A Study in Psalms - Psalm 10

Tonight, we're going to look at Psalm 10, if you turn in your Bibles to Psalm 10. Psalm 10, verse 1, we'll read. Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor. Let them be caught in their schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him. All his thoughts are, there is no God.

His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are on high, out of his sight. As for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, I shall not be moved. Throughout all generations, I shall not meet adversity. His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages. In the hiding places, he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless. He lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket. He lurks that he may seize the poor.

He seizes the poor when he draws them into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart, God is forgotten. He has hidden his face. He will never see. Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand. Forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, you will not call to account? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands. To you the helpless commits himself. You have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account till you find none. The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations perish from his land. O Lord, you heard the desire of the afflicted. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. Let's pray. Father, open our eyes that we can see wonderful things in this psalm. Teach us how to navigate this wicked, wicked world.

In Jesus' name, amen. If you've been with us at Christ Community Church on Sundays for any amount of time, you know that Pastor Lance doesn't tell a lot of jokes or stories, right? But I do remember one story from about probably going on 28, 30 years, and I never forgot it, because he doesn't tell a lot, and I thought of it, and I thought it would be applicable to tonight. So here goes. A burglar broke into a home and began filling his bag with loot while holding a flashlight. After a few minutes, the burglar heard a voice quietly say, Jesus is watching you.

The burglar was unfazed and continued going around the house looking for loot. A few more minutes passed, and again the quiet voice speaks in the silence with, Jesus is watching you. This time the burglar got a little more concerned, and he took the flashlight out, and he flashed it around, and there in the corner of the house, he sees a parrot in a cage. Did you say that? The burglar said. And the bird said, Yes, I did. So now the burglar is amused, and he asked, What is your name? Whereby the bird says, Moses.

Moses? What kind of idiot would name a parrot Moses? Asked the burglar. Then the bird replies and says, The same kind that names a Doberman Jesus. Now the joke ends there, but if you're me, I'd kind of like to imagine that there'd be an alternate ending where Jesus, the Doberman, might take a bite out of that burglar, because you all know in our current judicial system that burglar was arrested. He would be back on the street in a few hours, right? Today we have smash and grab at our local stores.

The stores lock up the goods, but they don't lock up the criminals. I was in Walmart today, and I kid you not, they're locking up men's underwear now.

We have telemarketers who try to scheme senior citizens out of their life savings. I really hope there's a special place in hell for those people who pry on senior citizens. The number of burglaries is increasing. How many of you here have had your catalytic converter stolen and have to deal with that nightmare? Have you been a victim of credit card fraud or had your check stolen and had to deal with that? That's a nightmare. Thieves are released on their own recognizance, and then, like last week, they go on and murder the New Zealand tourists down in Newport.

Police departments have been defunded or reduced in size. We have lawyers getting rich helping families of criminals make money off lawsuits. We have greed and corruption in our politicians. Yesterday you saw Gavin Newsom sign a new law into legislation making California the first state in the nation to ban school districts from alerting parents of their child's sexuality if they use pronouns or have adopted gender identities.

I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I don't want to get off this topic. But I remember I was born in 1960, and we were in the middle of the Cold War, and we Americans were fearful about Russia, right? Today, I think we're fearful of China. I don't know about you, but I lived 18 years overseas, and China would be the one to worry about. I don't think China and Russia are worrying about us, because the reality is they're not going to destroy us. We're doing a pretty good job of destroying ourselves from the inside.

3,000 years ago, it was the same. The psalmist said then what could be said today. What the people are saying, the ungodly are saying, there is no God, God doesn't see, I shall not be moved, and God won't judge me. It's like Genesis 6-5. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was very great on earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Jeremiah 17-9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. Who can understand it? You probably know the saying, Billy Graham's wife, after looking at a book that Billy Graham had written, and the book was about the downward spiral of our nation's moral standards, and Ruth Graham said, if God doesn't punish America, he'll have to apologize for Sodom and Gomorrah.

