Day 10 of 150

on 1-28-10

Ps 10

¹Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?
Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
²In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
³For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire,
And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.
⁴The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him
All his thoughts are, "There is no God."
⁵His ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
⁶He says to himself, "I will not be moved;
Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity."
⁷His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
⁸He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he kills the innocent;
His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.
⁹He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;
He lurks to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰He crouches, he bows down,
And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.
¹¹He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it."
¹²Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand
Do not forget the afflicted.
¹³Why has the wicked spurned God?
He has said to himself, "You will not require it."
¹⁴You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand
The unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the helper of the orphan.
¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever;
Nations have perished from His land.
¹⁷O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear
¹⁸To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

This morning on my way to work, like most mornings, I was listening to my local Christian radio station (waoy). Due to certain circumstances I was up and at it earlier than usual and was able to catch Focus on the Family w/ Dr. James Dobson (love him!). His program of course mentioned Haiti, but their focus was on slavery and such in the Sudan area of the world. Then at the end of the program the host John Fuller closed with acknowledging that many of us listening were going through hard times as well...maybe not as bad as those in the Sudan and Haiti but oppression seems to be ramped throughout all the earth. So with the psalmist I cry...

Lord, how long will You allow the suffering of Your chosen? How long will You wait while the wicked enemy prevails over Your children? How long will You hold back Your wrath? One last thing, my King, how can I serve You? Here I am, Lord, You have me all to Yourself...use me. So i don't see my own suffering and loose hope. In every step that is Your will give me peace in it. You know my heart's desire. All this is asked of You in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son my Savior-amen