Psalm 10, and I’ll read the entire psalm. And once again, may our hearts be open and ready to hear and listen to the holy word of God.

Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire. He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. His ways are always prospering. Your judgments are far above, out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved. I shall never be in adversity.

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages, in the secret places he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies and waits secretly as a lion in his den. He lies and waits to catch the poor. He catches the poor when he draws him into his net. So he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength.

He has said in his heart, God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see. Arise, O Lord. O God, lift up your hand. Do not forget the humble.

Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, you will not require an account, but you have seen. For you observe trouble and grief to repay it by your hand. The helpless commits himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man. Seek out his wickedness until you find none.

The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations have perished out of this 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.

Opening Prayer

Let’s seek the Lord’s blessing on this, His Word. O gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do once again rejoice and give thanks to the great privilege that we have to not only gather together here, to consider the truth of Your Word and to consider this particular psalm this evening.

And Father, we pray that Your Spirit would be active in our midst, working in each and every one of our hearts, opening our ears and our hearts and our minds to hear the truth of what You would declare to us to give us comfort and strength and to keep us from despair and discouragement, as we look to You and trust You.

And so we pray, Father, that You would be with us now, and that You would so richly and abundantly bless Your Word to us, all to the praise of Your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Introduction: Where Is God When Things Go Wrong?

Where is God when things go wrong? Where is God when tragedy strikes? Where is God in the midst of suffering?

These certainly are common questions that we often hear when something unforeseen and terrible occurs in our lives or in the lives of those around us.

And whether it’s a fatal accident, or maybe a natural disaster, or even some kind of physical or emotional trauma that we may experience, these questions are bound to come up.

But these events, they often hit and catch us by surprise, and though they may continue for a time and to continue to affect us for a long period of time, even years, it’s often that initial jolt than when we often question the most.

Where was God when all this happened? Why didn’t He stop this?

Friends, I want to tell you that we may never come up with an answer that will be satisfactory.

But I will say this, if you don’t seek the Lord and cling to the very promises that He has given in His Word, then these times will present to you a great temptation to fall into doubt and despair about whether or not God is really present with us and in the world.

And certainly this could be crushing spiritually and emotionally.

But such sudden tragedies aren’t the only times that these questions come up.

They also come up when it seems as though evil is running amok and all hell has broken loose.

Obviously, when we look around the world today and we see all that’s going on, we see the senseless violence and crime, we see wars and rumors of wars, just to name a few, we may hear these same questions.

Or if we look around at the moral decay of our culture and our society, we may certainly ask, where is God? Where is the righteous judge of all the earth to bring this evil to an end?

Well, David here in Psalm 10 is posing these very same questions.

And we don’t know the background or the context as to why David wrote this particular psalm, but we can gather from the psalm itself that David was struck by the rampant destruction of the wicked and their disregard of any fear of a holy and just God.

And he begins the psalm by asking this question, why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble?

God’s Apparent Distance

Now to David, and perhaps even to us at times, it can appear as though God is distant. That He’s maybe even hiding from us during times of trouble and affliction.

And now this certainly is true in a sense when we have unconfessed sin in our lives, because if God is most holy and pure, we know that He can’t stand the sight of sin. He can’t be near to it. And when he’s faced with sin, he must judge it and destroy it.

Adam and Eve experienced this in the garden. After they sinned, they sensed a distance from God, and it was evidenced by their hiding in great shame and fear from the presence of God.

David too experienced this separation from God because of his sin in his own life when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then also had her husband killed.

In Psalm 51, David says, Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

David was aware that he didn’t want the Spirit of God to be taken from him because of his sin.

And we know even our Lord Jesus experienced this sense of separation from God. But it wasn’t because of His own sin, but because of the sin that He took upon Himself. Even our sin.

As Jesus cried out from the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus experienced the separation from God because of our sin that He bore on the cross. And when God was confronted with that sin, He judged and punished it by pouring out His wrath and curse upon His own Son. The very judgment that we deserve, Christ endured in our place.