Our psalm tonight is a lament, of course, a lament is a psalm crying out to God, probably half of the 150 psalms are laments. And interesting, last week we said psalm 3 and 4 may have been connected. Well, psalm 9 and 10 were connected, at least in the Septuagint. The Septuagint was a Bible written in Greek two to three centuries before Jesus came, and it was the Bible of the Greek-speaking world, and in that Bible, psalm 9 and 10 are together, so if you notice, psalm 10 does not have a superscription, there's nothing above it, it just begins with the Y.

But psalms 9 is attributed to David, so most people believe David wrote psalms 9 and 10. You know, when you read psalms, and I ask everybody to read one psalm a day, sometimes we don't see the connections between psalms 3 and 4, psalms 3 was a morning psalm, psalms 4 is an evening psalm, but like psalm 22, psalm 22, we have the good shepherd, psalm 23, we have the chief shepherd, psalm 24, we have the great shepherd, so sometimes we miss the connections, so there's some great connections between psalm 9 and 10, even though they're split out.

Psalm 9 is about an enemy attacking Israel from the outside, a foreign power. Psalm 10 is about an enemy corrupting from within. God is enthroned as judge in psalms 9, verses 4 and 7 and 8, but God is enthroned as king in psalm 10, verse 16. God does not forsake his people in psalms 9, and God doesn't forsake his people in psalms 10. The deeds of the wicked will come back on their own heads in psalms 9, 15, 16, and psalms 10, verse 2. The nations will be judged and destroyed in psalms 9, 5, 15, 17 to 20, and in psalms 10, 16.

Human beings are mere mortals, psalms 9, 20 and psalms 10, 18. Wicked men ignore God, psalms 9, 17 and psalms 10, 4. God does see the trouble of the righteous, psalms 9, 13 and 10, 14, and God does hear their prayers, psalms 9, 12 and psalms 10, 17. Psalms 9, 19 says, Arise, O Lord. Psalms 10, 12 says, Arise, O Lord. This psalm is about a corrupted people in Israel who claim to know God, but prove by their lives that they really didn't know God. Titus 2.16 would be a description of that. Today we'd call these people practical atheists, who in essence are their own gods and do what they please.

You have an outline there that says the problem, the practice of atheism, the proclamations of the godly, where we'll spend most of our time, and the promises of God. So let's begin with the problem of the godly. Verse 1. We have the soul's problem and the solution. It says, Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? The first great question of psalms 10 is, Where is God when bad things happen to good people?

Where are you, God? Why are you so aloof? It's really a common theme in psalms. You all know Psalms 22.1, that Jesus would quote on the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? Psalms 42.5, which we'll look at next week, Why are you so downcast, O my soul?

Why are you in turmoil? Psalms 42.9 says, I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Psalms 44.23 says, Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself. Do not reject me forever. Psalms 44.24 says, Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget the affliction and the oppression? Psalms 74.1 says, O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? And one more, Psalms 88.14, the most depressing psalm there is, it says, O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me? The psalmist is quite familiar with God seemingly not answering and not understanding God's judicial system. Job, if you were with us for the 30 messages Lance preached on Job, he would ask at least 15 times in his speeches, why? He would say, I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me. I stand and you only look at me.

One author said, the bitterest trial of the saint is the consciousness of God's abstinence. That's what the psalmist in Psalm 10, verse 1 is saying. You know, today we may ask the same question Job asked and the psalmist asked. It's a problem of theodicy, God's justice. It seems like God is idle. God is passive. He's a spectator. He seems unconcerned at the misery which he sees, but he seems to refuse to intervene in. The righteous are puzzled then and they're puzzled now with this painful problem.

And we ask, why is it so? It's not a presumptuous question, but the question of a godly man searching for answers. It's not a murmuring question or a complaint against God. In realization of their weakness, they must give themselves and their problems into the hands of God. It's not a despairing question. The child of God knows and waits to be gracious and in his own time, God will act. It's not a lover's question, the cry of a righteous man wanting justice to be done. The noun translated trouble in verse 1 can also be translated death or destruction.

