Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us together now. And we ask, Almighty God, as we come before you now, that you, O Lord God, would speak to us through your Word. It's you, Heavenly Father, we want to hear. And we thank you for your Word. We thank you that we've read it. We thank you for this psalm, and we pray that you, O Lord God, would speak to us through it. May your Holy Spirit take this psalm and make it alive in our hearts and our lives. May your Holy Spirit help me to communicate the truth that you would have us to hear from this psalm. Keep me from saying anything that's wrong or not right. Keep me from saying anything that would be unhelpful. Just fill me with your Holy Spirit and enable me to communicate to your people and to those who don't yet know you the truth from this psalm. And may the truth set us free. May the truth be a blessing to us. May the Holy Spirit take that truth and apply it into our hearts and our lives. And may each one of us leave here having heard you and being blessed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Psalm number 10. We've likened and I've used the illustration of the Psalms being like Spotify. We have a playlist. And the Psalms are the playlist of the people of the Old Testament. The Psalm is the playlist of God's people in older times. And as I was thinking of this illustration, and as I was looking on Spotify myself, and one of the things I like to do is I like to either listen to something that's totally obscure, that has no plays, yes? So no one else has listened to it. Or very few people have listened to it and I think I'm doing something a bit exclusive here. Or I go with the crowd and I listen to something that loads of people have listened to. And oftentimes there's not much difference between the two. Just one happens to be very popular and no one really knows of it. But I wondered with Psalm 10, how many plays it had. When did you last read Psalm 10? When did you last quote from it? When did you last say to someone, that is my favorite psalm, there's such an important verse in there. You see, I think Psalm 10, like so many psalms, can become a bit of a poor relation. I think this is what happens with the book of Psalms, and this is why over the next few years, little block by little block, we're going to go through the psalms. Because there are so many missed. You will have a favorite psalm or two. You will have a go-to psalm. And probably your psalm is a similar favorite psalm to some of the people. And we have, oh, we like the 23rd. We like this. We like that. We like the other one. But if we don't go through them like this, if we don't go through them systematically, we will miss some of them out. And there's lots of psalms that are unknown and unsung. And that's a great pity. I was thinking, why is that? Why are these psalms unsung and unknown? And maybe it's we are embarrassed by the content. Maybe we don't like the fact that someone starts their song off by saying, why God? Maybe we don't like it when the psalmist opens up and shares all his, not joys, we like a good joyful psalm, don't we? But when he brings out all his sorrows. Or when he's asked for his enemy's teeth to be broken. Perhaps we get a bit embarrassed or upset by this. Anyway, we're going to go through. And we're in Psalm 10 today. And Psalm 10 starts with, Why? And the first heading that I want to bring to you is, Just Why? No Ifs. Just Why? No Ifs. And this psalm starts with, Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? You see, this psalmist is crying out, and he's asking God, why? And he doesn't do it just at once. He says, why, O Lord? And then he comes again, and why do you hide? And the accusation, the complaint is the same both times. Why do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? The psalmist is unashamedly saying how he feels. He feels abandoned. He feels let down. He feels like God is far from him. He's lonely. He feels let down. And he's crying out. And this is possibly a bit strange, isn't it? Because this is in the songbook. This is what those people would have sang in those days. This wasn't just a private prayer. This was an open prayer. And David was openly confessing to the Lord, and openly confessing to the people around about him, that he felt that God was far away. He felt that God had hid himself in the time of trouble. And then he's asking the Lord, and he's coming to the Lord, and he's crying out. Now this psalm isn't directly attributed to David. It hasn't got one of those little headings that we have, helpfully, to know whose it is. But most of the scholars, well all the scholars, the Pope that I read, very much attribute this to David for various reasons, which I buy into, I'm happy with that. And David, is who I'm going to go with who wrote this psalm. David, we know, is a man after God's own heart. In 1 Samuel 13, verse 14, when Saul is being given problems and God is going to choose a new king to be there, and it says, the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. And that same line, that same narrative, is quoted in Acts 13 and 22. And so, I just want you to draw this out to you, because this is David. This is a man after God's own heart. And this man, who has a close relationship with God, comes before God, and he's brutally honest about his feelings. He's absolutely open and transparent. He is upset. He feels let down. He feels lonely. And he writes this out into a song, into a poem. And this wasn't a private poem for his own use. This was a poem that everybody read. This was a poem and a song that everybody sang. Friends, it's not wrong to open up to God and tell him how you are feeling. It's not wrong. It's absolutely right. Here is the man of God. And he's opening up to God. And he's expressing himself to God. And he's asking that question, why? Why? And friends, and I want to particularly address this to my African friends