SPEAK FOR THE WEAK
Opening Prayer
The psalms are full of expressions of doubt and frustration. Bring your frustrations to your heavenly Father now in prayer.
Read Psalm 10
1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”
12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you ever thought you would do things differently in the world than God does?There is sin in the heart of every Christian—that’s why we need Jesus—but we cannot deny that in our world, there are many, many people committed to doing evil. Human traffickers, drug cartels, pedophile rings, war crimes… the list goes on and on. Where is God? Why doesn’t he intervene (1)? Isn’t it telling that these questions are asked of God in Scripture—here we have an invitation from God to bring him our frustrations and our doubts. We can do this within his everlasting arms—he even gives us the words to say!
But this really is God’s world—he is Creator and King (16). The evil act as if there is no God and no consequences for what they do (3,4,11); but faith leads us to trust in God’s justice—they will not get away with this (15,16; Matt. 25:46; Rev. 21:8). That confidence brings us peace and a desire not to be like them (Eph. 5:6,7).
God cares deeply for the weak and oppressed; he sees them, he hears them, he helps and encourages them (14,17,18). The power of the Holy Spirit is available to anyone who would turn to God in faith (Luke 11:13). We often wish God would act now; but the eternal King (16) knows what he’s doing—we can trust the one who gave himself for the cross.
Apply
Is there someone you know (or yourself!) who is weak and oppressed? How can you speak life over them today?
Closing prayer
“This is my Father’s world, I rest me in the thought…” (Maltbie D. Babcock, 1858–1901).
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