¶ There are no words to convey the desolate futility of this grey and Godless day, seemingly stilled of all life, vacant of victory, and void of hope, short of breath, and heavy with failure, all the while bearing the weight of impending trouble as though the sky was made of heavy bedlam and lowering all about me. Where are You, Lord? I cannot see but faintly thru all the shades of grey the ambuscades of the enemy and the fleeting forms of bushwhackers. Where are You, Lord? Your silence is maddening! Do You not know my plight? Do You not see the strait I’m in?
Thus we enter into Psalm X where we find David in the first verse, obviously in dire straits, calling out to the Lord for himself and his people:
1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself from me in times of trouble?
¶ Not always but sometimes the Lord does not move until we, in righteous indignation, and still, it is the prompting of the Spirit, move out against all odds into what we know is right, as David did against Goliath, as Esther did against Haman, as Stephen did against the Pharisees, and as Jesus did on our behalf, and yes, like Stephen and like the Lord, it may cost us our life, but, like Stephen, we will see the Lord “Standing” at the Right Hand of the Father and, Like the Lord, we will rise again. Verse 2 certainly gives us a clear picture of David’s concern, not only for himself but for all of those beaten down by the despots, tyrants, scoundrels, rogues, wretches, and reprobates of this world. David was passionately concerned for the godliness of his nation.
2 Lord, the wicked in their haughtiness and swelling pride are persecuting the afflicted, the humble, and the poor: Lord, I lift this up to You, let them be taken in their own devices, let them be caught in their own hellish snares which they have laid for others.
3 For the wicked man openly boasts of his heart’s violent, and filthy desires while lifting his glass and toasting to the agenda of the greedy – whom you do abhor.
4 The wicked, out of his own grand expanse of arrogance does not seek You, O LORD. You never enter into his thoughts, and if You do it is only for him to say ‘There is no God’.
5 He only journeys out to deceive, kill, steal, and destroy². Your Divine Order, Your judgments, and justice are too high for him to notice, he can’t see them for he won’t “look up”, they out of his sight; As for being threatened, he sneers and growls at his enemies. (he is a mindless, rabid beast)
6 He has said in his heart, ‘I will not be moved, I will never be in adversity.’
7 His mouth is full of curses, swearing, deceit, and fraud; under his tongue lies the venom of mischief, trouble, and iniquity.
8 He lurks in the ambushments of the cities, towns, and villages: Out of covert haunts does he murder the innocent: his eyes are secretly fixed on the unfortunate and the helpless.
9 He lies in wait as a lion in his den to catch the humble, the honest, the lowly, and the poor, drawing them into his reach.
10 (And at other times) he hides and disguises himself with humility so that the unfortunate may be deceived by his theatrics.
11 He has said in his heart, ‘God ain’t here; God hides His Face (in fear); He will never see what’s going on here. (vs.2-10, ¹wcv & ²)
¶ Whether these ambushments be the base bars of pole dancers and pimps, the high castles of hirelings, the obelisks of the highfalutin harlot, the kingdoms of the Creatures of the Black Lagoon (career politicians in D.C, the Swamp), or the insane despots and tyrants of the warring nations throughout the world, their justifying statement is, “There ain’t no God.” (Psalm 14:1) ...and if there is, He’s fearful of us! He dare not interfere with what’s going on here!
¶ What is it Lord, but Your longsuffering, patience, and great mercy that makes the wicked so insolent, that makes them believe that you will never address their wicked behavior? The wicked fool forever concludes that he will never see Your justice done nor Your wrath descend simply because You are so patient with him. (Patrick/Callery) My Lord, my Lord, he will certainly dine on road-kill for all eternity.
¶ As David writes in verse 12, it is never more rightly so than now that “We call upon You, Father, in the Name of Your Mighty Right Hand to deliver and vindicate not only the people of God but all those under the heavy hand of the oppressor that they might come to know You as their Kinsman Redeemer. O Lord, when will You put Your axe into the roots of their wicked timbre?”
12 Arise, O LORD, Almighty God, lift up Your Hand and scatter these strange children (Ps.144): O LORD, do not forget the fatherless, the afflicted, the downtrodden, the humble, the poor, and the orphan, the sincere, and all those lttle ones who are being slain in the wombs of their mothers, and yes, the Godly. (¹ & ²)
13 How is it that the wicked can blaspheme, renounce, and even despise You, their Maker, Almighty God? They have certainly convinced their foolish hearts that there will be no Day of Dead Reckenoning. (¹ & ²)
¶ It is a great misconception to think that these ‘wicked things’ are but gutter scum. David is speaking of lords, wealthy landowners, politicians, oligarchs, rulers, princes, and kings, not to mention cessationists, blasphemers, and high falutin, religious, hot air balloons.
