Safe and Secure

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SAFE AND SECURE

 Ps 10

Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. 4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies. 6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble." 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. 8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. 9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. 10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength. 11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." 12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. 13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"? 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. 17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, 18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

NIV

Here is a range of emotions, a range of faith, a questioning why God seems far away at times. Why does God allow the wicked to be so wicked and get away with it? Why does he allow the wicked to become so wealthy that they can take advantage of the poor? However it is also possible this wicked one could be Satan blessing the greedy and reviles the Lord. Still this does speak about people who have no room for God in their thoughts. It is the haughty person who does not even think of the laws of God. However, it is Satan who inspires this haughtiness. Man, without accepting even the concept of God looks to his own abilities and education or knowledge for life, thinking he can make himself happy, he will never have trouble and he will not ever be shaken. What a fool he is because his mouth is full of lies, curses and threats and evil are under his tongue. All of that also describes Satan, especially when it is added that he lies in wait near the cities, from ambush he murders his victims. We have seen other words describing Satan as a roaring lion roaming to see who he can devour.

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

NIV

In this Psalm the verbiage is:  “He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.” It is the same lion, the old serpent, Satan who is after the helpless. Then we could ask how long is God going to allow him to destroy people, to drag them off in his net? But is it really Satan who drags them off or it is their own arrogance, their own heart which is bent toward evil all the time? We also have to consider the victims in this Psalm. Who is really the victim? It is the arrogant, is it the ones whose heart refuses God? They may be victims of Satan who also make every effort to victimize us. We can become victims. It is easy to take on the victim mentality in our current culture. It seems everyone is a victim of something or someone. We are not a victim for the Lord is our shield, he is our strength, our help in trouble. God is our defense against Satan and the wicked. Arise Oh God? He has, he is the King forever and ever. He hears us and he answers with power from on high. We have nothing to be terrified of for we are the children of God. He is not far from us, in fact, he has sent his Spirit to dwell within us, to inspire us, to encourage us, to ensure us that we are in the hands of the Father. We could go through all the range of emotions the psalmist did, but we do not have to for we are in Christ and Satan or the wicked have to hold on us, in fact, the lion is toothless.  We are safe and secure from all alarm.