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Are my abusers going to get away with what they have done? We are looking at Psalm 10 in our series in the Psalms. Am I going to get justice for the things that they have done to me? Is it wrong to pray for my abusers to be punished? That is next on the Wounds of the Faithful podcast.
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Psalm 10
[00:00:00] Are my abusers going to get away with what they have done? We are Looking at psalm 10 In our series in the psalms And so we’re going to be talking about that. Am I going to get justice for The things that they have done to me So, that is next on the Wounds of the Faithful podcast. [00:00:23] Welcome to the Wounds of the Faithful podcast, brought to you by DSW Ministries. Your host is singer, songwriter, speaker, and domestic violence advocate, Diana Winkler. She is passionate about helping survivors in the church heal from domestic violence and abuse and trauma. This podcast is not a substitute for professional counseling or qualified medical help. [00:00:49] Now, here is Diana. [00:00:57] Hello everyone, welcome one [00:01:00] and all to the podcast. I really am grateful that you’re here with me. So thankful that you take the time to listen. I work very hard to bring you something that’s worth listening to, so I hope that you’re enjoying the study on the Book of Psalms. Now, I said I wasn’t going to go in order, but [00:01:21] I think I’m probably going to go in order. I’ve been reading through the psalms and I just keep reading until I find a psalm that, oh, I really like what this is saying. I want to talk about this one. So that would be Psalm 10 this week. [00:01:36] And if there’s one that you would like me to do, please contact me by email or social media, whatever your preference is, and I will study that one. [00:01:49] So I wanted to talk about something that I’ve experienced this week. You know, I had some really stressful things happen to [00:02:00] me the last couple weeks, [00:02:02] I would say traumatic for me. Maybe not to somebody else. I’m not going to get into the specifics yet as to what I went through because I’m still processing it. [00:02:13] I had been going to what’s called cognitive behavioral therapy. We had spoken about biofeedback, which that is something new for me. So it’s basically hooking you up to, something that monitors your heart rate and, monitors your breathing. [00:02:33] And it’s just a strap around your waist. And then, you know, your finger goes into one of those, things that monitor your heartbeats. So very easy, super, painless, of course. And then you just sit there and you breathe for a few minutes, not changing anything, just to get a baseline. And then she talked to me about breathing [00:03:00] exercises. [00:03:00] Now, I’ve done yoga before and they always tell you to take a deep breath when you’re under some sort of stressful event. And I always thought it was just, okay, you breathe in, you breathe out. [00:03:11] And yeah, that feels good to a certain extent. But she told me about a different technique where you inhale for four seconds, you hold your breath for four seconds, and then you exhale for four seconds, and then you rest for four seconds, And it starts all over again. And you do this for, oh, maybe on a timer, two or three minutes. [00:03:36] So we did this in the office, and I was watching a screen, so you can see, when to inhale, when to hold, when to exhale, and they have colors, which was really neat. And, then she said, well, there’s a free app on the phone that you can use at home. [00:03:52] In the office, [00:03:53] when she showed me my results compared to what my baseline was, it was a huge [00:04:00] difference. My, breaths. were lined up with my heartbeat. My heartbeat was slower, which was calm. My nervous system was calm. [00:04:08] And I couldn’t believe that it worked so quickly, that just breathing would change anything. And so I said to her, most doctors, they would just give you an anti anxiety pill and be done with it. And she said, well, this is much faster and it’s free and there are no side effects. So we always want to try that first before we go diving into medication to treat stress or anxiety. [00:04:38] So I was really impressed with that. And so I do want to encourage you to try some breathing. You don’t have to do the biofeedback being hooked up to the monitor. Just download an app. This one is called Paced Breathing and you’ll see quite a lot of them if you have Android or iPhone. [00:04:59] [00:05:00] I’m feeling really good, feeling really calm. [00:05:03] And it, it actually helps when I wake up in the middle of the night at 3am and, um, can’t get back to sleep because of a bad dream or these negative thoughts coming into my head. It’s hard to go back to sleep. These breathing exercises I can probably do when I’m