In Jeremiah 4.11, it's translated drought. But here in Psalm 10, it's speaking of a moral evil. What's the solution? We might look at a couple solutions before we even get into this psalm.

The explanation for the problem we're suffering can be found in many ways. First off, it could be sin.

Our own sin may make it seem like God is distant. In Numbers 12, you saw the sin of Aaron and Miriam, and they got leprosy, right? In 1 Corinthians 11, which we read on Communion Sunday, the Corinthians were getting sick and dying because of their sin, drunkenness. In 2 Corinthians 26, verses 16-20, Uzziah was a good king, but then he grew proud, and he tried to go into the temple and burn incense, and God struck him with leprosy. So it could be our sin. And Psalm 66.18 says that if we cherish sin in our heart, God will not hear our prayers.

There needs to be repentance. There needs to be forgiveness. So it could be sin sometimes. It also could be a chastening from God. Hebrews 12, the whole chapter, a lot of verses talk about this, but I'll just read verse 6. It says, For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastens every son whom He receives. So God could chasten you that you could be used in a mighty way for His kingdom and glory. Similar, it could be strengthening. In 2 Corinthians 12, 9, and 10, Paul cried out three times that the thorn of flesh would be removed from him.

But God said, My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest on me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I'm weak, then I am strong. So strengthening, God could strengthen us to draw us near to Him. It also could reveal God's comfort and grace. 2 Corinthians 1, 3-7 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

And then sometimes we'll never know. It could be unknown. Exodus 4, 11, God says, Who made man's mouth?

Who made him mute? Who made him deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? In John 10, you know that familiar verse where the disciples saw a man from birth and Jesus' disciples asked, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents? That he was born blind. And Jesus said, It's not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be put on display in him. God will not dishonor himself by hiding himself from us. Every unsolved mystery will be explained someday to the glory of God.

One author said, A.W. Pink said, God is working out his eternal purposes not only in spite of human and satanic opposition, but by means of it. Let's talk a little bit about the practice of atheism because that's what we have here in Psalms 10. A number of years ago, the American Institute of Public Opinion issued a report on the religious beliefs of Americans. It was entitled, Is Americans' Faith For Real? The report indicated that a majority of Americans are very religious, but their religious beliefs make very little difference in how they actually live or act.

It said that 81% of Americans claim to be religious. 71% believe in life after death. 84% believe in heaven. 67% believe in hell. A large majority believe in the Ten Commandments. Nearly every home has a Bible. Half of Americans can be found in church on Sunday. Didn't say what kind of churches. But only 8% claim to have no religious affiliation. Most claim that religion plays an important role in their lives. Yet, 95% of the Americans who believe in God, only 1 in 8 says that religion makes a difference in his or her life.

So we have theoretical atheism. We talked about this in Psalm 19, didn't we? Theoretical atheism is the man described in Psalms 14, Psalms 53. And those Psalms begin with the very familiar words, The fool in his heart says there is no God. This person really believes that there is no God. And the Bible says he's a fool to think so.

This person has extreme anger towards God. Remember what happened to America's most famous atheist, Madeleine Murray O'Hare. But then you have the practical atheists. And that's what Psalms 10 is talking about. One author concluded that many of the religious people who were surveyed were practical atheists. What are practical atheists? It's a person who might acknowledge that there is a God. A person might go to church and even might take an active role in church affairs. But as far as his or her life is concerned, God might as well be non-existent.

This practical or sometimes called functional atheist is not concerned about the question as to the existence of God because he lives and behaves as if God does not exist. This person is described in Psalms 10. God is not in his thoughts. Martin Luther wrote, there is not a Psalm in my judgment, which describes the mind, the manners, the works, the words, the feelings, and the fate of the ungodly with so much proprietary fullness and light as this Psalm 10. Now let's look at the next three points in our outline.

