A Character Study

Would you please remain standing now for the

reading of the word? Normally, we will project

we project the the word, onto the screen.

But today, if you have your bible or

your phone, it is a good opportunity to

turn to it.

Where this summer, we are going through the

Psalms.

We have 3 more Psalms including today. Psalm

10, then Psalm 11, and then Psalm 12

the next 2 weeks before we go back

to Paul's letter to the Romans.

Again, Psalm 10 this morning. Please listen to

the reading of god's word.

Why, oh lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of

trouble?

In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor.

Let them be caught in the schemes that

they have devised.

For the wicked boast of the desires of

his soul,

and the one greedy for gain curses and

renounces the lord.

In the pride of his face, the wicked

does not seek him.

All his thoughts are, there is no god.

His ways prosper at all times.

Your judgments are on high.

Out of his sight, as for all his

foes, he puffs at them.

He says in his heart, I shall not

be moved.

Throughout all generations,

I shall not meet adversity.

His mouth is filled with cursing

and deceit

and oppression. Under his tongue are mischief and

inequity.

He sits in ambush in the villages.

In hiding places, he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless.

He lurks in ambush like a lion in

his thicket.

He lurks that he may seize the poor.

He seizes the poor when he draws him

into his net.

The helpless are crushed,

sink down, and fall by his might. He

says in his heart, God has forgotten.

He has hid in his face. He will

never see it.

Arise, oh lord. Oh god, lift up your

hand.

Forget not the afflicted.

Why does the wicked renounce god and say

in his heart, you will not call to

account?

But you do see,

for you know mischief and vexation,

that you may take into your hands to

you the helpless

commits himself.

You have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer.

Call his wickedness to account till you find

none.

The Lord is King

forever and ever. The nations perish from his

hand.

Oh,

Lord. You 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. This is the

word of the lord.

Thanks be to god. Please be seated.

Well,

in the Roman Empire of the late 3rd

and early 4th centuries,

the Christians were under severe persecution.

The Emperor Diocletian was determined

to make Rome great again,

pledging to revive the glory of ancient Rome

through a strategy

that included,

on the one hand,

restoring and revamping

the

her her cult to the pagan gods of

the Greek pantheon,

and on the other hand,

unleashing

one of the most brutal waves of persecution

against Christians

ever known.

Homes where where Christians worship were destroyed.

Their scriptures,

which they cherish so much and were so

expensive, it was so difficult to get, were

burned.

And countless believers were imprisoned,

tortured, and martyred,

perishing

by the heat of the flame,

by the claw of the beast,

or

by the edge of the sword.

It was a time of deep darkness and

despair for those who held firm to their

faith.

To be sure,

many must have questioned the apparent success

of the wicked

as they fell victim to the unhinged rage

and merciless abuse

of powerful men.

Some must have wondered how long

they would have to endure such suffering.

They must have been deeply perplexed as to

why God was silent in the face of

such evil.

Now, you may recall from last week's sermon

that some Bibles combine Psalm 9 and 10

into 1 Psalm, and one of the reasons

for this is that Psalm 10 does not

have a title.

As I said last week, there are good

reasons not to combine, not to merge

these 2 into 1 Psalm, but the fact

that Psalm 10 does not have its own

title

and is therefore not tied to any particular

time or to any particular person

does make it easier for us to appreciate,

the fact that the psalmist asks in Psalm

10 a timeless question.

He asked, where is God when there is

injustice?

That is the question that many Christians are

asking today

as Christianity is the most persecuted religion

in the world.

It is the question that Christians under Diocletian's

great persecution

must have asked themselves

as they saw their loved ones being burnt

to death or torn to pieces by beasts

or decapitated

by Roman soldiers.

It is the question that the psalmist

gut wrenching lament in verse 1,

asked when he cries out, why, oh lord,

do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times

of trouble?

Yet, as we move through the Psalm, we

see the speaker shift from denouncing

man's wickedness

to confidently asserting God's character and commitment to

justice.

