people in history. Less than 100 years ago, people were reliant upon newsreels to get images of what was going on in the world, right? Think about during World War II. People, to see those images, they had to go to a movie, and see a newsreel that was weeks upon weeks old. That's how it was just 100 years ago. A little bit different now, right? Now things happen and we are greeted with images from those who were there in that moment. When we hear about an injustice, we look at it and we might think, this is, I have seen so much of this lately, is anyone going to do anything about this? And we can obsess over this. We can obsess over these things. Pulling down on our phone browser, hoping that the news site will oppress it. Someone is stopping the terrible things we see in the world. Opening every social media app we can think of to see if anyone agrees that something should be done. We can obsess over this so easily. And again, I'm not saying that we shouldn't concern ourselves with truth and justice in our world. It's an important thing to consider. But we need to always, be driven to the truth of God's sovereignty and His good and perfect will. And when we need a jolt in our hope for God's justice, we can look to the Gospel. When we hear the story of the Lord of glory taking on our flesh and bearing the wrath of God for our sin, we are reminded that God does take sin and injustice seriously. God does not let sin go unpunished. Because in order to redeem a people for Himself, He didn't decide just to take it easy on us. Instead, He made sure that justice was done for our rebellion against Him. The punishment that was deserved for our sin was poured out on Christ. And so we know that God takes sin seriously. And this not only gives us hope and confidence that justice will be done, but it also gives us peace, when we feel the guilt of knowing that we have been the wicked. That we have been the oppressor. That we have hurt others ourselves. As we pray for justice to be done for the oppressed, we know that we have forgiveness for that sin ourselves. And we can praise God that He has forgiven us. So as we sojourn in God's world in the coming week, may our thoughts of this psalm drive us to our knees, praying for the forgiveness of our sins, praying that justice would be done for the oppressed in our world, and a praise to God, because He is sovereign, and He is in control, and He reigns as King forever and ever. The nations will perish, but the One who does justice for the fatherless and the oppressed guarantees that one day, the wicked will strike terror no more. Amen. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, we thank You for the gift of Your Word. There are so many times in our lives where we see injustice and oppression, and we wonder, will anything be done? But we know that You are the God who takes sin seriously, and that one day all things will be set to right. And so we hope in anticipation for that day, trusting that You will do what is right. And one day, human sin will strike terror no more. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.