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Psalm 10:8-9, 11, 14 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. 9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. 11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees.” …14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
THE psalmist portrays a dark picture of murderous criminals awaiting and destroying their victims. We know this is very real. Violent people attack others on the streets, in workplaces, at home and even in churches. Apparently this kind of violence was common 3,000 years ago. Amid such attacks that can erupt at any moment, how do we trust God is the helper of the fatherless? Helper in the Hebrew language is the basis for Jesus. The meaning of Jesus is Jehovah is salvation, he protects and delivers. When we think of Jesus, we can easily consider that God is surrounding you with himself. All God is becomes available to aid you, even as evil wants to destroy you. Several times the Scriptures say as in Psalms 118:7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. We can picture this as Jesus victorious over sin in the final judgment. He eternally surrounds and protects all who are saved in him. Fatherless defines those who are alone or without aid. Sometimes these can be orphaned children. Other times it could point to people who have no support. And other times you can point to any victim of a violent crime as fatherless – without help or aid at the moment. How does God help anyone who is in distress, attacked spiritually or physically? Where is he when people are robbed or murdered? This is another real question (See previous lesson.) we must confront in our Christian life. It’s easy to say, “God is good all the time.” when things are essentially good. But what do you say or do when decent, godly people become evil’s victims? The psalm goes on to say in verse 15 (God will) break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. When does that happen? Does it matter after the victim has suffered the crime? Wouldn’t it have been better for God to help the fatherless before the crime? Yes, it would have. And we don’t know how many times the LORD has stopped crime before it happened. What we do know is the righteous God will help us as we commit to him in response to all circumstances. Yes, current events can cause us to wonder if God is helping us. Let’s, then, keep our eyes on the cross. Jesus is our Helper because for a moment in time, the Son of God was fatherless. He cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) The Son died. He knows what it means when violent men drag the helpless into their net. The resurrected Lord Jesus also knows the evil perish. And he knows the righteous live eternally with him. No one is fatherless under the Father’s righteous help. Comments are closed.
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AuthorBob James Archives
January 2025
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