here, because I believe there's a challenge that you have in your lives. And that is, you have this notion that you're not allowed to say anything negative. Because if you start saying negative things, that's what happens. Well friends, this is what has happened. He feels far from the Lord. And by saying it doesn't make it happen. It has happened. And then friends, what you say doesn't make things happen. It doesn't. That's mumbo-jumbo. That's witchdoctory. That's voodoo. That's the medicine man. That's old stuff. That's not God's Word. And here is the psalmist in his distress and he is telling God. And brothers and sisters, we need to do this. Perhaps some cultures have taken it on too far. Perhaps us English do too much complaining to God. I don't know. But what we do need to realize is it is absolutely right and proper, according to God's Word and according to this example, to be able to open up and express yourself to God. And it is totally okay to ask the question, why? Now I'm going to caveat that, because if you ask a why with an if, that can be wrong. Let me illustrate that. You may have heard people say this, if you are a God of love, why did you let that happen? Yeah? If you are a God of love, why did you let that? That's a wrong why, because the if is there. The if is showing that you don't trust the Lord. Or if you are a God, if you're in control of everything, why did you let that happen? And what you're showing there, what someone is showing there, is the question isn't why, the question is an accusation about God. The question is, God, I know better than you. And it's not really about why. But the psalmist doesn't do an if here. The psalmist is in this situation, and the psalmist's cry as he brings this to you is, Why, O Lord? Why, O Lord, do you stand afar off? He doesn't say, If you love me, God, why do you stand afar off? That would be wrong. That would be bad news. But he brings that question, why? The if shows a wrong understanding of God. And so that's why I've set that title for the first point here. Just why? No ifs. We can ask God why. We can tell God how we're feeling. We can be real in our problem. And for some of you right now, where you're at in your life, this psalm might be real to you. You may be feeling this. You may be in this situation right now. You may feel that God is far from you. Perhaps this morning when you got up with eager intent, and you got your Bible out, and you're going to read it, and you struggled, it just felt like God wasn't there. Or maybe you've been praying for something. Honestly praying for something. Something that's really important to you. And there's just silence. And there's no answer. Maybe you feel that God is playing with you. That he's hiding from you. And every now and again he jumps out and goes, peekaboo! And you feel a bit better. And then he's gone. And this is how you're feeling. Maybe you feel that 2024 was so bad that nothing could go worse than 2025, and now you're these 18 days into it, you're suddenly thinking, no, it's worse. And then you're saying, where is God? Is He hiding from me? Maybe you seem like you're on the wrong side. Everyone else is winning. Everyone else is achieving. And you're getting nowhere, and if you want to amplify that, go to Instagram, because everyone else on Instagram is winning. Oh, that's a portrayal of it. And you're not getting there, and you've got a sense of what's going on. What's happening. The people who seem to have an easy life, and your life is just tough and difficult. And it's just not working, and God's not happening, and God seems far off. And if that is how you're feeling, ask God why, and tell God. Speak to God. Share it with God. God wants you to talk to Him. And David opens this up further. He explains what is going on. And in one sense, he is telling God what he knows, because God knows all this. But at the same time, God wants His children to speak to Him. And David is speaking to Him. And David opens up. And our second point as we look at the next 10 verses from 2 to 11 is, just what did the wicked do? Just what did the wicked do? And I find this fascinating that there is a progression in the wickedness of these wicked people. that starts with pride. C.S. Lewis. Those of you who remember, C.S. Lewis was Manuel's favorite writer, and I don't think we ever got a sermon from Manuel without a C.S. Lewis quote. They were always there. So this is for you, Manuel. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes that pride is the anti-God. The state The position in which ego and self are directly opposed to God. It was through pride that Lucifer, or the devil, became wicked. Pride leads to every other vice. It's the complete anti-God state of mind. And David, as he explains what this wicked person does, he starts off by talking about them being proud. Verse 1, in arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor. In arrogance, in pride. And then verse 3, it goes on, for the wicked boast, that's pride, in the desires of his souls. The one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In verse 4, in pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him. The wicked that are coming against David, the enemy of David, the problem in David's life, the troubles that he is facing, are motivated and fueled by proud people. David describes the wicked as those who are proud. David describes the wicked as those who think that they are better, think they are more important than other human beings. David points to the wicked and not only do they think that they are better than other human beings, they think they are better than God in the pride of His face. The wicked does not seek Him, talking of God. They're proud. They're arrogant. They're self-contained. And they think that they know everything. And they think they are in control of everything. And they are full of themselves. Friends, we need to be really, really sensitive and