Concerning the Ungodly
Psalm 10: 1-18
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
Spurgeon divides this cry of the oppressed into four parts. Verse one begins with an exclamation of surprise which sets forth the case of the psalmist being persecuted. Verses two through eleven describes in detail the nature of those who oppress. Verses twelve through fifteen petitions the activity of the Lord on behalf of the victims. Then our psalm closes with an affirmation that the afflicted are indeed heard. Martin Luther states that "there is not ... a Psalm which describes the mind, the manners, the works, the words, the feelings, and the fate of the ungodly with so much propriety, fullness, and light, as this Psalm." Augustine went so far as to understand this psalm as being in reference to the nature of the AntiChrist.
This psalm, which is traditionally paired with number nine, continues the theme began there on the fate of the ungodly. Certainly David spoke of the ungodly in nine converted and prayed for those who would eventually be converted. While it may be hoped that the ungodly will be called into the Kingdom, there is always the probability that the greviously ungodly will never be converted. An exception to the norm may be found in the life and career of the notorious womanizer and drinker of the Nineteenth Century Senator Henry Clay. Late in life, he was converted to Christ and came to a much better end than his public career might have earned him!
The particular malady of evil described in the context of this psalm is what is commonly called brigandage. The world was once full of organized gangs of rural thieves who preyed upon the weak and defenseless and than disappeared to their hide outs. Just about every country has its tales of such outlaws who terrorized the frontiers of civilization. Still today there are areas of the world where banditoes steal and kill and disappear back into the hills. In our time there has been a tendency for Central American banditoes to take on the title of Freedom Fighters. In that name and with outside aid, several of these groups have either taken control or created chaos in several of the Hispanic Republics in Central America.
Both in the jungles of Columbia and on the other side of the world, in the Burmese Golden Triangle, Drug Lords have achieved an ability to disrupt the entire civilized world. There is some good evidence that Lenin's gang of cuthroats in 1917 were not the communist idealists they claimed to be! As professional gangsters of the worst kind, they fell into a golden opportunity and took their advantage to history's dismay.
In our time we may unfortunately once again appreciate the destabilization of craven gangs so well understood by David the King of Israel in his day. Violent gangs from the major cities have rooted themselves in many smaller towns and rural areas. One in our area even specialized in the theft of lawn mowers for some months before moving on to another greener lawns. One of my friends once foiled a wandering gang of shoplifters by locking the doors after they walzed into his store. When they realized that the police were on the way and that they were locked in, they agreed to leave peacefully.
So we should know that David's problem in this psalm is a growing problem even in the urban areas of our own fair city. Well may the poor and downtrodden in our time make the plea for justice that our psalmist makes in verse one. "Why, O Lord do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?'" Well should the psalmist be concerned, the way of the wicked changes not from age to age. The weak are always the natural prey. We have only to watch little children at play to see how the natural the inclination is to pick on one another.
Yet, here it is desperate adults with a life of crime behind them that are being described. These desperados brag about their crimes, even as the world counts their victims. Serial killers strive to set new records as the media outdo themselves to bid for their stories to entertain the public. The notorious are becoming cult heroes even as the cold blooded killers Bonnie & Clyde were in the thirties. There is money in crime, much money and perhaps the tragedy of it is that violence is celebrated and the young are encouraged to imitate the art of the small and large screens. Godless people glory in the violence which makes them rich just as we see reported in these verses before us. More and more the plight of the innocent are ignored.
Film critics the late Gene Siskel & Roger Egbert reported several years ago that crowds in cut and slasher movies were cheering on the killer with not an ounce of compassion of the victim. Well may we hold up our hands and petition the Lord to arise. Even as the wicked begin to openly revile the Lord, we may hope for God's more certain judgment. Thy young gangsters know exactly what they can get away with. We had a professional criminal in our classes for a while who would rob homes at least one day a week. Since he was under eighteen, he figured he could steal a fortune before he had to worry about being held accountable as an adult.
At least once in the history of our Republic the son of a rum running gang leader was able to buy his way into the White House. His sudden death in 1963 may have been the result of competing gangsters.
While many of us believe that punishment should begin a little earlier in the process, there is a lesson that we may learn here about the certain justice of our Father in heaven. God is certainly patient, waiting and wanting the wicked to repent and live. A certain Scots brigand, one Rob Roy by name lived a life of crime. In his later years, he began to repent and before he died he told his thieving relatives to leave him alone and to quit tormenting him for his bare grasp on salvation. He intended to leave the old life behind for the Kingdom of Heaven. The fear of God proved greater than the fear and love of man.
There are many ways to break a thief and a brigand, we may hope for their souls, but we may also hope for justice as the Lord Almighty loses his patience. We have seen what happened to the sons and daughters of Lenin and his gang of cuthroats. Their strangle hold on Eastern Europe was loosened and destroyed. The worst of the lot in Rumania were even strung up by their heels by their victims. We may well hope that the Lord will do what we are unable to do, bring justice and righteousness to the poor and the oppressed.
As we wait for His certain action, we may like the psalmist in verse sixteen affirm what the wicked do not know: "The Lord is King for ever and ever." It is not as a popular song of the sixties went: "This land is your land, this land is my land". No, the psalmist has it right, the land and even the cattle of a thousand hills are His alone! God will hear and grant the desire of the afflicted, they will be encouraged and He will listen to our cry. At His final coming we may finally know that "man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more." Even as we hope for God's direct action in our present time, may we be encouraged in knowing that our King will certainly come and settle once and for all the threats of the brigands amongst us, even as David and all good King eventually dealt with those who would terrorize God's world. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Kidner, Derek. |
Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms. | |
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Lewis, C.S. |
Reflections On The Psalms. | |
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MacLaren, Alexander. |
The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms. | |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
The Treasury of David. | |
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Inc. (1979, 1980, 1982) | ||
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Psm 010a |
05 April 92 & 14 February 99 | |