Psalm 10:1 "Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?"
I truly love the book of the Psalms. I love them for many reasons, but I think
most of all because they meet me right where I live. As I read these
songs, I realize that what is happening now has always been. The thoughts I
have are not new to me; rather, throughout the ages, since sin entered the
world, there have been the same things happening. The names are
different. The situations may not be exactly the same, but the principle of sin
has always been and always will be as long as we are on this earth.
I read the question in today's text and I think of that beautiful poem,
"Footprints in the Sand". The thought of the poem is
concerning this same question, "Where were you when I was in the troubled
times of my life?" As you read through this Psalm, you will see
situations such as these:
"The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor." (verse 2)
"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after
God: God is not in all his thoughts." (verse 4)
"He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in
adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his
tongue is mischief and vanity." (verses 6 and 7)
"He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong
ones." (verse 10) By the way, the humbling in this verse is not the
same as when God tells us to humble ourselves before Him. This humbling
means to stoop down as in being hidden and out of sight.
Lies, deceit, persecution, and such have always been in the world. I have
made the statement that I have never seen things as bad as they are in our
time. I have a feeling that the writer of this Psalm and those who lived in his
time also said such things. In thinking this, they were asking the
question, "Lord, how long are you going to let this happen? When are you
going to intervene?' The question of "how long" is asked
several times throughout the book of the Psalms. We read in the book of
Revelation, "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held: (10) And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10)
Yes, we often ask the question how long will the Lord allow this to
continue? In this 10th Psalm, we are reminded once again of the truth of
our God. In Psalm 10:16, "The LORD is King for ever and ever."
As King, He sees all that is happening in His kingdom. He knows all that
is happening. He hasn't lost touch with His people nor has He lost control. He
has a purpose and a reason for allowing wickedness in the world. It just
might be that He is using it to bring us to the place of humbling ourselves
before Him.
How long, O Lord? The answer just might be, "Until you turn back to
me."