So as we consider Psalm 10 this morning,

at a time when the tide of the

culture is threatening the Christian church and when

some of you are navigating

especially turbulent waters,

let us be encouraged

that our God is a God of justice,

whose character never changes and whose promises

never fail,

and who sees,

hears, and acts in his perfect timing. In

fact, the main point that Psalm 10 has

for you this morning is that God's character

ensures his justice.

God's character

ensures his justice. And as we're gonna look

at Psalm 10 this morning under 3 headings.

First of all, the character of the wicked.

Secondly,

the cry of the Christian.

And finally,

the character of God. The character of the

wicked,

the cry of the Christian, and the character

of God.

Our first setter then is the character of

the wicked, which is the focus of the

first 11 verses in Psalm 10.

In these verses, the psalmist provides a clear,

even if revolting

MRI

of the wicked man's heart.

The image this Psalm provides is doubly helpful

because on the one hand, it enables us

to identify

the toxic agents

attacking the health of God's kingdom,

which can help us protect ourselves,

protect our families, and protect the church from

such toxins

regardless of what titles they may bear.

And on the other hand, this psalm enables

us to compare our own behavior

to this MRI of the heart, that we

might quickly identify areas of concern

and change our behavior

after the spirit enables us to faithfully exercise

the Christian muscle of repentance.

So

what are the findings of Psalm 10's MRI

of the wicked man's heart?

1st,

notice that according to the first 11 verses

of Psalm 10, one of the characteristics of

the wicked man is that he is conceited.

This is revealed in verse 2 where we

read that the wicked man is

arrogant.

In verse 4, we learned that an arrogant

heart stiffens the knees. As the psalmist writes,

in in in the pride of his face,

the wicked does not seek God.

All his thoughts are,

there is no God.

The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon comments,

the wicked man thought much, but he had

no thoughts for God.

Amid heaps of chaff,

there was not a grain of wheat.

The only

the only place

where god is not

is in the thoughts of the wicked.

This is a damning accusation

for where god for where the god of

heaven is not, the lord of hell is

reigning and raging. And if god be not

in our thoughts,

our thoughts will bring us to perdition.

Indeed, perdition is the destiny of the wicked

man's conceit.

He desists from seeking after God, appeasing his

conscience by preaching to himself,

there's no God.

Now this does not mean that the wicked

man does not believe in God.

You may recall from our study of Paul's

letter to the Romans that in Romans chapter

Romans 1:18

1 verses 18 19, the apostle Paul teaches

that every human being knows

that God exists

because god reveals himself in the things that

he has made.

According to Paul, the only reason why there

are self proclaimed atheists

is that men and women, because of our

fallen sinful nature,

are predisposed

to deny God, and therefore, we work very

hard to suppress the truth, to suppress our

knowledge of God.

We know that there is a God, but

we lie to ourselves

repeating the words of the wicked man of

Psalm 10. We say, there is no God.

There is no God.

Yet we know better.

And the wicked man described in Psalm 10

also knows better as can be demonstrated from

his own words in verse 11,

where he says in his heart,

God has forgotten.

He has hidden his face.

He will never see it.

You see the wicked man is not actually

an atheist

since there are no true atheists.

But in his conceit,

he elevates himself

and he belittles God,

convincing himself that he will get away with

his sins

because he has successfully concealed his actions from

God,

so that he is entirely

outside of God's mind.

He tells himself,

God has forgotten.

The conceit of the wicked man is such

that we read in verse 3 that he

boasts of the desires of his soul, and

that even he even curses

and renounces God.

The wicked man may not do it in

public,

certainly not if it doesn't suit his own

ambitions.

But when he lowers his guard,

you may hear him boasting

in his selfish desires.

And such is the his contempt for God,

that through his actions,

through the way that he lives,

through the way that he treats others, through

the way that he prioritizes certain things over

other things, he curses God and renounces

his way.

The wicked man is so secure

in his conceit that in verse 5 we

read that he sticks out his chest and

he puffs at his

foes. In verse 6,

we see the fruit of the wicked man's

conceit.

He says in his heart,

I shall not be moved.

Throughout all generations, I shall not meet adversity.