We're going to see here the proclamations of the ungodly. And there are four key statements, or I'll call them four pillar statements, that the ungodly say. Where is God when bad people do such terrible things? That's the second question Psalm 10 asks.

But we'll have to wait until verses 14 to 18 to see those answers. So number one, the first of the four pillar statements is in verse 2 to 4.

The ungodly say, there is no God. This would be the practical atheist who says in verse 4, all his thoughts are, there is no God. You know, when a person believes there is no God, it frees them to do whatever they please, right? For they become their own God. Satan said that in Genesis 6.5, didn't he, to Eve? He said to Eve, you will be like God. This person is described in verse 2. There are many characteristics you see here in Psalms 10. And the first characteristic you see is arrogant.

His actions are described as he hotly pursues the poor. He devises schemes to catch the poor. He boasts of the desires of his soul. He is greedy for gain. He curses and renounces the Lord. And he's prideful. This proud, boasting, vain, arrogant person shows contempt for both God and man. And he does it by his actions and his words. Another characteristic, he curses and renounces the Lord. Don't you see that of our society today? You see it everywhere. I love English football. My team is Manchester United.

And if you listen to the football games or were to go to them, they will chant or come up with songs all the time. But these songs are always full of filthy, disgusting words, which is one reason I'll probably never go to a game. But that's common folk now.

Everyone curses God. More and more people in our society not only hate God, they not only deny Him, but they curse Him. Driven by greed, this man rejects God. Inflated by pride, he denies the existence of God. He's greedy. There's a story of the mafia had control of the fish market in New York City. And the case was broken by the police when investigators discovered that the mob boss had transferred $168,000 from a high-interest yield fund to a low-interest bank account. Why did he do that? So he could get free TVs.

I guess you would get free TVs if you put money in this one bank account. Why would a man who was squeezing millions of dollars in cash payoffs from the fish market bother with a bunch of free TVs? Well, the answer is greed, and his greed had trapped him. That's like the man in Psalms 10. You notice the words here for the defenseless people in this psalm?

Verse 2 and 9 says the poor. Verse 8 says the innocent. Verse 12 and 17 say the afflicted. 14 and 18 say the fatherless. Verse 18 says the oppressed. So the first statement we have on the ungodly in Psalms 10 is there is no God, and because of that, they think they can get away with everything they do.

The second pillar statement is I shall not be moved. And that's in verse 5 to 7. He says he prospers at all times. God's judgments are out of his sight. He's not going to be moved. God's not going to come after him. He can get away with it. He's going to live a long time, and he's not going to meet any adversity. And again, it says his mouth is filled with cursing, deceit, oppression, mischief, and iniquity. He says he's not going to be moved. He thinks he can get away with it. And that's what it seems like to the righteous, doesn't it?

Doesn't it seem like when we look at our society today that criminals are getting away with it, politicians are getting away with it, that Melendez in New York, how many crimes did he get indicted with this week?

They think that peace and prosperity will give them a false sense of security. It seems that God rewards the wicked while the righteous suffer. And the psalmist is crying out, where is the retribution, O God? You know, in the New Testament, we have that story. And the early church was started, and God killed Ananias and Sapphira, didn't He? And great fear came upon the whole church, it says. So today, we might expect an atheist who curses God to be struck down by a resentful, angry, avenging God.

But that's not the case. Instead of experiencing God's judgment, it seems that the atheist prospers, like here in Psalm 10. So another characteristic in verse 5, he's prosperous. The arrogant person seems to have all the worldly possessions, all the possessions he could desire. He describes his success to his own will, his own wisdom, his own ability. If you want to get ahead in life, you have to do it yourself, he thinks. If you don't succeed in life, it's your fault. The poor are poor because they want to be.

