Today Michele and I are blogging together from Psalm 10. We would encourage you to read this Psalm and let God speak to you through it.
This psalm contains the essence of one of our core struggles to live the life of faith. It poses the question, "Why do those who have no use for God succeed in their plans at the expense of those who try to do what is right?"
The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead. Yet they succeed in everything they do.... Why do the wicked get away with despising God?.... Lord you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. (vs. 4, 5, 13, 17)
Sometimes I look at people who do not honor God with their finances yet seem to prosper financially while others who are committed to generosity and honesty struggle. I often wonder why that is the case. In the past I've observed couples who have no desire to glorify God in their relationship appear happy together, while others who long for a God-centered relationship stay lonely for so long. Why is it that godless people seem to have the blessings that Christians would honor God with?
As believers we want to see that justice is served and we want to believe there is a difference in the way that God treats the godly versus the ungodly. But it is not always so clear cut in this life. This cry of the psalmist is something that all believers share. We believe that we should be the ones prospering. Our plans, especially the ones to honor God and advance his Kingdom, should be the ones succeeding. Why did the plot to destroy the World Trade Center towers succeed while plans to create new ministries fail? It's okay to acknowledge the disproportion of justice that does in fact exist in our world. But God isn't through with the world yet!
This psalm reminds us that God will bring justice and we need to continue to pray for that as the psalmist did. While the plans of wicked people may succeed for a time, a reckoning is sure to come. And, God's definition of success is different from ours. God doesn't measure success by the goals that we accomplish but by the character that we exemplify. The ultimate prize that we seek is not wrapped up in the things of this world but in eternal life.
God does know our hopes, he does hear our cries, and he provides the comfort of his love and good plans for us. They will be far better than anything we could have attained on our own by the world's methods. Believing that is what the whole life of faith is about. Most people settle for mere shadows of the real blessings that only God can give and don't realize how empty their lives really are. But we know that the real thing is worth the wait!
Share your reflections of what God is saying to you in this psalm by commenting below. Sign into your google account at the top right corner or just choose anonymous in the "comment as" field. Thanks!
This is the age-old question..."Why do the wicked prosper?" Atheists love to fling it in the faces of the believers in God. Your blog today was excellent and brought light to a very difficult question. David, a man after God's own heart, demonstrates in many Psalms the struggle between conflicting emotions over what is happening in his life. I guess it is only to be expected that we have the same ups and downs at times. Good to have you two back!
ReplyDeleteK.B