serious about this. Because it is pride that leads on to these other things. If there's pride in your life, you need God to deal with it. Because God resists the proud. And these wicked people go on to do wicked things, but their wickedness has been fueled. Their wickedness has been started by pride. They become entitled. They want everything to be their own way. They want to get it no matter what. And the proud person is only a step away from becoming a Yahoo boy, a scammer. The proud person is only a step away from becoming a drug dealer. The proud person is only a step away of becoming a prostitute. And why is that? It's because they want things that they can't have. They want things that they think are theirs. They're boastful of their own things, and they need to sort themselves out. And they do it by going down the path of wickedness. The proud become entitled to what they want, and they will do it whatever way they can. And they use their words of persuasion, they use trickery, and they get what they want. It was a poor, unfortunate A lady in France, you may have seen this in the news this last week, and she was scammed out of 800,000 euros. It could be the Range Rover that you see on the road here paid for that. The pride takes people to do things. Verse 7. His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit, oppression under his tongue, mischief and iniquity. Pride leads to lies. leads to cheating, leads to this wickedness. And the Psalms are not silent on this. Psalm 59, if you go there to verse 12 of Psalm 59, it talks about the sins of the mouth, the words of their lips. Let them be trapped in their pride. What they're saying is being fueled by their pride for their cursing and their lies that they utter. The wickedness gave birth to pride. And pride has given birth to these lies. To this mouth being filled with cursing, wishing bad upon others. This mouth telling deceit, telling lies. Again, Psalm 36 and verse 3 talks about the words of the mouth are trouble and deceit. He is deceased to act wisely and do good. There's oppression. There's violence. There's racism. There's harassment in what they say and how they live. There's mischief, and mischief sounds nowadays a bit of a sort of a fun word. I got up to a little bit of mischief. No, this is wickedness. This is trouble. This is horrendous stuff. This is linked with iniquity, which is sin, which is falling short of the mark of God's glory. As we saw in the children's talk, In Matthew 15 verse 18, Jesus was speaking and he said, but what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and defies a person. This wickedness in this person described in the Psalms starts in pride and the pride is in the heart and the pride bubbles over and it comes out of the mouth. And if the wicked can't satisfy their pride with the words and the threats that they have, they resort to violence. And the person that started off as just a respectable person who was a bit proud, who then became the Yahoo boy or the drug dealer, is just a step away from getting involved with violence to get what they want. The wicked are violent. Verse 8, 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 its thicket, he lurks that he may seize the poor, he sees the poor when they draw him into the net, the helpless are crushed, sink down and fall by his might." Well, for David, that was a very real ambush in a very real physical situation and people plotting like that. But the picture language there works exactly for a scam, doesn't it? The picture language there works for many of the horrendous things that are happening in the world right now. In the city of London now, there's this craze that's going on of phone snatching. And people are just there on their phone, and the next thing, the phone has vanished, and someone's cycled off with it, and it's gone. And it's the wicked. Or even worse, there's a lot of violent crime going on. If someone's got a nice watch or a nice phone or something, someone will pull a knife on them. And it happens. And where did that start? It started in pride. It developed into lies. And it sees itself birthed into violence. And the real tragedy of these wicked people, as David describes them here in this psalm, is our third point. They just do not seem to care. They just do not seem to care. You see, when we think about these things, we'll be horrified by them, won't we? You'll be horrified to think about doing violence to somebody else. You'll be horrified to think about scamming money out of somebody who hasn't got the money to give it to you, but you've stolen it from them. And we are horrified by that. But are we horrified by pride? Because that's where it starts. But the wicked, just do not seem to care. David tells us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit what the wicked are thinking. And then they were trying to appease their consciences. They're trying to justify their actions. In verse 4, the second part of verse 4, it talks to them and it says, all his thoughts are, there is no God. How can the wicked sleep at night? Well, they try to sleep at night by telling themselves there is no God. And it's no different in this day and age than it was back then. People act as if there is no God. People try and tell themselves there is no God. Scientists and philosophers have got on their side, and everyone is trying to tell us there is no God, because if there's a God, there's a problem, and we have a problem with God, and there's wickedness, and we don't want wickedness. We want to live in our pride. We want to live in our sin. We want to get what we want. We want to live in the moment. We want to prosper. We want these things. And so the best thing we can do is say there is no God. And that's what his thoughts are. They tell themselves there is no God. But it's really interesting, the insight that we get here, because in verse 6, he says in his heart, I shall not be moved