And so we see through all these examples, that in reality, God is still present. But it’s our own guilty conscience. And because of that guilty conscience, that we sense God’s displeasure with us because of the unconfessed sin that we’ve been harboring in our hearts.

And so it seems to us that God is distant from us, even though truly He is always there.

This sense of distance can certainly be a dark and lonely place.

But as David gives example here in Psalm 51, we can certainly be renewed by the Spirit’s presence when we humble ourselves before God, when we confess our sin, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so, yes, we can sense this distance from God because of our sin.

A Different Kind of Separation

But this type of sin-induced separation, though, It’s not the same separation that David is speaking of here in Psalm 10. No, this is different.

David considers the strength and the prosperity of the wicked, and he begins to wonder where God is.

Why doesn’t God come and judge those who oppress the poor.

Verse two, he says, the wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

And so David here is wondering, where is God’s just judgment and punishment upon sin and upon the wicked? Why doesn’t God step in and stop this evil? Why doesn’t he cause them to be caught in their own traps and snares that they set for the innocent, for the poor?

But we can hear these same questions reverberate throughout history.

Early Christians wondering, where was God in the midst of Nero’s persecution?

Or when Mohammedans in the 7th century swept over the land with their convert and die terror?

Or from the Reformation martyrs under the likes of Queen Mary and others?

Or even from faithful Christians today? who are severely persecuted because of their faith in Christ.

These cries and pleas still go up. When will God bring the ungodly to their knees in judgment? Why, oh God, do you stand afar off and hide yourself during times of trouble and affliction?

The Rage of the Ungodly

David is so shaken by the pride and the arrogance of the ungodly as they seek to destroy the afflicted and downtrodden.

And he now goes on and he describes really the rage of the ungodly that has been unleashed.

And he begins this by first emphasizing the wickedness that’s in their hearts. Again, knowing that it’s the heart out of the heart, which all evil flows.

Wickedness in the Heart

Verse three, for the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire. He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.

The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts.

His ways are always prospering. Your judgments are far above, out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.

He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved. I shall never be in adversity.

First we want to see, note here, the pride and the arrogance is indeed central to the rampage of the ungodly.

David uses several words to emphasize this. Pride in verse two, boast in verse three, and then in verse four he talks about the proud countenance.

The wicked are self-centered and self-serving. They puff themselves up before men and even before God.

And the boasting of their heart’s desire is essentially signifying that they’re driven by their lust. There’s no shame or remorse.

In fact, their key philosophy seems to be, if it feels good to me, then I’m going to do it regardless of the implications and effects it’s going to have on other people.

It’s a type of antinomianism or lawlessness. They have no regard for any legal authority, whether civil, moral, or ecclesiastical.

They’re bent on self-fulfillment. And when a person has such a bent, there’s never any true fulfillment. They’re never satisfied. Constantly desiring more and more. It’s like trying to fill a bottomless pit.

Well, not only does the pride of their hearts drive them to boast of their lust, but it also drives them to curse and spurn the Lord.

They’ve cast off any fear of God, for God is in none of his thoughts.

In other words, as some have termed, they’re practical atheists. That is, they live their lives with no acknowledgement or fear of God.

Even their very countenance or face gives evidence of the hardness of their hearts.

And truly these are those of whom Paul speaks in Romans 1, where he says, because all day they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

They have suppressed the true revelation of God so deeply that they gave no thought to Him.

They give no thought to His laws or to His people whom they persecute and oppress.

To them, if there is a God, His judgments are on high and out of sight. God has no involvement or interaction in the world.

And so if He is there, He just sits around aloof, unconcerned, and perhaps even incapable of intervening in any meaningful way.

They have within them no fear of the Lord or His righteous judgments.

And this haughtiness is reinforced by the fact that they prosper at all times and in all things.

If the wicked are prospering, well then why should they fear God and His judgments? They see no evidence of it in their lives.

They continue pursuing their lustful desires of their heart, and there’s no retribution, no punishment, no pain, and no loss for them. So why wouldn’t they continue?

With such experiential evidence, so-called, they begin to see themselves as invincible.

And we see this in verse six. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved. I shall never be in adversity.