Jeremiah 12.1 says, And in the New Testament, there's no more classical example of this than the rich fool in Luke 12. If you want to turn there, Luke 12, verses 13-21. We read this quite often on Sunday in Christ Community Church because it's the classic example of a rich, greedy, foolish person. Pastor Lance said it's the only place in the Bible where God calls somebody a fool. And when you look around in our society, it is so applicable. So I thought it was worth reading again. In Luke 12, verse 13, or arbitrator over you.

And he said to them, And he told them a parable saying, And he thought to himself, And he said, And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, But God said to him, So the one who lays up treasure for himself is not rich toward God. This is the man that says, I shall not be moved. The rich fool has no thoughts of God. He has no thoughts of using his resources for the poor. He has no thoughts of thanking God or understanding that God has caused him to be rich. Now, back to Psalm 10, in verse 6, he describes that he's secure.

He says, I shall not be moved because he thinks his prosperity from verse 5 guarantees this. In verse 6, he'll be secure. So he says, I shall never be moved. No one can touch me. Not God, not the justice system, not anybody. As far as any judgment is concerned, if God has ever seen what he's done, God's forgotten. God doesn't intervene, he thinks. In verse 7, he's described as having vile, destructive speech. Paul will quote this verse here in Romans 3.14. You know that familiar part where Paul will say, their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.

One commentator says, Let's move on to number 3. The third pillar statement by the atheists, God has forgotten.

He has hidden his face. God will not see it. And so we have another characteristic here in verse 8-11, and that characteristic is violence. Violence has been mentioned all along, but here in verse 8-11, it's more directly. Verse 8 speaks of assassination or murder. Verse 9 speaks of a lion and a hunter lying in wait for unspecting prey. It speaks of wicked people hiding and waiting for opportunities to pounce upon the helpless prey. A lion is often used as a picture of ruthless men who attack others.

Psalms 17.10, Psalms 37.32, Psalms 56.6, Psalms 59.3, and Psalms 64.4 are all used of a lion, a lion as a metaphor for attacking and harmless people. Verse 10 speaks of crushing helpless victims. And verse 11 is the conclusion of this person. He says, God has forgotten. He's hidden his face. He'll never see it. God doesn't see me, and if he does, he's forgotten. Psalms 11.5 says, The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. You know, a few weeks ago on Sunday, Pastor Lance talked about 1 Kings 21.

Probably the most wicked person in the Bible. Remember Jezebel? We won't turn there, but I'll just paraphrase it again. Remember Jezebel and her husband was King Ahab? And there's a lot of chapters in the Bible devoted to King Ahab. But Ahab wanted the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember this story? And Naboth says, You can't have it. It's in my family heirloom. I can't sell it to you. So Ahab goes back to the palace, dejected. And Jezebel says, What's wrong? And he tells her. And almost instantly, Jezebel says, I'll take care of it.

Jezebel is the woman in Psalms 10. She grabs a couple worthless guys, holds a banquet. The worthless guys curse, say Naboth cursed God. They take Naboth out and stone him to death. And then Jezebel says, Go get your vineyard. She just kills a man over the vineyard. That is exactly what the common practice was in Israel. And that's what Psalm 10 speaks of. One commentator says, God is working out His eternal purpose, not only in spite of human and satanic opposition, but by means of it. I think I quoted that already.

But Proverbs 16.4 says the same thing. The Lord has made everything for His purpose. And listen to the next part. Even the wicked for the day of trouble. Okay, we have to remember that. Let's look at the fourth pillar statement.

God will not judge me. Verses 12 to 13. It says, Arise, O Lord, O God. Lift up your hand. Forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say His heart? You will not call to account. Verse 12 begins with this saying, Arise, O Lord, O God. And if this is David writing this, he remembers Numbers 10.35. Numbers 10.35 says, God gave instructions. It says, When the ark set out, Moses said, Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you. So when it says, Arise, O Lord, it's an idiom for God's omnipotent power, often displayed in the Old Testament when Israel would fight their enemies.