The wicked man may not be a true

atheist, but he is a functional atheist

living as if God does not exist

or at least as if he knows better

than God,

that he is more clever than God,

mocking and abusing God's people without any fear

of God's justice ever falling upon him.

Is your heart suffering

from this kind of deadly

conceit?

Are you sinning with impunity?

Trusting that you will prosper in your sin,

foolishly relying on your ability

to hide your evil acts from God.

The second characteristic

of the wicked man revealed in the first

11 verses of Psalm 10 is that he

is cruel.

In verse 2, we learned that the wicked

man hotly pursues the poor, ensnaring them in

maliciously devised schemes that he has come up

with.

In verses 8 through 10, we learned that

the schemes of this cruel man target the

innocent,

the helpless

and the poor.

Because you see, since he is a bully,

his attacks are not frontal.

He relies on asymmetry,

attacking only the weak and using covert means.

He sets his trap and sits in ambush,

drawing unsuspecting

victims into his net.

He acts like his

father, the devil, who prowls like a lion

seeking someone

to devour.

In other words, Psalm 10 describes an angry

person

who bullies the weak, devoting much of his

time and energy to devise schemes that will

bring the downfall

of others,

delighting

as he uses his influence to crush his

helpless

and unsuspecting victims.

Do you know people like this?

Do you feel like you're under the thumb

of such an adversary?

Or instead of a particular person,

is the godlessness

of the world

oppressing your spirit as you witness society's increased

animosity and contempt even against Christianity

and against Christians?

Or worse yet,

are you the one displaying

cruelty

against others?

Do you spend more time thinking about how

to get revenge on those who have hurt

you, perhaps even wishing them ill? Then you

do pray for them to repent

so that they might be blessed by God's

grace even as you have been.

As a Christian,

you must not allow this. Because if you

do, your longing for justice against a wicked

person

might make you fall in the trap of

an even greater and more cruel adversary,

Satan himself.

Satan wants you to repay evil for evil

because revenge is a pill

that when swallowed

poisons the

heart. Let us therefore begin by first comparing

our own behavior

to this MRI of the heart, to make

sure that we are not the ones displaying

cruelty towards others, and thereby acting as childrens

of darkness

instead of acting

as children

of light.

The third characteristic of the wicked man revealed

in the first 11 verses of Psalm 10

is that he is covetous.

In verse 3, we read that the wicked

man is greedy for gain.

This is an especially dangerous characteristic

because in our materialistic society,

covetousness

can be difficult to detect.

Covetousness for money,

otherwise known as greed, easily camouflages as diligent

work. Covetousness for power

or ambition

easily camouflages

as bold leadership.

Covetousness for fame or narcissism

easily camouflages

as natural charisma,

but what ultimately gives covetousness away,

what enables this MRI to detect it, is

that covet a covetous person

always

thinks more highly of himself

than he does of others,

and therefore, he thinks he is entitled

to whatever someone else may have,

which is why he is always greedy for

gain even at the expense of others.

Covetousness

is such a wretched sin

that god etched it in stone

at the at the being the last of

the 10 commandments

as if by giving it to us last,

it would be first in our minds always.

Jesus said that all of God's law is

contained in these 2 commandments.

Love the lord your god with all your

heart, with all your mind, with all your

soul, and with all your strength,

and love your neighbor

as yourself.

But the sin of covetousness

demands that you hate God and neighbor.

It first causes you to despise God's providence,

being discontent

with the good gifts gifts that God has

given you. And then it causes you to

despise your neighbor, being envious of the good

gifts that God has given him or her.

To be sure,

it is an especially heavy burden

to endure the oppressive weight of a covetous

person, who will not think twice before hurting

you or hurting others for the sake of

his own personal gain.

But it is even a more grievous

sin

when our own hearts are infected

by this toxic

poison.

The 4th characteristic

of the wicked man is that is revealed

in the first 11 verses of Psalm 10

is that he is cunning.

In other words, he is skillful in his

deceit

and evasion.

We see in verse 7

where we read of the wicked man that

his mouth is filled with cursing

and deceit

and depression.

Under his tongue are mischief

and iniquity.

In John 844,

Jesus calls Satan the father of lies, asserting

that there is no truth in him.