Now if there was ever an arrogant and prideful claim, this is it.

They have exalted themselves above all others, even above the power and authority of God. They’re out of His reach. They’re untouchable. At least that’s what they think.

Wickedness in Speech

Well, the thoughts and desires of their hearts aren’t content to stay within their hearts.

And so not only do they think this way, but they also speak this way.

In verse seven, his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.

Again, we’ve seen this before in verse, end of verse three, where he blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.

So in all that the wicked say, they can’t be trusted nor believed, And yet it’s amazing how they still manage to deceive many, leading many into a deceitful plot of destruction.

Note the graphic description that David gives of their mouth. It’s full of curses, full of deceits and oppression, and trouble and iniquity are nestled beneath their tongues, meaning their true intent can’t always be clearly seen. but it doesn’t stop with their tongue.

The evil that’s in their hearts makes its way out, not only in words, but also in actions.

Wickedness in Actions

As we see, David describes very dramatically in verses eight through 11, and notice here the threefold imagery that he uses.

• First, there’s the highway robber, or we might think of a mugger. In verse eight, he sits in the lurking places of the villages. In the secret places, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. So we have this picture of him hiding in the dark, shadowy places, waiting for his victim to pass by. And then in the cover of darkness, he lurches out and overcomes his victim by taking his possessions and even taking his life. And David here mentions the eyes that focus or literally take aim on the passerby who will happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• And next, David uses the description of a ferocious lion in verse 9. He lies and waits secretly as a lion in his den. He lies and waits to catch the poor. He’s patiently waiting in order to pounce upon his victim.
• And thirdly, David describes the wicked oppressor as a hunter that set a snare to catch his unsuspecting prey. He catches the poor when he draws them into his net, captured in his net, from which there is no escape.

And then to increase the drama here, David adds in verse 10, so he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength.

David here is like a master artist who’s able to paint with words a picture that is so clear, so visible, and so real.

It seems that no one is able to escape the clutches and the devices of the ungodly.

But there’s something else here as well. Consider the descriptions of the victims. They’re innocent and helpless in verse 8 and 10. They’re poor twice in verse 9.

The ungodly oppressor is preying upon the poor, the weak, and the defenseless.

David will bring this out more clearly in verse 14 and 18 when he mentions the fatherless.

And so we see here that this ungodly oppressor is just a bully. He oppresses the helpless. And this, of course, makes his wickedness all the more heinous.

And so no wonder it’s easy for him to exalt himself and to puff himself with such arrogance that he would even say in verse 11, taunting, God has forgotten. He hides His face. He will never see.

Most mockingly, he taunts his victims, telling them, God has forgotten you. You have no protector. You have no rest. You have no refuge. This God you call upon has hidden himself. He’s never going to see your suffering and he’ll never see the torment that I’m going to bring upon you because there is no God.

So you can almost hear him laughing with an evil laughter. It sends chills down your spine.

The Dilemma: What If the Wicked Are Right?

Well, it’s at this point that we must pause for a moment because suddenly we’re faced with a dilemma.

What if the scoffing atheist and the evildoer, what if they’re right? What if there is no God?

Think about that for a moment. What if there’s no supreme judge of all the earth who will do right? What if there’s no absolute moral truth of right and wrong? What if we did just evolve from apes and lower life forms? Or if there is a God, what if He truly is distant and hidden from us? What if He cares not for the lowly and the oppressed?

Now certainly, as we look around at our society and our culture, We see that this is really the predominant view. There is no God. And if there is, He doesn’t concern Himself with us, and so we have nothing to fear.

We might as well eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die. That carpe diem. Seize the day for your own purpose, for you may never have another one. Live for today.

And so spews forth the moral relativism of our day. the self-centeredness of our generation, and the disregard and the abolishing of any sense of moral law in the world around us.

So what if they’re right?

Well, we can try to put a positive spin on it, as some sometimes do. And we might think and consider, well, have we really lost anything by seeking to live godly lives and seeking to do what we think is right and what we believe is right?