The psalmist is asking God to retaliate against His enemies. And then you go to verse 12 to 13. The psalmist cries out to God for help. He's going to use three different names for God. Yahweh, the God of the covenant. El, common name for God. And Elohim, the God of power. So the fourth pillar statement here is God you will not call into account. The Bible says in Numbers 32.23, But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

But this practical atheist, who may know some scripture, doesn't believe that. They reject God's word, and they reject God Himself. There's no thought of judgment. In verses 2 and 4, He's arrogant. In verse 5, He's prosperous. In verse 6, He's secure. In verse 7, He has vile speech. In verse 8 to 11, because of all of the following, we see His violence at His hands. You know, Hebrews 9.27 says, As it is appointed for man to die once, after that comes judgment. But man then, 3,000 years ago, and man today, does not think about that judgment.

You know, this creates a problem for the victims who are described here as weak. They're caught in schemes. They're crushed. The success of a practical atheist creates a problem for the psalmist. What is it? Is it that God's apparent toleration of the wicked, and suspicions that their boasts about God, not seen or coming, might be true? Have you ever thought that way? Have you ever had someone harm you, or harm a loved one, and wonder, where is the justice system? When the burglar we mentioned at the beginning of the story and the joke is released within a few hours, and goes on to rob again.

When your catalytic converter is stolen. When the smash-and-grab thieves run out of your favorite department store without paying. When a murder is let loose because a jury wants to get back at society. People can get away with all kinds of crimes, and these people now have brilliant lawyers working for the evil money, and making money off their evil. What can the righteous do? Well, let's now go to point number four, the promises of God. So to review the four pillar statements in Psalm 10, verses 2 to 4 says there is no God.

Verses 5 to 7 says I shall not be moved. Verses 8 to 11 says God doesn't see me. And verses 12 to 13, God will not judge me. As we read those statements, don't they express our society today? As we get to the last point, the psalmist expresses his full confidence that God is on his throne, and has everything under control in verses 14 to 18. We may not understand why some people get away with wickedness, but God assures us that he will judge sinners. Here in verse 14 to 18, God answers all four of those statements of the ungodly.

So verse 14, God is going to answer. They're not in order though, okay? Verse 14, God sees what's going on. In verse 8 to 11, the ungodly believes that God doesn't see him. But in verse 14, the psalmist says, but you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands to you the helpless commits himself, you have been the helper of the followers. The psalmist knows this, and the ungodly should know it. For 2 Chronicles 16.9 says, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless for him.

God does roam throughout all the earth and see all the evil of the word. Matthew 12.36, Jesus said, on the day of judgment, people will give account of every careless word they speak. You know, you saw the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and I don't know if you're on social media, but almost instantly, I only have Twitter, I don't have any other things, and I only have Twitter to follow a lot of preachers, but instantly on Twitter, it's a fake. It was a BB gun. But then things got really, really nasty.

And you saw the vile comments by, you know, I wish the shooter had it missed. And a lot of those people made those comments, and then people would screen capture their comment and say, by the way, this guy works at the city of such and such, or he works at Walmart or whatever, and you saw some of those people getting fired. God doesn't need a screen capture to capture the words of the wicked. He knows every wicked word they thought, every word they write. It's just today we have social media. Sin has not changed in the 3,000 years, has it?

But today we have technology that we put our words out there before we would have to write a letter if you hated somebody. But today you can curse somebody, attack somebody instantly on numerous social media accounts. But God sees it, God records it, God does see what's going on, verse 14, and he's going to deal with it someday. And that goes to verse 15. God will judge sin. The psalmist says, break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account till you find none. I think wicked or wickedness is listed six times in this psalm.

So the answers of the claim in verse 12 to 13, God won't judge my sin, is answered. God is going to break the wicked, God is going to judge the evildoer, and he certainly will call the wickedness to account someday. But sometimes God lets sin run its course. God exercises his passive wrath by letting sin run its course often. Often it's a matter of timing, and our eternal God is not accountable to your or my schedule. 2 Peter 3, 3-10 is worth looking at, because it's all about the judgment of God.