¶ Sooner or later, men are seen by everyone for what they are. The Lord certainly knew, as well as David, what these men were that David was describing, David simply wanted the Lord to know that he knew what they were. David was in court, the Courts of the Lord, pleading a case. David was in the Throne Room of the Father! It’s called PRAYER. Prayer is the most powerful weapon on the planet. Prayer sets in motion the mighty hand of God on our behalf. Jesus Himself, the Son of David said, “My house is a House of Prayer, don’t make it a Den of Thieves.” (Matthew 21:13) the Psalms are PRAYERS. The Lord Himself confirmed this when He christened David as “A man after My own heart”? (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) In verse 2, and verse 12, David, by PRAYER puts the axe of the Lord to the roots of the wicked. “Let the wicked be taken down by their own devices and caught in their own snares. Arise, Lord, lift up Your Hand; forget not the honest, the sincere, the gentle, the needy, and the humble, and the Godly” (v 2, 12,¹wcv) David knows his God, David knows God’s will and the Power in God’s Word, he also knows that the Covenant Promises are his. God’s COVENANT PROMISES manifested for David in the natural. David knew how to get results through the Gifts of Faith, Prayer, and Petition, Thanksgiving, Praise, and Worship. David intimately knew his Lord. The same will work for us if we intimately know our Lord. It is a proven fact that what we reap depends on what we sow. To get results we must sow the Word of God.
¶ In verse 14, David goes on to decree the fact that God does see it all and just what it is that He will require of the wicked down to the last drop of blood.
14 Lord, You see it all, all of the trouble, grief, mischief, and mayhem dealt out by the hands of the wicked, and You will, at the Great Inquisition of Blood, by Your own Hand, demand justice right down to the last drop of innocent blood. We put our faith in You, for You are the Deliverer and Redeemer of the afflicted and the fatherless. (¹ & ²)
15 Break the arms (the power) of the wicked and evil man (relieve him of his power). Search him out, O Lord, until he is no more. (¹ & ²)
16 Because You are LORD and King forever, under Your Hand the wicked nations shall perish from the face of the earth forever. (¹ & ²)
17 Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord, for hearing the desires of the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the poor, for You will make perfect and establish our hearts forever. You, O Lord, do hear our heart’s desires. (¹ & ²)
18 It is You, Lord, and You alone, Who brings justice to the fatherless and the oppressed. Because of You, the day will come, and is truly at hand, when we will see the wicked man no more. (¹ & ²)
¶ When God created man, He created a magnificent, yet very risky piece of work. Highly risky in that He created us in His very own powerful Image and Likeness giving us eternal life, a heart, a mind, and an imagination to create for His honor, His glory, and our great pleasure; to love Him, to walk with Him and be an intricate part of His Divine Plan, giving us the planet earth and dominion over it. However, like Lucifer, the potential for rebellion came from an element within the heart, for with THE GIFT OF LIFE, he also gave us a FREE WILL, to choose, or not to choose. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life are the deadliest of enemies known to man and they all come from within the man himself; PRIDE being the Strong Bombastic Leader of the three. You see, there is no other creature on earth that can so thoroughly deceive himself.
¶ just where does all the confusion, contention, strife, perversion, hate, and violence come from? Just where do these strange, senseless, and ruthless creatures come from? Out of the heart of man! Out of their own hearts! Out of the wicked desires that well up in hearts overtaken by the LUST of the EYES and PRIDE. Wars begin in the hearts of men. Their hearts lust after territory and their hearts burn for fame, both of which remain just out of their reach. Because of this their unbridled emotions rage, darkening their minds with infernal imaginations that take them into the realm of madness which in turn produces illusions of grandeur in which they begin to see themselves, like Lucifer, as a god, then, when all of their sly and evil machinations are set in place the wheels of hell begin to turn, leaving in their wake unimaginable death and destruction until the day comes when they fall beneath the wheels of their very own hellish machines. (James 4:1,2)
¶ Where are You, Lord? This is one of those days I cannot see but faintly through all the shades of grey the ambushments of the enemy and the fleeting forms of bushwhackers. Where are You, Lord? Your silence is deafening! Do You not know our plight? Do You not see the strait we’re in?
And so, on this grey and Godless day, I DO PRAY,
2 Lord, the wicked, who in all their haughtiness and swelling pride are persecuting the afflicted, the humble, the poor, and the innocent: let them be taken in their own devices, let them be caught in the snares of hell which they have laid for others. (¹ & ²)
12 Arise, O LORD, Almighty God, lift up Your Hand and scatter these strange children. (Ps.144)
ALL IN TIME ©Annah Callery & Will Callery ©William & Cynthia Pub. Co. ©2013 BMI
O LORD, in the Name of Jesus, let the wicked be caught in the hellish snares that they have laid for others. Arise, O LORD, Almighty God, lift up Your Hand and scatter these strange children. (Ps. 10:2,12, Ps.144)
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¹wcv / My Emphasis/Version (always taken from the Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, & Arabic definitions and connotations)
² / My Insert(s)
