Psalm 10 Devotional

When God Seems Distant

“But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”Psalm 10:14 (BSB)

Psalm 10 opens with a question many believers have asked: why does the LORD stand at a distance and hide when trouble comes (10:1)? Then the psalmist describes what he sees. The wicked lie in wait for the helpless like a lion crouching in the brush (10:9). They are proud, convinced that God has forgotten and will never call them to account (10:11, 10:13). The psalm sits with that injustice at length before it turns.

When it turns, it is not because the scene has changed but because the psalmist looks again at God. God has seen the trouble and grief, and he takes note in order to repay it. The victim commits himself to God, who helps the fatherless (10:14). The LORD reigns as King for all time, and he hears what the humble long for (10:16-17). The wicked man's assumption is exactly wrong. Yet the psalm never deletes its first question. It brings the complaint to God and stays long enough to hear his answer. Honest questions can be part of faith, not a threat to it.

To think about: What question about the injustice you see have you been afraid to ask God, and could you bring it to him today?