throughout all generations. I shall not meet adversity. You see, his battle is with people. as he sees it. He's talking before about God, but now he's talking about people. The proud think that they are invincible. The proud think that no one is greater than them. The proud think they are unstoppable. They think they have all the answers to life, and they are telling themselves these things. But time and time again, we see the opposite. And we see the horrors in the news, don't we? Just this last year, or maybe the previous year, there was an alleged mafia boss in Cyprus killed by another mafia boss. Pride against pride. I'm bigger than you. I'm more important than you. Bang. What happens? Wickedness upon wickedness upon wickedness. They think they have the answers. They think they are greater than people. In verse 11, he says in his heart, God has forgotten. He's hidden his face. He will never see it. The wicked are a little bit confused here. A little bit confused because earlier in verse 3, what does he say? There is no God. And now he's saying God's forgotten. Well, make up your mind, wicked man. What is it? Is there a God or isn't there a God? You see, the reality, God has put a conscience in everyone's hearts and minds. And even the wicked can't run away from God. And so when their conscience troubles them and they realize they can't just say there is no God, what they then just say, well, God has forgotten. He's hidden himself. I'm smarter than God. I can outwit God. I can hide from him. He's hidden his face. He will never see. He doesn't see what I'm doing. We can hide what's going on. They would like to think that God doesn't exist. They know He does exist. There's a problem, so He doesn't see. He doesn't see. He brings that. And then in verse 13, He says in His heart, you will not call to account. I mean, if God can't see, and if God isn't there, Why do you say you won't call to account? He actually realizes he knows that there is a God. We all know there's a God. We all honestly know that God sees everything if we're truthful about it. And so what he tries to pacify his self within his conscious with there, and tries to get around to say, well God's not going to hold me to account. Just wait till I see God on the day of judgment. I'll give him a piece of my mind. I'll tell him what's what. He won't call me to account. And this is really grieving, isn't it? Because it's not only the wickedness that the wicked do, but it's this mindset. And we see this mindset, and we see it in the context of that great wickedness, and we think this is awful. But friends, do you live like there is a God? Do you realize that God sees everything that you do? And is that how you're living your life? Or do you think that God's not really going to judge you? You see, the psalmist goes on, and the most grieving part of this psalm, and I think the biggest difficulty that David has, and one of the biggest difficulties that we have, is that in point four, he just seems to get away with it. The wicked just seem to get away with being wicked. They just seem to get away with being not caring about it. It seems to work out for them. And that was, I think, one of the hardest things for David. And it's a theme that comes up in other psalms. This is not the only psalm that says this. Other psalms say these things. In verse 5 he says, His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are on high, out of his sight. As for all his foes, he puffs at them. And it seems to David that these wicked men who were proud of heart, these wicked men that lied and cheated, these wicked men that did murder, were just prospering. It was working out good for them. They hadn't got a care in the world. Everything was working out that way for them. And I'm absolutely sure that is something that you and we can relate to. We see and feel that as we look at the world around us. And we see the wicked prosper. And we think, how is that? And we see the wicked prosper and we think, maybe it is worth it. And we see the wicked prosper and we think, they have gotten away with it. They have the easy life. It looks like they are winning. And by the world standards, they are winning. They have got the cars. They have got the houses. They have got the stuff that the world tells us is so, so important. They look like they have made it. And many of you will see this every day. I don't doubt many of you have been at the bus stop in the rain. Getting wet. And then the Yahoo boy drives past in his Mercedes, and he's looking cool, and he's warm and dry. And there you are, living honestly and righteously, and your shoes are wet, and you're going to a home in an apartment where you'll barely be able to afford to heat it, and he's going off to his mansion, and it looks like the wicked are prospering. Or maybe you've had that situation where you are hungry and you're in the market and you are wandering around to see what you can get with your 40 TL. And the drug pusher is filling his second trolley with all the luxury and all the delicacies and all the food and all the drink and all the stuff he could ever imagine. And you're looking on at that. And you're having a hard time at work, and you never get paid on time, and you always seem to get the worst jobs, and yet that person who gives the boss sexual favors never seems to lack a thing. And everything is smooth for them. And we look on, and we see this wicked world, and it looks like the wicked are getting away with it. It looks like the Yahoo boy has it made. It looks like the drug pusher, the prostitute, the immoral. It looks like the cheat. It looks like they've all got it right and we've got it wrong and we can feel let down and we can feel that God is far from us. And in situations in some parts of the world where the authorities harass Christians, and the Christians look on and they see the mafia getting away with mafia activities, and yet the police come and