Psalms 9-10
"When God Seems Distant"
It actually worked out for the best that we didn't cover Psalm 9 last Time. Why is that? Because Psalm 9 is a pair with Psalm 10! In some Bible translations they are joined as one Psalm. Together they form a Hebrew acrostic poem. What's that? You will find out tonight....
If you have ever felt like God was distant at a crucial or painful time, you will connect with the heart of these Psalms. You will find out that your experience is not uncommon. Both Psalms deal with the presence of wickedness. Psalm 10, in my opinion, is particularly disturbing in its accuracy!
The problem and issue we all struggle with is that God seems to do nothing about wickedness. In fact, the wicked are empowered by this fact and are hard core atheists doing whatever they want and getting away with it.
The poor are taken advantage of, the weak are oppressed, and the wicked grow more and more arrogant. In figurative language, the wicked are described like a lion, lying in wait to catch prey. Like a bystander taking a cell phone video of a crime but failing to intervene, God seems to remain uninvolved. Does He even see?
How does the David resolve this tension? Does he struggle to praise God? Does he lose heart because of what he experiences? Does he join the ranks of the atheists? Does he become skeptical of God? I guess you will have to ......
....VIEW AND SEE!
Steve