Psalm 10:12-18
The Empire has struck back. Bloodlust is insatiable, greed knows no end, and individualism robs the oppressed and oppressor alike of their dignity. Praying about these issues can make you feel like God has left you on read. You work hard, try to do things the right way and it feels unfulfilling because cutting corners, being selfish and dishonest is the expressway to success. These conditions make cynicism fashionable.
People are resigned to a worldview where things will not get better. Practices like “toxic positivity” underscore the emptiness felt when people try to evade the difficulty of our time with platitudes. Where is the church’s voice in this crisis of no confidence? A crisis that has not seen the church as a bystander but far too often an active participant in exploitation. The church’s negligence actively contributes to the collective despair. Its emptiness has led to a loss of appetite for the gospel. The overreliance on thoughts and prayers without a willingness to pray with our feet makes our witness hollow. And still, I resist despair.
One of my favorite expressions that my grandmother used to say, in an assuring Jamaican lilt, is “God nah sleep.” It is an understanding that honors God’s omniscience; nothing gets past God. No one, no matter how cunning, can finesse God. In Psalm 10, God’s omniscience and omnipotence are equally honored. God is not just aware but powerless or powerful but indifferent. God is aware, powerful, and victorious over wickedness.
The text offers a fascinating question, “Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, ‘You will not call us to account’?” (v.13). Is it because the wicked believe that God has forgotten the oppressed? This verse speaks to the temerity of the wicked and the mythology it creates to justify its actions. Unlike the psalmist, the wicked are not certain that God is omniscient or omnipotent. Perhaps the wicked have come to believe that God is as tepid as those who claim to follow God yet do little to respond to wickedness. It is reflective of a worldview that believes divine accountability is extinct.
The psalmist vehemently disagrees as they declare, “But you do see!” (v.14). This alone provides relief to those under the boot of wickedness. In moments of despair, one must wonder if the trouble you are experiencing is somehow hidden from God. Yet the verse provides further relief by describing God’s actions. “You note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands,” (v. 14). This characteristic of God is a remedy for the aforementioned predicament of our time. The trouble we face and the grief we experience have a guarantor. There is one who pays attention to these calamities to interrupt their tyranny.
What is the response to this cosmic protector who intervenes in our earthly strife? “The helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan,” (v.14). The psalmist illustrates God’s track record; intervening in the plight of the marginalized is a defining characteristic of God. Perhaps the angst of our time knows this well; its anger is aimed at a Christianity, whose God is disinterested in the plight of the margins and is a coping mechanism that enables the oligarchs to further their exploits. Could it be amid our despair – even the center of its storm – is a conviction that this could not possibly be the Lord of all Creation that has abandoned us? Is our rage evidence that the charade is near its expiration?
Psalm 10:12-18 emphasizes the mortality of Empire and the everlasting nature of the true and living God. “The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations shall perish from His land,” (v.16). The eternal nature of God’s office reflects the eternal nature of God’s way. The way of life encouraged in this season of oppression will pass away and the way of God will outlast all that wickedness has to offer.
We have a reason to keep going despite what we are going through. This good news does not trivialize the hellish conditions many of us endure. Rather, it tells us that we do not have to become hellish amid the hellscape. The way that we treat each other matters. We have experienced God’s goodness amid Empire. These blessings are the fuel we need to encourage one another and remind ourselves of God’s immovable commitment to us. God provides us the boldness to undo Empire in our own time and space.
Discussion questions for Psalm 10:12-18
- Based on how God is described in Psalm 10, how do you feel led to be bold in your support of the marginalized?
- Amid Empire, how do you resist despair?
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