“Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
~ Psalm 10:1
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever felt like how the psalm song author – who was David, must have been feeling when he began scribing the psalm song that is now Psalm 10? David begins this psalm song by saying in verse 1 “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Have you ever wondered where God might be hiding – especially when something bad has happened to a guy, gal or kid who you know is a Christ-follower? Have you ever wondered where God might be – especially when everything that you try to do goes totally wrong? Have you ever wondered why God does what He does – especially when everything is in a really bad way in countries and among people groups scattered around an orbiting orb called planet Earth? When a guy stole the cash box from out of the desk at Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home, it could have been a whole lot worse than what it ended up being. Your grandmaa will always have a snapshot photo stuck in her mind of a cowardly thief waving a small, metal cash box at her head to keep her from getting closer to him as he was going through Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s office door and back out onto the street. Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home is located on Irving Park Boulevard in Chicago. Your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn moved to Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home about three months after they arrived in Chicago so that your grandpaa could go to Moody Bible Institute. After living for a couple of months in a house that is located in west Chicago, your grandmaa and grandpaa ran out of money. Your grandmaa and grandpaa out of nowhere were offered the opportunity of living in Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home as caretakers of the funeral home. Moving to Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home resolved the dilemma that your grandpaa had of having enough money to feed his family and at the same time, be able to take all the classes that he needed to take in order to be able to graduate from Moody Bible Institute in three years. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were not afraid that a guy would one day walk into Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home to steal what he could find. Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s front door had always been left unlocked during the day so that any guy or gal could walk into the funeral home whenever they wanted. On the day that the bad guy walked through Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s front door, neither Don Zeiger or Jake Mueller – who are the owners of Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home, was working in the funeral room office. When your grandmaa heard the short, sharp ‘brinnng’ of the funeral home’s front door opening, your grandmaa walked from the small apartment where she, your grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn were living in the back of the funeral home up to the front of the funeral home to find out who was there. This is when your grandmaa encountered an unscrupulous guy looking for things to steal in Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s office. Because your grandpaa had gone to his scheduled classes at Moody Bible Institute and because your dad was in the school that he was going to, the outcome could have been a whole lot worse because your Aunt Lynn could have run up front to see who was there or the rotten guy could have decided to hit your grandmaa with the metal cash box or the evil guy could have realized that your grandmaa was probably the only guy or gal in the place and . . .
Do you know what a bad guy looks like? Do you know how to recognize who is a bad guy? Do you know what a bad guy does? David explains that bad guys are depraved, arrogant guys who feed on weak guys, gals and kids. David says that bad guys devise schemes and plots so that they can take advantage of weak guys, gals and kids. David says that bad guys boast of the bad things that they have done. David says that bad guys encourage other bad guys to revile and despise God. David says that bad guys’ pride does not leave any room for God’s ways to exist in their hearts. David says that bad guys are vain, conceited guys who do not obey laws. David says that bad guys sneer at guys who they do not like. David says that bad guys have mouths that are full of curses, lies and threats. David says that bad guys have tongues that whenever they are used spew trouble and awful yuk. David says that bad guys look for ways to ambush the innocent and helpless so that they can murder them. David says that bad guys think that God no longer really cares – that He has covered His face so that He cannot see what is taking place on planet Earth. David says that bad guys live prosperous, wealthy lives. Your grandpaa knows that he does not have to look very far to see bad guys doing bad things because they do not have God – as God the Spirit, checking their soul and/or spirit to not do the bad things that they are doing.
David ends his psalm song with a very optimistic note. David knows that God see troubles and grief. David knows that God encourages the afflicted and hears the cries of the distressed. David knows that God defends the fatherless and oppressed and that He takes away fear. Have you ever asked God to break a bad guy’s arm? David tells God to break the arm of a bad guy. Your grandpaa knows that God wants him to do what David wrote – which is to tell God about a bad guy so that God can ‘break the guy’s arm’. After a bad guy one day stole the metal cash box out of the desk that was in Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s office and then threateningly waved the metal cash box at your grandmaa as she showed up at the door that opens into Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s office, the Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home’s owners decided to always – except when there was a viewing, keep the front door of their place locked. Your grandpaa knows that he has to keep his heart always locked from bad spirits – who are Satan and his cohorts, who will do whatever to get into your grandpaa’s heart in order to get him to do bad things
Psalm 10 (718)