Surely we may be missing out on various self-indulgent pleasures, and by putting others’ interests and needs in front of our own, we’re probably missing out on advancing ourselves in the world and falling short of the fame, the riches, and the honor that the world pursues.

But on the other hand, we aren’t constantly endangering our lives. We certainly have saved ourselves a lot of pain and heartache. We aren’t getting various diseases that come with such lifestyles. And, you know, we get a certain enjoyment that comes from doing good to others. So that’s the positive spin. And again, it does have some good points.

But friends, the reality is, if the practical atheist or the ungodly is right, if there is no God, if there is no supreme moral law and no judgment, well then we’re just a bunch of chumps.

The Apostle Paul notes this regarding our belief in the resurrection, saying that if there is no resurrection of the dead, you know what? He says, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, meaning we have no hope for the future, we are of all men the most pitiable. We’re a sad and sorry lot. if there is no God.

And honestly, sometimes, again, when you look at all that’s going on in the world around us, all the abounding evil that seems to be spiraling more and more out of control, or even perhaps the chaos in your own lives, and the personal tragedies and afflictions and injustices that you have endured, Being honest about it, sometimes it does kind of make you wonder.

The Counter-Question: What If the Wicked Are Wrong?

But, there’s always a but.

But there’s another question that needs to be considered. A question for the ungodly and for the practical atheists.

What if you’re wrong? What if we’re right? What if the Bible is right? What if there is a God? What if He does concern Himself with the plight of humanity? What if He does bring justice and judgment both in this life as well as at the end of the age? What if He does keep an account of your sins? What if He does take note of those who curse and spurn Him? What if there is a holy and just God who because of His eternal righteousness can’t stand the sight of sin and evil and therefore He will punish it and destroy it and remove it from this earth? Then what?

What happens to your pride and your arrogance? What becomes of the relentless, unashamed seeking of your own lustful desires? What happens to your deceitful and wicked plans to oppress the poor or orphans? What happens to your bold claims and taunts?

No evil man, no ungodly person, no atheist, practical or otherwise, should take these questions lightly.

David’s Confidence and Hope

But here in this psalm, we see David really avoiding this whole dilemma, as he now resounds with confidence, extolling the great hope of the godly, having described the rampage of the wicked.

In verse 12, he says, Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand, and do not forget the humble.

David recognizes the Lord as his covenant God, and he calls him to action, arise, lift up your hand.

Against the belief of the wicked, David doesn’t doubt God’s existence. He knows that God is there. He’s experienced it in his own life, the presence of God.

He knows that God will rise up. He knows that God will raise his almighty hand and deliver the afflicted and the oppressed.

And David is confident that when God does rise up in His purpose and perfect timing, He will be relentless in His administration of justice.

Verse 15, break the arm of the wicked and the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

And here David is speaking metaphorically as the arm represents the power of the wicked. And David desires that their destructive power will be broken. And that God won’t rest until the wickedness and the evil is removed from the earth, both now and at the end of the age.

And David bases his confidence on covenant history. Again, he’s able to look back. He knows that the proud and haughty oppressors have, in the past, all been brought low by God.

Even those who are as in verse 13, who have spurned God and challenged Him, and to deceive themselves into thinking that God will not require justice.

Certainly in the history of Israel in the Old Testament, we have Pharaoh of Egypt standing out as a prime example, who oppressed the people of God, and then he continued to defy God and harden his heart, even in the midst of the great wonders and signs and miracles that the Lord performed through Moses.

And even in David’s own lifetime, he had the giant Goliath of the Philistines exalt himself above the living and true God of Israel. And he struck fear in the entire Israelite army. And yet it was this low and meek shepherd boy, with faith and trust in God, and the power of God to save and deliver, whom God used to bring down this ungodly giant.

And so David recounts in verse 14, But you have seen, for you observe trouble and grief, to repay it by your hand. The helpless commits himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless.

Friends, God sees. He does require an accounting. God does seek vengeance on behalf of His children. He has been, He is, and He always will be the helper of the fatherless and the oppressed.

The Lord Is King

And finally, David roots his confidence in the fact that the Lord is indeed King, in verse 16.

And there are several things to note here.

