Psalm 10:1-4 “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’" (NASB)
Sharon and I have taken on teaching the discipleship class for the Jr. High and High School age kids on Sunday morning. I’ve not taught from prepared curriculum before so I’m really just getting settled down into the routine of preparing for the lessons and ways of teaching the material as it has been prepared. I have to admit it is good material and having a logical flow of thought and much of the homework done for me makes my life easier. And I also get the benefit of insight of those who have done their homework in both preparing and then proofing the material.
So in preparing for tomorrow’s lesson and with thoughts of all the Facebook and news accounts of the Wall Street protests this one passage just shouted out to me. It is an indictment indeed but I’m not sure that it is vindication for anyone involved. Let’s take a look.
The writer opens with a question. “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?”. Clearly the circumstances of the day are apparent to the writer that God is absent from current affairs. A follow up question, “Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” So not only is God absent but the observation is that God is intentionally absent. He is allowing the circumstances that have come to be continue on for the moment without His intervention; He is “Hiding” Himself.
Now something about the circumstances, “In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted”. So, those who are already afflicted are being pursued by wicked men. Insult to injury might be another way to depict what these brutes are attempting to inflict on the downtrodden. Hmm! Then the psalmist prays an outcome on these wicked men, “Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.” Why? “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.” Now wait a minute. So these wicked men are all in it for themselves rather than the LORD? Yep, that sounds about right. Pad the executive's salary then when they get caught and get driven out give them a big severance package. Sad ... Let’s continue.
“The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’”. Now that is interesting. The wicked man in his high and mighty selfish pride has the attitude that he doesn’t need God. He “Does not seek Him”. In fact, “All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’”.
Now back up the truck! While you can certainly read much of this Psalm as a clear indictment of the money hungry industrial elite, the Wall Street crowd, if you will, who have demonstrated their blatant disregard for “The afflicted”, they are not alone in their guilt. While money and power have become their idol in many cases the buck (pardon the pun) does not stop with them.
While money and power stand as the idol of many of these wicked men who oppress the afflicted you have to take a hard look at the self-professed saviors of the afflicted. This bunch who says we’re the government and we’re here to help seeks to replace God with a grand social experiment all controlled by them. Ask them about their faith and you may get lip service but the proof is in the pudding. When they establish man’s laws in direct conflict to God’s laws the evidence is clear. “All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’”.
Then you have to ask about the motivation of this crowd that has gathered. Are they really the oppressed? Are they the afflicted? Are they the God fearing among us? I'm not seeing the evidence of that though I'm not about to cast judgement on the whole lot. What I will say is that so long as God is hiding, nothing will be solved by occupying anything. A friend posted a picture of Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers in the temple except the setting wasn't the temple. It was Wall Street. Well, Wall Street is not the temple of God but it may well be the temple of some.
Then you have to ask about the motivation of this crowd that has gathered. Are they really the oppressed? Are they the afflicted? Are they the God fearing among us? I'm not seeing the evidence of that though I'm not about to cast judgement on the whole lot. What I will say is that so long as God is hiding, nothing will be solved by occupying anything. A friend posted a picture of Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers in the temple except the setting wasn't the temple. It was Wall Street. Well, Wall Street is not the temple of God but it may well be the temple of some.
The God of the Bible is real and we as individuals and as a people had better get on our knees and confess that very truth. When we honor Him appropriately, the Lord will come from His hiding place and begin blessing us anew. AMEN!