The wicked man of Psalm 10, therefore,

acts just like his demonic father since his

mouth spews deceit,

curses,

oppression,

mischief,

and iniquity.

It is so easy to minimize the damage

that our words can cause.

The old adage states

that sticks and stones may hurt my bones

but words will never hurt me.

The saying is intended to teach children

resilience

against

verbal insult insults.

However,

the truth is that even children know how

much damage words can cause.

God created the universe by speaking it into

existence,

but human beings often use speech not to

build up,

but to destroy,

to tear down.

Lies and slander

can cause irreparable damage to a person's reputation,

severing relationships,

inflicting

emotional damage,

and even causing financial loss as credibility is

undermined

by false accusations.

In a fallen world that hates Christ and

hates his church, if you're a faithful Christian,

at some point you can expect

to be slandered on account of your faith.

Wicked people will despise your genuine faith in

God

because they will not understand it.

And because they don't understand it, they will

hate you for it. You must be prepared

to endure such trial.

But also,

as a follower of Christ, you must be

especially careful

to guard your own tongue.

Be mindful of your language.

Do not lie.

Do not slander.

Do not curse.

Use speech to edify others, to build up

the church, to glorify God.

Psalm 10's MRI of the wicked heart

reveals a heart that is conceited,

cruel,

covetous, and cunning.

All of which are characteristics

of the prince of darkness.

May our hearts MRI

reveal the characteristics

that befit

the children

of the light.

So having looked at the character of the

wicked, let us consider our second header, the

the cry of the Christian.

In verses 12 to 15, we see that

despite

the significant persecution the psalmist

and and his fellow brothers and sisters are

enduring,

he does not despair,

but raises his cry up to God saying,

arise, oh Lord.

Oh God, lift up your hand.

Forget not the afflicted.

Why does the wicked renounce God and say

in his heart, you will not call to

account?

But you do see

for you 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.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer.

Call his wickedness to account till you find

none.

The prayer of the psalmist has 3 parts.

Each of 1 contradicting

1 of the 3 assertions

that the wicked man makes in verse 11.

First,

even though the wicked man said in verse

11 that god has forgotten,

the psalmist here calls it calls God to

forget not the afflicted,

but rather to arise

and to lift up his hand.

He asked in verse 13 why the wicked

should renounce God and believe that God will

not call them to account.

When I was a kid, one of my

uncles owned a lion for a brief period

of time before he donated it to the

zoo.

He kept the lion in a large cage

in one of his ranches, and I remember

that one day, I accompanied my dad to

go feed this lion at the ranch and

we brought one of our dogs, a beautiful,

strong,

and very brave boxer.

When he got to the ranch, our dog

was going crazy because he could smell the

lion.

As soon as the truck stopped, the dog

jumped out of the truck and ran straight

towards the lion, who was lying down in

his cage with his back to us.

As our dog was running toward him and

barking loudly,

the lion suddenly arose and turned toward us.

And the very moment

that the lion turned around, our dog froze

in his tracks and ducked his head.

The mere sight

of the lion's face

was enough to make our dog reconsider his

life choices.

In verse 12, the psalmist calls God to

arise and lift his hand,

that the wicked might reconsider

his life choices.

And the psalmist calls God to action

by contradicting the lies of the wicked,

the lie that God had forgotten.

2nd, the wicked man said in verse 11

that God will never see.

But the psalmist in verse 14 confesses to

God, you do see.

He asserts that God knows every sin of

the wicked and that he brings justice by

his hand, for he is the helper of

the fatherless.

The wicked man may not sin with bold

may sin with boldness,

but in the end, he will not sin

with impunity.

Therefore, the helpless can commit himself to God

because God will repay.

3rd, the wicked man said in verse 11

that God has hidden his face.

But in verse 15, the psalmist implores God

to call the wicked to account,

breaking the arm of the wicked and evildoer.

Thus, the prayer of the psalmist is a

complete contradiction

of the narrative

inside the wicked man man's head.

God has not forgotten.

He is not blind.

He will repay.

The wicked man may raise his fist in

defiance against God and against his people, but

in the end his arm will be broken

and God's arm will be lifted up high.