• First, because the Lord reigns forever and ever over all the earth, we can be assured that justice and judgment will indeed come. It was true for David’s oppressors. It was true during the time of the early church. It was true for the faithful martyrs of the Reformation. It’s even true today, the doers of evil, wickedness of the oppressive governments who persecute God’s people. And it’s true even of those practical atheists who reject God and who live as if there is no God. Justice will prevail and judgment will come. All the oppressive empires of the past have been brought down by the very hand of God. Why should we think that this will not continue?
• Secondly, verse 17, the Lord, you have, he says, Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their hearts. You will cause your ear to hear. Hear the godly are comforted and strengthened by the promise that God will hear our prayers. Again, if we humbly yet boldly approach him, he does incline his ear toward us. He listens for our cries for mercy. And then moved with compassion, He does respond, not bearing our misery any longer. And because we have the confidence that He hears our prayers, we, like David, can be strengthened in our hearts to cast aside all doubts or troublesome questions. Because we know that the Lord will surely come to our aid.
• As we see thirdly in verse 18, that vindication and justice will come for the fatherless and the oppressed. And surely the ungodly oppressor, the atheist, the man who is of the earth and dust will be no more and will no more bring fear and terror and destruction upon the earth.

Application and Encouragement

Beloved of God, what a great and blessed promises these are.

And as we’ve mentioned before, when we’re tested in our faith by the evil and the oppression that occurs all around us, when we may struggle with doubts or difficult questions because it seems as though God isn’t active or He’s somehow absent from our lives, because it seems as though evil and wickedness reign supreme in the world, it’s at these times that we must then cling to the promises of God’s Word.

It’s at these times that we must keep our eyes fixed on the author and finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who reigns over all things for the blessing and the benefit of His people, reigning even now as the judge of all the earth.

And each and every day, we know that Christ is subduing His enemies under His feet, not only of the wicked and ungodly oppressors, but also the spiritual enemies of Satan, sin, and even death itself.

For these enemies, Christ has conquered for us so that we might have this great hope of peace, security, and eternal life in Him to the glory and praise of God alone.

Closing Prayer

O gracious God and heavenly Father, we do praise you and thank you again for this word, this challenge. Because truly, if we would examine our own hearts and be honest with ourselves, there are times when we struggle with these kinds of doubts. When we see the wickedness and evil around us in the world, when we see injustice, when we perhaps ourselves have experienced a trauma and affliction and suffering unjustly, we wonder, God, where were you? Why didn’t you stop it? We may begin to doubt your presence and your love and your care and your compassion for us.

But at such times, Father, we pray that Your Spirit would truly be with us, that You would quicken within us that spirit of truth and righteousness, the sensing of Your presence with us. drawing us especially to your word, that we would look to your word, that we would read, study, meditate, pray upon your word. And we would see there the promises that you give, that you are with us, that you will never leave us nor forsake us, that you will judge the ungodly and the unrighteous, that you will vindicate the righteous and the oppressed.

And that even now, our savior, Jesus Christ, sits on his throne, reigning at your right hand. subduing his enemies, bringing them to justice in the world. And so we pray, Father, that you would remind us of these great truths, that we would cling to these promises of your word, and that we would keep our eyes always fixed on Christ our King and our Lord, who is the righteous judge of all the earth.

So we praise you and thank you, O God, for this truth that you reveal for our comfort and our strength in the midst of a dark and wicked world. And we continue to pray, oh Lord, for the advancement of the gospel. And we rejoice to give thanks for this gathering of young people this weekend. And we pray, Lord, that their hearts are true and sincere to serve you and to love you and to bring the gospel wherever you would lead them to go throughout this world. That they will truly be used by you as your instruments. to further your kingdom on this earth, all to the praise of your glorious name.

And so we pray, Father, that you would be with us, encouraging us in these ways, strengthening us, guiding us, especially even now as we conclude this Lord’s Day, as we begin to go back to the life of our usual activities this week, Whatever might come our way, may we remember what we’ve considered on this day, that we will be those faithful witnesses for your glory, to the praise of your holy name. We ask for your blessing upon us in these things. In the name of Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.