Evil, Break Its Arm

Psalm 10:15

Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness.

David’s prayer does not sound very loving. Taken out of context it is bad religion! Yet, he voices a thing we all feel. Where is the justice? Psalm 9 and 10 talk about evil. They describe the reality faced by all of us and the reaction of one Godly man. I find this helpful.

Description of an evil person (Ps. 10:2-11)

• Takes advantage of the weak
• Boasts about his perversions
• Has no interest in God
• Is proud about all his achievements
• Is sickeningly self assured
• Cannot be trusted
• Doesn’t care who he hurts
• Thinks God doesn’t notice

Description of a prayer against evil (Ps. 9:13-14; 19-20; 10:1,12-18)

• I am persecuted at the gates of death
• Lift me up so I can praise you at the gates of heaven
• Wake up God!
• Don’t forget the weak
• Why? WHY?
• You see our pain, now act.
• Make evil people feel the hurt and fear they inflict, stop them.
• Make wicked people answerable, judge them.
• You are King forever, show us
• You DO hear
• You DO encourage
• You DO defend
• So, we hope for the end of ALL terror.

Description of God’s victory over evil (Ps. 9:3-10; 15-18)

• Enemies of the good stumble and perish
• These enemies fall into their own trap and die by their own designs
• The RIGHT wins!
• The community of evil is destroyed
• The memory of that community is blotted out
• The needy are remembered
• A new government is established
• This government is strong and acts with perfect justice
• This government provides refuge for the oppressed
• This government is established forever under God

Description of David’s praise when evil falls (Ps. 9:1-2, 11-12)

• Whole hearted
• Vocal
• Emotive
• Musical

Description of this Psalm

• It is a lament
• It is attributed to David
• It is a poem in two parts – Ps 9 and Ps 10
• The verses follow the Hebrew alphabet in order – it is an acrostic with some exceptions (that's how we know the two psalms belong together).
• It starts with praise (9:1) and ends with hope (10:18) – this is the posture of faith in the face of evil
• The question “Why?” is not answered
• The question “When?” is not answered
• The question “Who?” is partly answered
• The question “What should I do?” is answered
• The question “Does God care?” is answered forcefully, "YES!"
• I must be careful to let the psalm judge me as well as others
• Reading it when I feel worried or depressed about evil helps me

Questions

How do you respond to this two part Psalm?

How does it encourage you? Challenge you? Change your thinking?