post by Lisa Buffum, October 13, 2022
Begin by reading Psalm 10 on Biblegateway.com or in your own Bible.
Psalm 10 begins with a question many of us may be tempted to ask at times:
“Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
Sometimes, it may feel like God is far away when times are tough. But, is He really?
We discovered while studying Psalm 9 that Psalms 9 and 10 are actually one long acrostic psalm. Each line of an acrostic psalm begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In English, this would be like line 1 starting with A, line 2 starting with B, line 3 starting with C, and so on. These were used in the spiritual training of Jewish children as they were easy to memorize and recite.
Psalm 10 continues the emphasis of a core basic Jewish belief: There are two paths, the path of the wicked and the path of the righteous, and the LORD will be the judge. This guy described in Psalm 10 is a BAD DUDE! He preys on the weak. He has no room for God in his thoughts. He lies and threatens. He crushes his victims. He reviles God.
Acrostic psalms are also written in such a way to also reveal to Jewish children (and all of us) some truths about the character of God. I particularly love this line in verse 14 – “You are the helper of the fatherless.” I had a wonderful, earthly father who died a little over 12 years ago. I miss him. I am well aware many of my fellow humans did not experience a wonderful, earthly father like me. If you are someone who did not have such a father, Psalm 10 has a promise just for you: God is the helper of the fatherless. God defends the fatherless and the oppressed.
As this acrostic psalm ends, David reminds us that the Lord hears the afflicted. He encourages us and listens to our cry. He does not stand far off. He does not hide Himself in times of trouble. The Lord is with us forever and ever. This is His character. Amen.
I hope that you have a wonderful week in which you recognize the character of a God who is with you.
Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash
PS – I love country music and Christian faith, so I’m choosing this week to recommend this course that combines the two – Country Music and Christian Faith. It begins Monday, October 17.
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Lisa is the Director of Online Education for the Institute for Discipleship, overseeing the ministries of BeADisciple.com. Lisa completed a Master’s degree in Christian Ministry from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, in May of 2006.
She is the mother of three children, and currently, “Mimi” to four grandbabies. Lisa teaches the instructor training course, Lay Servants as Christian Transformational Leaders, and other courses as needed, and provides technical assistance for instructors and learners for every IFD course.
