February 21, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in some selections from Psalm & Proverbs? Here’s today’s reading:
Psalms 10-11 (NIV)
1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
In chapter 10 he seems frustrated that evil people “get away with it” and that sometimes they seems unpunished by God. He also seems concerned that they can just disregard God and continue to live an evil life but by the end we are reminded the God does see all and His timing and judgement are perfect and not for us to question
Chapter 11 is such a beautiful picture of God’s mercy, grace, and righteousness
Psalms 10-11
The Lord is righteous!
Psalms 10
It often looks like the wicked are succeeding and are able to keep their deeds from consequence. Once again, David calls for the wicked to be caught in their own trap.
“The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.”
But God sees and will act.
“But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.”
“The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may oppress no more.”
And in Psalm 11:
The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
The Lord tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
Shall be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous,
He loves righteousness;
His countenance beholds the upright.
Sometimes it is hard to figure out what God is doing and it is tempting to think that somehow He has abandoned us. This happens most often when trouble comes our way and God doesn’t do what we expect Him to do. It is helpful to have Psalms like this in times like those to show that we are not alone in thinking that and to show that God is active even when He seems like He is not. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 is a great reminder that God is always acting within if He doesn’t seem to be doing things without. And God letting evil prosper is one of those situations that challenges our faith. And it is clear that God will not always protect us from evil but He is always available to the victims of evil to console and be present with them. He is their refuge and He is in His holy temple giving humanity access to Him. He also sees the evil and will address it in His time and in His way. No one gets away with anything in God’s economy and we are best to leave vengeance in His hands.
It is good to see in the Psalms that David usually ends with hope and faith. Even though trouble is around and mean people are doing their thing and are having some success, God sees, and He is active in the lives of believers and will eventually get around to dealing with circumstances and righting the wrongs that are done to us. Let’s just make sure we are not the ones inflicting the wrongs and cling to the faith that teaches us God is enough.
4The Lordis in his holy temple;
the Lordis on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
Psalms 10-11