stressed out at work too. [00:05:24] So that is free, I thought that would be helpful for you today. I am not a medical professional, I always have to put that caveat in there, but um, everybody breathes. This is free. It doesn’t have any side effects. [00:05:38] It’s helpful to anybody. So, uh, if you need more help, don’t be ashamed to reach out to a mental health practitioner, someone that is licensed in your state or your country where you live, and they’re there to help you and it’s confidential. [00:05:54] So please do that. If you need any resources, I’m here for you to help you. I have a lot of [00:06:00] connections. [00:06:00] So, the second thing I’ll say is I’ve got a guest I’m interviewing, next week. And she is, someone with, cerebral palsy and she has reached out to me to tell her story about being abused by a female. [00:06:16] She sounds like a delightful person. I think that’s all I’m going to say on the introductory comments. Let’s go into [00:06:25] chapter 10 in the Psalms. I’m not going to do a whole lot of, introduction on this psalm. There isn’t a title on the top of this one. Like the other ones have, so a lot of scholars believe that it shares some similar themes with Psalm 9. So they think that it’s originally the second half of Psalm 9. [00:06:50] The modern arrangement for the Bible is not how it was originally written on the papyrus or the scrolls. Of course, it was in Hebrew, [00:07:00] Aramaic, and Greek. so these chapters and verses are just so those of us that read modern languages, there’s an organized way of reading the scriptures. [00:07:12] But this psalm stands on its own lament. And it’s talking about the prosperity of the wicked, but in the end, Confidence in that God is going to bring judgment on the wicked eventually. [00:07:26] So here’s a quote By Martin Luther about this Psalm There is not in my judgment a psalm which describes the mind the manners the works The words the feelings and the fate of the ungodly with so much propriety fullness and light as this psalm So if you don’t know Martin Luther, he’s one of the Reformation founders. [00:07:52] Uh, Google that. [00:07:53] A, really great, man of the faith back in the day. [00:07:57] So, we’re going to start reading [00:08:00] here, verses 1 through 4. Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? the wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. [00:08:15] For the wicked boast of his heart’s desire. He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. [00:08:29] Oh, here the psalmist asks a question that we all ask, okay? Those who follow God are always asking this. The inactivity of God, we always have anxiety and the concern. [00:08:47] And we’ve talked about this many times. And the feeling is, is that God is far away, especially in times of trouble. [00:08:57] And it’s not usually the [00:09:00] trouble that gives us so much stress. It’s that We think that God’s hiding from us. That is what really brings terror to our hearts, right? [00:09:10] So, in the Old Testament, Israel is always talking about being delivered. Being delivered from their oppression. There’s always that hope of deliverance. When are we going to be delivered? And this distress that the Israelites had experienced was so intense that it was bringing them to despair. [00:09:35] So the wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. [00:09:39] So in a different version, ESV says, The wicked hotly pursue the poor. I kind of like that rendering. It’s a bit more descriptive. [00:09:50] So the, the evil proud man that just terrorizes the poor and approves of other [00:10:00] people [00:10:00] doing this, is sinning against God. Renouncing God is sinning against God. God is in none of his thoughts. You don’t care a lick about God. You don’t think about him at all. [00:10:13] So yeah, obviously [00:10:15] Renouncing the Lord is not a good thing. [00:10:18] Human beings don’t think that not seeking after God is a sin. That’s the problem. God is creator and he is sovereign over his creation? And to not acknowledge that [00:10:31] in the natural order of things is a sin. Ignoring God as an expression of our independence and perceived equality or superiority to Him. And that’s a harsh statement. [00:10:46] Atheists, they believe, man is his own god. We’re not gonna get into atheism or why people don’t believe. There is plenty of evidence that there is something bigger than [00:11:00] us, something supernatural in this world and beyond that is hard to ignore, but people do ignore it. [00:11:07] And this boggles my brain that there are people I’ve talked to that don’t believe that evil exists, that everybody is good. Uh, not everybody is good. No. And you just have to turn the news on to see that there is evil in this world. Yes, there are good things in this world. [00:11:28] There is good and evil, and they are fighting against