So if you ever wonder where is God, and why isn't He judging, why isn't He acting quickly, I remind you to turn to 2 Peter 3, and we'll look at verse 3.

It says, 2 Peter 3, verse 3 says, Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

Isn't that indicative of today? They will say, where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook the fact that the heavens existed long ago, the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But the same word that the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept up until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But do not overlook this fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises, some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved on the earth. And listen to the last part of verse 10, and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

God is keeping track, God will judge. Ecclesiastes 13, 14 says, God will bring every deed into judgment. John 3, 16, everyone knows it, right? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have an everlasting life. But John 3, 18 says that unbelievers are already under judgment. That's why it's so important that when we share the gospel, we tell everybody, one, that they're all sinners. Romans 3, 23, that we tell them the wages of sin is death.

God will pay you for your wages of sin. Now if you try to share that with somebody, they don't usually let you get to point three, right? I preached at a funeral on Saturday, and you got a captive audience at a funeral, so I got to give all my points. But point number one is we're all sinners.

Point number two is God will pay you for your wages of sin. And number three is judgment is coming. People don't like to hear about judgment or talk about judgment today, but it's so important we do. And I quoted Hebrews 9, 27 that says when you die, you're going to face judgment if you're an unbeliever. Let's move on to number three.

God is King, in verse 16. The Lord Yahweh is King forever and ever. The nations perish from His hand. So the wicked claim there's no God in verses 2-4. The fool in his heart says there is no God. And we talked about in Psalms 19, if you were with us a few weeks ago, God reveals Himself in three ways. He reveals Himself in natural creation, right? It's not enough to save you, but the ungodly have no excuse. Romans 1.20 says they are without excuse. It ought to cause them to seek God. And if they seek God, they need special revelation, which is the Word of God.

But I didn't talk about our conscience, number three. So we have natural revelation, special revelation. But Romans 2 says that when we judge others, and there's a lot of people judging these days, isn't there? When we judge others, we condemn ourselves by showing that we have knowledge of our sinful condition. So when Jesus Christ hung on the cross, the Pharisees put up a sign that says, this is King of the Jews. Now they meant it sarcastically, didn't they? But the truth is that God is King. And God rules over all.

God is King, and God's timing is not our timings. Someday, we like to be able to live joyfully even in times of trouble. But for now, we need to carry our troubles to the King of Kings. So not only is they say there's no God, there is a God, but He's also our King, and He's also our judge. Let's move on to the last two verses. Number four, God defends His people. This is the one where in verse, the pillar in verse five to seven, the wicked boast they will not be moved. But God does have other plans for them.

God does hear the prayers of the persecuted. God does strengthen their hearts through trials. Romans 8.28 says that, right? And one day, God will eventually judge those who cause terror on earth. O.J. Simpson may have got away with murder on earth, but not in God's court in heaven. God does hear our prayers, and He does answer them according to our perfect will. God strengthens our hearts to persevere through trials and tribulations, which Jesus said would come upon the life of the believers. God will eventually judge all evil doers.

Believers here are not of the earth. We are citizens of heaven. Non-believers are of the earth. Look at that last sentence there in Psalms 10, I'm sorry, Psalms 10, verse 18.

Do you see the phrase there that says, so that man who is of the earth, you catch that saying? So that man who is of the earth, that's speaking of non-believers. And very interesting, when you go to the last book of the Bible, Revelation, it's repeated at least ten times. Every time, speaking of unbelievers. For example, Revelation 3.10 says, because you have kept my word, talking to believers, about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth.

Same sentence. Then you have the same thing in Revelation 6.10. Revelation 6.10 says, they cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? He says the same thing in Revelation 8.13, Revelation 11.10, Revelation 12.12, Revelation 13, he says it in verse 8 and verse 14, Revelation 14.6, Revelation 17, verses 2 and 8. Ten times. It describes where the unbelievers live during the tribulation, but also what they live for.

