The Christian cannot but lay to heart that which is offensive to God,
feeling a tender compassion for those who are oppressed and a zeal for the honor of God.
Let us look to God with a firm belief that He will at the proper time give redress to the injured and reckon with the oppressors.
Psalm 1
1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 10 – God Will not Forget the Lowly
The malice of our foes, and especially of Satan, is powerfully described, Psalm 10:1-11. Now it is the venom beneath the serpent’s tongue, Psalm 10:7; now the bandit in ambush, Psalm 10:8; now the lion in his den, and again the hunter snaring his unsuspecting prey, Psalm 10:9. And all the while God is so quiet that it seems as if He has abdicated His throne.
Then the oppressed begin to pray, committing themselves to Him, Psalm 10:12-15. May we not rise above the spirit of the Old Covenant and ask that the venomous evil which is in the heart of our foes may be exterminated, so that it leave no vestiges? And such prayer must be answered. Compare Psalm 9:19 with Psalm 10:16-17. True prayer begins with God and returns to Him. When He prepares the heart, Psalm 9:17, He prepares the answer, which exceeds all, I Corinthians 2:9. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 10:1—Why standest Thou afar off, O LORD?
Men in sorrow do not always speak wisely; and they ask many questions which God does not answer. Here is one. God does not stand afar off and hide Himself in times of trouble. As the psalmist sings, in a happier mood, “God is… a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1). But He permits trouble to pursue us though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure; that we may be brought to an end of ourselves, and led to discover the treasures of darkness, the immeasurable gains of tribulation. No cross, no crown. No pain, no gain.
We may be sure that He who permits the suffering with us in it. The form of the Fourth may be hard to distinguish, but it is there in the fire. It may, be that we shall only see Him when the trial is passing; but we must dare to believe that He never leave. the crucible. Our eyes are holden; and we cannot behold Him whom our soul loveth. It is dark—the bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High priest. But He is there, deeply touched. Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith in his unswerving fidelity; and though we see Him not, let us talk to Him in whispers as though we could detect Him.
“I take the pain, Lord Jesus, from thine own hand,
The strength to bear it bravely, Thou wilt command.”
Directly we begin to speak to Jesus, as being literally present, though his presence is veiled, there comes an answering voice which shows that He is in the shadow, keeping watch upon his own. Do not be afraid of the darkness. Behind the cloud, the sun is shining. Little child, your Father is as near when you journey through the dark tunnel as when under the open heaven! Go nearer, and you will feel Him! —Our Daily Homily
