Living in a sinful world often keeps our minds focused on all that is going on around us, rather than what God is doing in us and training us for in the future. The fact that the Lord does not come in and deal with the wickedness around us tends to frustrate us and may even make us wonder whether God does not care about what is happening. At the first reading of this psalm, it may seem like whoever wrote it is complaining, but then, when thinking about it, it looks like he is asking the Lord to come quickly and do something. When we are anxious about a matter, everything seems to go so slowly. Time seems to move slowly when we are alone. People seem slow in coming when we need help. Doctors seem slow in coming when we are hurting physically. Healing seems slow when we are sick. It is in times like these that we need to keep speaking to our Lord in prayer and hearing Him speak to us in His word.
In Psalm 10, which seems to be a continuation of Psalm 9, the activities of the wicked seem very aggressive, and it appears to the writer that they are getting away with whatever they want, with no consequences. The anxiety of the innocent, the helpless, and the righteous caused by the wicked was not alleviated in any way. Descriptions of the wicked indicate that the believer was focusing all of his attention on the activities of the enemies of God. They were succeeding in grabbing all they could, even while they spoke against God. They were prospering and boasting of all they had accumulated. They had no interest in God and were living depraved lives.
The poor, both those poor in material things and poor in spirit, were objects of scorn and derision. If people got in the way of the wicked, they mocked them, cursed them, oppressed them, and deceived them. In some cases, they even murdered people to get them out of their way. Those who were considered poor were like animals to be caught and done away with because they were a hindrance to the advancement of the wicked. Even worse, they don't think God cares or even knows what they do, if there even is a God.
In following through on this description, we become aware of what the scriptures say about the antichrist, who will become well-known and feared in the tribulation. These descriptions fit him. The things said about the wicked are all descriptive of "that Wicked (that shall) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." We understand that when God takes steps to right wrongs and to deal with sin and sinners, it will happen suddenly. Leading up to that time,
He gives a time in which mercy restrains judgment, and grace provides an opportunity to repent of one's sin and turn to the Savior in their guilt, but with the true humility of one who knows he is wrong.
The wealth of the wicked is neither a sign of approval nor disapproval by God, because wealth can go as quickly as it came. Evil in heart and deed is the cause of just judgment that will fall on the wicked. God does not forget the sins of the wicked, and even though a sinner may think he can continue in sin without any consequences, payday is coming. As much as we would like to see justice done right now, we need to remember, "God does not settle all accounts in October." Our impatience does nothing but sidetrack us. Justice will be done by God.
Those who are in trouble now because of their faith in God, those who are grieving over losses caused by the wicked, need to remember our King reigns. The fatherless children who have been abandoned by the wicked will be helped. Those who have taken by force or theft that which does not belong to them will be brought to justice. God is still with His people today. He is our King now and forever. We can live with confidence despite all that goes on in this world because we know that from the nations to the ends of the earth, righteousness will reign.
The man of sin, the Wicked, the antichrist, will be cast into the lake of fire. Justice and righteousness will be worldwide in a time yet to come. As for the evil currently at work, God is not unaware of it. He will do just what needs to be done. Our responsibility is to keep on living and working by faith and leave the consequences of sin to the sovereign will of God. He has the big picture in view all the time. Our Lord is King forever and ever.
PSALM 10. A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked. This psalm would seem to be a call to the Lord to judge a man who is the very embodiment of sin. It no doubt has reference to the man of sin, the Antichrist. It is formed by an acrostic based on the last half of the Hebrew alphabet. The New Testament description of this man of sin is in 2 Thess. 2:3-4. The descriptions here are similar to those in the New Testament. Those who refuse to worship him will suffer economically, will be persecuted, and will be put to death. v.1. The silence of God: Why does God remain silent while the innocent suffer? Why does it seem the wicked go unpunished? At times like this, we must call on our faith to act. These are times when we learn to trust God even when we cannot understand what He is allowing, and they challenge us to endure to the end. v.2. The prayer of the oppressed: make the oppressors suffer the consequences of what they have devised for the righteous. v.3-11. The profile of the enemy: he is a boaster, a blasphemer who curses God. He is self-sufficient and lives as if God does not exist. Everything seems to be going his way, and he doesn’t have the difficulties that we have. The normal conduct of life is beyond his wicked ways. He doesn’t understand spiritual truth and divine principles of living. He looks at others with contempt. He is profane, a deceiver, a gangster, like a lion looking for prey to blackmail, extort, and force into servitude. He overcomes his victims who are in despair. v.12-18. The cry of the faithful: it is time for God to work; stop the forces of evil and call them to account for their crimes. God does see and keep account of injustices. He will repay in full in the coming day. He is the friend of the orphan and hears the cry of the faithful. The day of vengeance will come when the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. God will hear and He answers the prayers of the meek. He will give grace for the trials of the present. The day is coming when the man of sin will terrify the poor and defenseless no longer.