Psalm 10
The God Who Hides
Sometimes it's really, really hard to find God. The world is full of hardship, heartbreak, and heresy. We sin and are sinned against. We are broken, and so is everything else. Where is God?
The Wicked Who Scoff
In the absence of God's intervening presence, evildoers keep doing evil. AND THEY PROSPER FOR IT. They use and abuse without regret. They get away with anything and everything, and laugh. The wicked say to themselves, "I'll never get caught. I'll never be held to account. There's no one to hold me to account."
The Listener Who Chooses
When God is hard to find, all we hear are the scoffers. Over time, we may start to agree. Maybe God doesn't exist, or he does and doesn't care, or he cares and cannot act. But remember Psalm 1? Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. The listener has to make a choice. Will you listen to the scoffers, or will you listen to what the Bible says about God?
Invocare
"Invocare" comes form Latin and means "to invoke." (Didn't see that coming, huh?) This was a common writing device in epic Greco-Roman poetry where the author invokes a Deity to aid with his writing. John Milton also used a series of invocations when writing Paradise Lost. Obviously, I'm using the term achronistically, but that is what David is doing here as well. He invokes God.
David does five things in this passage:
Sometimes it's really, really hard to find God. The world is full of hardship, heartbreak, and heresy. We sin and are sinned against. We are broken, and so is everything else. Where is God?
The Wicked Who Scoff
In the absence of God's intervening presence, evildoers keep doing evil. AND THEY PROSPER FOR IT. They use and abuse without regret. They get away with anything and everything, and laugh. The wicked say to themselves, "I'll never get caught. I'll never be held to account. There's no one to hold me to account."
The Listener Who Chooses
When God is hard to find, all we hear are the scoffers. Over time, we may start to agree. Maybe God doesn't exist, or he does and doesn't care, or he cares and cannot act. But remember Psalm 1? Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. The listener has to make a choice. Will you listen to the scoffers, or will you listen to what the Bible says about God?
Invocare
"Invocare" comes form Latin and means "to invoke." (Didn't see that coming, huh?) This was a common writing device in epic Greco-Roman poetry where the author invokes a Deity to aid with his writing. John Milton also used a series of invocations when writing Paradise Lost. Obviously, I'm using the term achronistically, but that is what David is doing here as well. He invokes God.
David does five things in this passage:
- he calls out in faith: "Lift up your hand" (12) "But you do see" (14)
- he remembers God's past work: "You have been the helper of the fatherless" (14)
- he petitions: "Break the arm...call into account" (15)
- he has faith that God will follow through: "you will strengthen...you will incline your ear to do justice" (17, 18)
- he responds in praise: "the Lord is King forever and ever" (16)
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