one another. We’ve talked about punishments and, and hell before. People are against the concept of hell, but they want justice for whatever so and so’s done to them. We want this person to go to prison. To suffer the death penalty, or this person to at least be fined. [00:11:53] Community service, something to be punished . [00:11:57] Um, so with God he [00:12:00] knows who is Innocent or guilty. [00:12:02] His justice is perfect. He knows our hearts. He knows the truth of what’s going on. When we reach the other side of eternity, we all give an account for our lives, for our choices, for if we Accepted God or we rejected him. And the punishments will be distributed justly. [00:12:24] I really am not the judge. God is the judge, and I trust him to dole out proper justice. I mean, we’ve all heard of people that have gone to prison, and they were innocent, but in God’s throne room, God’s court room, that’s not going to happen. Nobody is going to go to hell unjustly. So put those thoughts to rest. Let’s move on to the next few verses. [00:12:52] Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. It’s okay to ask God to [00:13:00] punish the people that have abused you. Plots is a big word. They planned this against you. This was not an accidental abusive relationship. It’s never just an accident to be continually abused. they plan this. [00:13:16] An example is Ravi Zacharias. And I’ve heard a preacher say that, well, they just fell into sin and, it could happen to any of us. Well, no, I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with that because I know some facts behind Ravi Zacharias and his sin. Now he’s dead. And so we can’t, put him in prison for what he did, but he abused those women that gave him massages. [00:13:46] He brought them over from another country illegally, and he deceived not only his wife and this congregation that he would preach in front of, he also called [00:14:00] himself doctor when he did not have a doctorate in theology. [00:14:03] He planned all of this and it took a long time to, carry those things out. It was not a one time incident. This was years. Years of forcing these girls to do things that they should not have had to do. [00:14:20] So, these are plots. He fooled everyone. [00:14:24] So let’s move on here, verses five through seven. His ways are always prospering. They’re talking about The Wicked. His ways are always prospering. Your judgments are far above, out of his sight. As for all of his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved. I shall never be in adversity. [00:14:48] His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. [00:14:55] So when you’re, high up on the mountain and you’re stepping [00:15:00] on a little man, you never think that anything bad is going to happen to you. I am king of the hill, I am always going to be wealthy, in power, an easy. life and I’m going to step on everyone on the way up the proverbial success ladder. [00:15:18] These wicked men seem to enjoy constant prosperity, and he thinks that God’s judgments are far away. Hey, out of sight, out of mind. [00:15:28] And we’re thinking, if only God would demonstrate his judgment to this wicked man right now, he would change his ways. We don’t like to hear that God gives people a long time to repent and change their ways. Can’t really accuse God of false judgment when he gives men a long time to change. But it’s okay for us to appeal. To God to knock him off of his high [00:16:00] horse. [00:16:00] His mouth is full of cursing, deceit and oppression. What a word picture. Right? [00:16:06] You know, he’s not afraid of his enemies. He is got a lot of pride. Everything that comes out of his mouth is what’s in his heart, right? [00:16:15] He is. He is one of those people. What comes out of his mouth is oppressive. You know, people like that. mean, that kind of speech, cursing, lying, threatening, those things are all destructive. [00:16:29] You can’t really be a follower of God, and constantly have stuff spewing out of your mouth like garbage. You can’t. [00:16:39] We talked about last week that if you’re a child of God, God loves you and he disciplines you because he doesn’t want you to go that direction. [00:16:49] You’re going off the wrong path. Get back on the right path. These evil people, they are not, followers of God. They don’t care. But [00:16:58] these [00:17:00] evil people don’t think that God’s gonna hold him or her accountable. [00:17:04] The, this evil person, he doesn’t want any prophets to teach him, no priests to stand in his place to atone for his sins. He does not want any king over him to, rule over him. He doesn’t think he needs Christ to redeem him or her, nor the Holy Spirit to sanctify him. He does not believe in providence, a creator. [00:17:30] He does not fear judge. [00:17:32] I, follow the speed limit and I don’t kill people because I fear