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Seeing Jesus in Psalm 10


The LORD is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land.

Psalm 10:16 NLT

 Psalm 10


v.1 a complaint of insecurity by David (helplessness)

v. 2 -11 a description of the wicked

v. 12-15 a request for God to intervene in the wicked’s plans

v. 16-18 a theology of the helpless


I wonder if it is possible to build a proper theology (description of God) by just flipping the theology of the oppressor? For David tells us what the godless think and, in nearly all cases, they are wrong about God. What the wicked think about God, according to David, is false and will result in a completely different outcome from what they suppose. 


I am also interested in the way David begins with his own feelings, which by the end of the psalm are also shown to be other than what he thought.


In verse 5, David describes the wicked as succeeding in everything they do. But he follows that up with the realisation or correction that in fact they will not ultimately succeed because God is waiting for them with punishment which they have failed to see.


So Psalm 10 asks the question, “What lasts?” and the answer is in verse 16: God, the Lord, the King.


MAIN POINT:


God the eternal King will bring justice to the helpless, so don’t be deceived by the false assumptions (false theology) of the wicked.


  1. Your feelings and the apparent circumstances don’t tell you the truth about God.

    1. You can tell God how you feel. He understands and also hates oppression. (Heb 4:15, 5:8, Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, Luke 11:42, Acts 7:34, Matthew 25:34-39)

    2. The theology of the oppressed and the oppressor is not necessarily trustworthy.

      1. The oppressed feel like God is far away. v.1

      2. The wicked think there is no God because they think they are getting away with their oppression. vv.4, 11

      3. The false theology of the wicked fuels their oppression of the helpless. When we don’t think correctly about God, we will mistreat others, particularly the helpless. vv. 3, 4, 11,

  2. The good theology of the godly comforts them. vv. 12, 14-18

    1. The godly (often the helpless and oppressed) know they can appeal to God, because God is listening.  vv. 1, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 

    2. God is king. v. 16

    3. God is eternal. v. 16

    4. God is just. v. 16, 17, 18


Although it may seem that the wicked oppressor’s view of God is true, the godly know there is a day of reckoning coming because the eternal King is the listening, caring judge. So we can comfort ourselves and correct our fears and feelings of abandonment with the truth of who God is. We see this clearly in the teaching and actions of Jesus and His apostles and the ways in which God has intervened in the past and promised to do in the future.



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