Arise Lord, Help, or Else! In his classic commentary on Psalms, Charles Spurgeon calls this Psalm, “The Cry of the Oppressed.” This is a very appropriate theme for this Psalm 10. I see the phrase in verse 12 as the heart of the Psalmists’ cry: “Arise, O Lord, Help, or Else! Why does God often seem afar off? Is God afar off or is He a very present help in trouble? Which one? Now I have an interesting question for you. God is omnipresent, but there is a place where God is not. Do you know where God “is not.” And here is another question: what are the evidences of a proud heart? This Psalm takes the mask off pride. Pride is described in a full way. Martin Luther wrote that this Psalm describes the mind, the matter, the word, the works and the fate of the ungodly more fully than any other Psalm.
David wonders, “Where are you God when I need you?” The trouble is not my biggest trouble! It is that God appears afar off even in a time of trouble! Why does it seem you are so far away, so distant from me! I am in trouble and it seems that you are hiding from me! Help me, God, or I will give up. Please don’t forget me! I am about to die! This is an age old problem, and the Scripture is full of places where the believer does not feel God is anywhere near to be his help. We have all felt this. God seems silent and far away. We wonder if He is angry at us for our sins (Psalm 74:1). We want to hear a clear and personal word from him, but we hear silence (Psalm 35:22). We feel God has forsaken us and we say, “Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me!” (Psalm 38:21) (See also Psalm 42:9; Psalm 43:2; 71:12; 74:1; 88:14. Psalm 27:9; Hide not thy face far from me: put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. The Psalmist feels that God is mad or angry with him. Psalm 30:7; Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. Psalm 44:23,24: Why sleepest thou?...Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? Psalm 88:13-15; v.14: LORD, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? Job felt the same way, that God was treating him like an enemy, Job 13:24-ff. Jeremiah expresses similar sentiments in Jeremiah 14. Why does God often seem afar off from His people?
These verses give us the very thinking process of those who reject God. We learn why the wicked do what they do, and we see that what they believe affects how they behave.
Here is Mr. Pride unmasked and made clear for all of us to see. Notice WHAT they do: The proud persecute the poor, v.2 The proud boast about their own desires, v.3. The proud person does not merely boast in what he has done but in what he will do! He boasts in his plans. I will go there! I will do that! I will say such and such! Some boast of evil desires, they boast of murders they will commit, of sexual immorality, or robbery and of hurting others. The proud flatter and bless the covetous, v.3. They are full of hot air. The wicked are full of evil wind! They make friends with those who desire to get rich at the expense of others. The proud refuse to seek after God, or even to think about God v.4 WHY do they do these things? Because all their thoughts are, “There is no God!” This proud man has many thoughts. He thinks of how to make money, of where he will go, and what he will say. He thinks of building and buying and coming and going, but he does not think of God! This presents an interesting riddle: Where is the one place on earth where the omnipresent “God is not?” A thought provoking question for sure! Psalm 10:4; The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. Mr. Spurgeon aptly says, “The only place where God is not is in the thoughts of the wicked. This is a damning accusation; for where the God of heaven is not, the Lord of hell is reigning and raging; and if God be not in our thoughts, our thoughts will bring us to perdition.” (From The Treasury of David, Vol. 1, p.112). Amid heaps and heaps of thoughts, there was no God! There was no wheat in his thoughts, and like the chaff this wicked and proud person will be blown away! Do you have a proud heart? Unbended knees? Stiff neck?
God continues his description of the proud man: His ways are always grievous, v.5. This is what he brings to those around him. He leaves a trail of people in pain, trembling, and fear of him. He causes grief wherever he goes! In his home! In his church! In his workplace! God’s judgments make no sense, v.5: The proud person condemns God’s workings on the earth and talks as like he could do a better job at being God that the Lord Himself! Why, if I were god, I would do it this way or that… He puffs at his enemies (v.5) which means that he sneers and blows off in anger anyone who gets in his way. He is not concerned with anyone’s feelings. He only concerns himself with his own bottom line. They feel as if they cannot fail. He is secure in his pride, and comfortable in his Godless thoughts. He has a sense of immutability, he talks and walks as if he will live for ever, as if he is the omniscient, omnipresent and eternal one! He is his own god, and the image he has made to worship is himself! In the meanwhile, out of his mouth goes a five-headed monster of speech:
His mouth is FULL of these things. Mischief and vain deceit is spit from his lips like venom.
The proud man’s description continues. He is opened to us as a book. This man has a completely wrong view of God. He lives as if God forgets. He lurks with murderous intent, v.8. The poor are his victims. He waits secretly like a cunning lion, ready to pounce on those he can use and abuse, v.9. He makes plans to rob and destroy others. He only “humbles” himself in order to pounce upon the poor. The poor falls into his strongholds, v.10. And in it all, he sees God as if He were a forgetful old man, as one blind who cannot see!
He does not think he will face judgment for his behavior, his wickedness and pride.
Never forget the awesome help of God! |