that policeman who will arrest me. I fear appearing before a judge to account for my wrongdoings. I have been before a judge for speeding tickets or turning right on red or whatever, uh, which is small potatoes, I know. [00:17:54] but I really felt like I was in the wrong place. God was telling me, you don’t belong [00:18:00] here. You shouldn’t be here. You should be following the laws. They’re there for a reason. You shouldn’t be, doing these things. And a lot of laws are a huge deterrent because they’re expensive. [00:18:12] Even if you don’t go to jail, the fines are huge. Have you gotten a speeding ticket lately? It’s a few hundred dollars now. Uh, yeah, I was embarrassed in front of the judge. I had to, plead my case why he should be merciful. [00:18:27] anyway, let’s read verses 8 through 11. He sits in the lurking places of the villages. In the secret places he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the poor. He catches the poor when he draws him into his net. [00:18:51] So he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength. He has said in his heart, [00:19:00] God has forgotten, he hides his face, he will never see. So what’s a theme in this section of scripture? A secret? Lying in wait? [00:19:09] A lot of us have experienced abuse in secret, haven’t we? Uh, a lot of our abusers were narcissists. That means on the outside to everybody else, they seem like fine, upstanding citizens. Leaders of their community, likable, wonderful people, eloquent speakers, volunteering at soup kitchens. But when they go home, they’re abusing his or her families. So, and they lie in wait. Hmm. Again, that’s all back to that planning stages. To lie in wait for somebody, you’ve got to plan ahead. You got to follow them, know what their schedule is. You got to figure out, okay, how can I trap this person? into this net. [00:19:57] And I am, uh, a [00:20:00] sucker for any kind of salesperson, I have been suckered into a timeshare before, which I thought was eyes wide open. Man, those guys can sell ice to Eskimos, let me tell you. [00:20:11] So, yeah, you have to plan ahead to. Take advantage of somebody lying in wait for them, and it might be just emotionally lying in wait. I’m gonna wait until just the right time to spring my insults at this person. Just when they are, at their weakest, their worst day imaginable, I’m gonna tell them this to their face. [00:20:38] To slander them, say horrible things to them, call them names, give them terrible news, abandon them, whatever. And the evil, they do this because, again, God’s never going to see this. He’s not going to do anything about it. [00:20:55] They murder the innocent. [00:20:57] This isn’t talking about self defense [00:21:00] you know, breaking into your home and trying to stab you kind of thing. It’s the innocent, the helpless, [00:21:06] Fighting against somebody who cannot effectively fight back. I’m thinking of my future guest who, who is disabled, who cannot fight back on her own. [00:21:18] So this behavior. That the psalmist is describing about somebody that’s evil. We understand why the psalmist’s blood is boiling as he thought about this smiling, self assured sinner and the pleasure he took in his sin. You ever see somebody gloat? You just, you really just want to choke them, right? [00:21:42] You put your hands around somebody’s throat because you’re not only doing something unspeakable, but you’re gloating in it. You’re reveling in it. [00:21:52] And there’s a big difference between the pain that a believer feels when he thinks that God has [00:22:00] forgotten. And the sinner who takes false hopes in the idea that oh God’s never going to see this I’m never going to be punished for this. [00:22:08] Let’s read verses 12 through 13 [00:22:12] Arise, oh lord. Oh god, lift up your hand. Do not forget the humble. Why did a wicked renounce god? He has said in his heart you will not require an account [00:22:25] so in the ESV, verse 12 says, Forget not the afflicted. [00:22:32] I really like that. [00:22:34] It is assumed that David wrote this psalm because it’s arranged in the midst of several psalms. attributed to him, Psalms three through nine, 11 through 32. [00:22:48] So maybe this was a psalm asking God to stop Saul, because, It wasn’t his place to, lift his hand [00:23:00] up against the king. [00:23:01] It would be an error to think that the wicked are not going to be punished because we haven’t seen it. If the abusers aren’t punished right now, that means it’s not going to happen. But that isn’t true. [00:23:15] Let’s read 14 through 15. [00:23:19] But you have seen, for you observe trouble and grief, to repay it by your hand. The helpless commits himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man. Seek out his wickedness until you find none. [00:23:37] So, [00:23:39] again, it’s, the psalmist praying for to punish this evil man. [00:23:46] And the psalmist is stating You help the fatherless, [00:23:50] You are, the father of orphans. The helpless reaches out to you for help. God has seen the trouble and grief, [00:23:59] [00:24:00] okay, 16 through 18. So here he is stating his confidence in the judgment of God. The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations have perished out of his land. Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear. To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more. [00:24:28] So, in the ESV it says, Oh Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted. [00:24:33] You will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear. [00:24:37] So it sometimes pays to explore different translations. The original language, the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, they will be the same. [00:24:48] So we’re not going to get into Bible translation, but try a few different translations that give you a little different perspective, [00:24:56] Why is the psalmist so confident? He [00:25:00] remembers the past victories of God against the cruel enemies that he’s had. So if this is in fact David, and [00:25:09] then he’s remembering the Canaanites who occupied his land, they were his enemies. God gave them victory over his enemies at the time. [00:25:19] But the promise in here is that God will strengthen the hearts of the oppressed. [00:25:24] And sometimes we think that God’s going to be our genie in a bottle. That if we pray and ask him or fill in the blank, then he’s going to do it. He’s going to keep us from any kind of pain or, any kind of trials. That isn’t realistic. God doesn’t promise that we’re not going to suffer in the future. [00:25:41] We are. Just breathing, we’re going to suffer. Being a Christian, suffering goes along with being a Christian because Jesus suffered. [00:25:50] If Jesus suffered, then his followers will. But what he does promise is that he is going to strengthen us to be able to get through these trials. [00:26:00] He is going to be there with us. [00:26:02] He’s going to be working behind the scenes. He will be with us. That is his promise. [00:26:08] And, this psalm ends with let the man of the earth be oppressed no more. Wow. [00:26:15] There’s a lot that we could say with that verse. [00:26:19] And there are plenty of Twitter conversations I’ve read this week about, abuse and oppression and those who cause, the abuse. A lot of blame shifting. Well, if we didn’t have men in this world, then there wouldn’t be any abuse towards women. And then the men say, well, if the women weren’t here, then we’d get along just fine without them because they’re the troublemakers. [00:26:42] This is back and forth. [00:26:43] But the reality is both men and women are sinners. Both men and women are abusers. I’ll testify to that. [00:26:51] There are definitely women that abuse. They are definitely male, abuse survivors. Human beings, men or [00:27:00] women, we just want to be treated like human beings, with value, with respect, with honor. We want the same. freedoms and opportunities. [00:27:09] I wouldn’t describe myself as a feminist, but women should have the same freedoms as men. [00:27:15] I don’t think that getting rid of men is a solution because whenever something is taken away, there creates a vacuum. There would be a woman or, Many women that would rise up to take that place of power and oppress or abuse her fellow Women. That is human nature. Yes, there are evil women out there. [00:27:40] There are evil men out there, but God has designed us To work together to depend on one another but not to abuse one another. It always goes down to the golden rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated. [00:27:54] Period. That is a great rule to follow it would solve a lot of problems in [00:28:00] this world if we all followed that. [00:28:02] That is the end of this psalm. Again, not very long. You can pray this psalm yourself. And you can pray and ask for God to deliver you from your enemies and to punish your enemies. Dish out that justice God. [00:28:18] I’m really hoping it’s you know soon, but if not, Please give out perfect justice In this life or the next. So [00:28:27] it is a lovely spring day today. It is 75, 80 degrees here. I’ve been working out in the yard, planting some seeds, tilling the ground, definitely connecting with nature. [00:28:42] Uh, I’m enjoying the weather, so I really hope that you are enjoying spring wherever you are. So we’ll see you next week, God bless you, bye for now! [00:28:54] Thank you for listening to the Wounds of the Faithful podcast. [00:29:00] If this episode has been helpful to you, please hit the subscribe button and tell a friend. You can connect with us at DSW Ministries. org where you’ll find our blog along with our Facebook, Twitter, and our YouTube channel links. Hope to see you next week!