They live for earth. They live for the things of earth. But we Christians, we have the upper hand, and all we have to do is wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I pray it comes again. You know, so maybe just in conclusion tonight, we can answer that question going back to verse 1.

Why do the righteous suffer? Why does it seem that God is distant? You know, when our series in Job, I wrote something down that God is worthy of our love, even apart from the blessings He bestows upon us. God is not a genie, okay? We have to love God for who He is, not for what He gives us, and sometimes we go through trials, we go through tribulations, and the United States of America is deserving of the wrath of God, and I hope that God, I'm pre-trib, pre-rapture, so I hope God comes any day, any time, and I believe we'll escape that wrath to come.

I think Lance is going to preach on that this Sunday in 1 Thessalonians 10. But God is worthy of our love apart from anything that He gives us, just for who He is. God may permit suffering as a means of purifying, strengthening the soul in godliness. I know many people who suffered tremendously. Maybe they lost a son or daughter. Maybe they lost a loved one in a tragic accident. But then you see how God uses them to comfort the afflicted in years to come like that. I think I've mentioned Joni Tata Erickson and how she has been used for over 50 years in that wheelchair to help people who are suffering, and she's still being used of God.

And then ultimately, you've got to remember Isaiah 55, 8, and 9. God's ways and thoughts are moved by consideration too vast, too puny for our little minds to understand. You know, we cry out, where is justice? Where is God? Why doesn't God judge the righteous? But Isaiah 55, 8, and 9 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Sometimes you've just got to remember Isaiah 55, 8, and 9.

In the meantime, we as believers have got to remember Habakkuk 2, 4, which is quoted three times in the New Testament. The righteous will live by faith. And in closing tonight, I thought I would read Steve Lawson's conclusion to what he said about Psalm 10. In order to endure persecution by the wicked, the believer must stay focused on God. When surrounded by unbelief and the ungodly, it's easy to become distracted and lose sight of the inevitable triumph of God's invincible kingdom. In the midst of an evil world, the righteous must remain focused upon things above, where Christ is seated, not upon the unstable things of this earth.

God's people must remain faithful to Him, resisting the lure to become squeezed into the world's mold. That's Romans 12, 2. The truth is that the globe of the world, this world, is under divine judgment, Romans 1, 18. One day, it will fall in the hands of the living God. So believers should find their greatest joy in God Himself, rather than in the passing pleasures of worldly pursuits. Seeing and savoring God is the greatest fulfillment in life and the greatest antidote to the lure of sin. Let's close in prayer.

Father, thank you for Psalms 10. Father, what happened 3,000 years ago in Israel, the ungodly saying, there's no God, God doesn't see, I shall not be moved, and God will not judge, is the same situation we have in our country. Father, our country was born with godly pilgrims, with men who wrote the Constitution, who acknowledged God, believed in God, even though some of them were practical atheists. But Father, our nation has turned its back on you. So we do cry out for our President, we cry out for our Congress, for our Supreme Court, for our Senate and House and Governor, even for the City Council here in West Covina and our local councils, for our school boards, Father God, that you would do a great work.

Father, we long for repentance and revival, but we know that will only come if people will pray, if people will read the word of God and repentance will come. So Father, we pray that it would come one more time in the history of this nation. We pray, Father God, that in the meantime, despite the wickedness we see from our leaders, that would use the United States of America to send more missionaries, more pastors, more trainings, like the team from Ecuador tomorrow. May you take them to Ecuador tomorrow and use them in a mighty way, and can we keep doing that as more and more countries are being closed, have their borders closed by Satan.

But Father, we pray that we would not have to cry out to you, why, why, but may we the righteous live by faith, knowing that you are coming soon. And the last verse in the Bible says, he who testifies and he sings says, Amen.

Come Lord Jesus. That's our prayer, Father. Come Lord Jesus, in Jesus' name. Amen.