This is helpful for

us because the psalmist writes this psalm

while undergoing

tribulation.

He cries out in verse 1, remember, why,

oh lord, do you stand far away? Why

do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

That cry

describes the circumstances

in which the psalm is written,

with the faithful under the thumb of the

wicked, and the psalm is wondering where God

is.

It is as if the lies of the

wicked,

that God is blind and absent and uncaring

are beginning to take hold

in the heart of the psalmist,

causing his heart to skip a beat and

to falter.

But in the psalmist prayer,

he contradicts the lies of the wicked, thereby

resetting his heart's rhythm and restoring it to

health.

Therefore, beloved Christian,

like the psalmist, whenever your heart falters,

contradict the lies of the wicked one

and remind God and yourself

the truth.

And, no, this is not simply a therapeutic

exercise to help you feel better.

It is a prayer strategy that is anchored

in the truth because the psalmist faith and

confidence are grounded

in the character

of God.

This brings us to our final header, the

character of God. We saw already

in the psalmist prayer that contrary to the

lies of the wicked man, God is not

forgetful,

but knows the truth.

That he is not blind,

but sees all things.

In other words, God is omniscient.

He knows and sees

everything.

We also saw that God is not hidden,

but is ever present.

In other words, God is omnipresent. He is

everywhere so that no one can hide from

him.

And we also saw that God is not

weak,

but will arise and execute justice.

In other words, God is omnipotent.

He is all powerful.

After confessing these mighty

attributes of God, the psalmist is emboldened.

And in verses 16 18, he declares,

the Lord is King forever and ever,

and the nations perish from his land.

Oh, Lord.

You hear the desire of the afflicted. You

will strengthen their heart. You will incline your

ear to do justice to the fatherless

and to the oppressed, so that man who

is of the earth may strike terror no

more.

The psalmist offers this bold declaration,

not because it has come to pass,

but because God has promised to defend his

people

and to bring the wicked to justice.

A promise of this magnitude

would make a liar out of every person

because though any person of goodwill

would have the desire to carry out justice,

no mere human being has the ability to

execute that justice to the uttermost.

We may ensure

that justice

is executed

in our own small spheres,

and in fact, we should

ensure that justice is executed in our small

spheres because we have seen that God is

a God of justice, and as his people

we are to strive

to be men and women of justice.

But we do not know all things,

so we will be ignorant to the plight

of some.

Nor can we see all things,

so we will in some of our judgments.

Nor can we overcome all opposition,

So our actions will be thwarted at times,

but God shares none of these limitations.

So he can

make these big promises

to bring all the wicked to justice and

to vindicate all of his people.

God's attributes ensure

that he can keep these promises

as well. And more importantly, God's character ensures

that he will

keep these promises.

When Diocletian

was persecuting Christians

with vicious cruelty,

his concede made him believe

that

through cunning,

he could bring to Rome and to himself

all the glory

that his heart so desperately coveted.

He thought that he was bullying defenseless Christians,

when in reality he was provoking

the everlasting God.

In an unprecedented move in Roman history,

Diocletian

inexplicably

abdicated the throne

1 year after beginning the great persecution against

Christians.

Then

within a year of his abdication,

the tetrarchy that he instituted

to rule Rome

began to collapse,

and Constantine the Great was pronounced

emperor in the west.

Within 5 years,

Diocletian would be dead,

and Constantine would reunify Rome

as her first

Christian

emperor,

changing the course of civilization

forever.

Diocletian worked,

but Christ won.

Therefore beloved Christian,

when the flames of tribulation cause your heart

heart to falter

and your faith begins to fail,

focus not on the strength of your adversary,

but look instead

to the mighty attributes

and righteous character of your God.

Indeed, let us heed the words of the

author of Hebrews,

who in chapter 12 says, since we are

surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight and

sin which cling so closely.

And let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us, looking

to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of our faith, who

for the joy that was set before him

endured the cross,

despising the shame, and is seated at the

right hand of the throne of God.

And he shall come again with glory

to judge both the living

and the dead. Let us pray.