READ Psalm 6–10
I’m not a big football fan, yet obviously the winner in many CFL games is determined in the last two minutes. Fans dare not go home before the final whistle. What does this have to do with God? As I read the psalms, the authors seem to know that the judgments of God are not often seen when the need is most felt. However, they are certain that He will come through the winner, perhaps in the very end of time when Jesus returns.
In other words, even before their prayers are answered, the psalm writers know that they will be. This is expressed many times, often in great humility:
Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment . . . . O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah (Psalm 6:8–10; 7:1–5)
Along with deep assurance of being heard, the psalm writers also express thanks and praise God:
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High . . . . O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. (7:17; 8:1)
They honor God as Sovereign, Creator of all things, and that He loves the people He has made:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor . . . . I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. (8:3–5; 9:1–2)
They also know that God is eternal, just and righteous as well as their protector and worthy of their trust. As the poster on my desk says, “Jesus never says goodbye!”
The Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. (9:7–10)
Their love for Him is expressed verbally: “Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! . . . .Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah (Psalm 9:11; 20) And they are not afraid to tell others that we are mere mortals!
They also know that when arrogant and wicked people abuse the poor, they will be caught in their own schemes. Those who boast in themselves and curse the Lord or say there is no God may prosper at times and it may seem God has overlooked them. They curse, are deceitful and oppressive, full of sin and abuse toward the innocent, helpless and poor, but God will not forget the afflicted. The psalmist says, You will “note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless” and He will “hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.” (10:2–18)
Right now, the world is in a mess and violence is on the uprise. However, reading these words of assurance brings joy to my heart. The attitude of the psalmists is contagious! It makes me want to hang in until the end, to see the One who appears to be the underdog make His move and finally overcome all evil and win the game!
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