raid their church. They think, what is going on here? The wicked are prospering, and we are under fire, and we are having difficulties. And friends, it's in that situation that we can cry out to God and say, why? And don't be ashamed of that. Friends, if you start lusting after the lifestyle of the wicked, you've got it wrong. And that's why we need this psalm. Because this psalm allows us to go to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and open our heart and say, why? This is a mess. I am hurting. This is wrong. I can't afford this. I can't do this. Whatever the situation is, this person is against me. I am being oppressed. This racism is falling on me, or whatever it is, and we can cry out, and we can say, why? And the psalmist brings us to what he does. And the last point, as we bring this in a long closing, so I don't think we're going to close soon. This is a big point. We need this. He says, just pray. Just pray. Verses 12 to 18 is prayer. We could say the whole of this psalm is his prayer, but he brings particular requests and petitions to the Lord in verses 12 to 18. He has cried out why. He's expressed and shown God the wickedness and the hurt that is there. And in verse 12, he says, Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand and forget not the afflicted. He then goes on and says, In verse 14, the second part, to you the helpless commits himself. You've been the helper of the faceless. You see friends, we are to just pray, but we're to remember to ask for help. And asking for help is the exact opposite of pride. We need to humble ourselves, you see. And I think sometimes we miss out, brothers and sisters, because we do not humble ourselves, because we don't want to account ourselves as being afflicted, helpless, and fatherless. But friends, that is who the Lord helps. The Lord does not forget the afflicted. He helps the helpless. He is the helper of the fatherless. And so friends, we need to come to our God in humility. It was pride that got the wicked in the problem in the first place. And pride is what can keep us from benefiting from the blessings of the Lord. We need to humble ourselves, and we need to ask for help. We need to come and recognize ourselves as afflicted, or recognize ourselves as helpless, or recognize ourselves in that picture language, or maybe even actually as being fatherless. This guy called Chris Bedfield, I've got no idea who he is, but I want to quote something that he said in regard to this psalm, in regard to this point. He said, are you struggling in life? Are there circumstances you can't handle? If so, you are in a good place. No, no, no, no. I'm going to read that again. If you are struggling in life, are there circumstances you can't handle? If so, you are in a good place. That may sound cold and absurd, but it's true. When we come to the realization that we need the Lord in our lives, it is then that He begins to work. If you reach the end of yourself, seek the Lord. This is where the psalmist is. He's reached the end of himself. He's seen the wicked prevail. He's seen what they're doing. He feels let down by God. He feels that God has gone away. And what does he do? He comes to the Lord humbly. He comes to the Lord at the end of himself. He comes to the Lord and says, Arise, O Lord. Lift your hands. Forget not the afflicted. The helpless commits himself to you. You've been the helper of the fatherless. James 4 verse 6, I quoted it at the beginning. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Friends, maybe you are struggling so much in your life because you're trying to sort it out yourself. And God doesn't want you to sort out for Himself. He wants you to come to Him as your loving Heavenly Father. And He wants you to ask Him for help. He wants you to come to Him asking Him. He knows your situation. He knows what's going on. But this is the way God works. He wants us to come to Him. And we need to remember, secondly, in this whole area of just praying, is we need to remember who is helping. Verse 16, the Lord is King forever and ever. The nations perish from this land. Who's helping? The Lord. The Lord capital letters there, the Lord Yahweh. The I am who I am, the self-existence, the king of kings, the lord of lords, the God who threw the stars into space, the God who holds everything together, the God who knows the beginning from end, the God who knows the what-ifs, the God who is in control of anything, the God who never makes mistakes, the God who is all-powerful. This is who you are praying to. This is who you are asking help of. Who else could we go to greater? There is no one greater. And friends, when we pray, let us remember we are praying from time to the eternal God who is outside of time. We are praying from a moment to a God who is in infinite, ongoing, eternal glory. And any friend here who is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Lord has your eternity sorted out in Christ. In your moment, your time now is in His hands. Your problem, believer, is a time problem. It's a now thing. And the eternal Lord you are taking to your problem. is outside of time. He is eternal. And Jesus Christ came into this world, into this time, to deal with our greatest problem of sin. And He's given us an eternal answer. And our own personal wickedness and rebellion, our own personal lies, our own personal pride, our own personal cheating, that has been dealt with. And we have a hope and a purpose. And at the end of time, Jesus will return to judge the wicked. And this is who we're praying to. This is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It's the God who is not only able to help us right now, it's the God who saved us eternally. And it's the God who is going to come back and to judge the wicked. And the psalm doesn't hide away from that fact. You see, David's enemies were men and they would die. And their prosperity is in time, and their problem is an eternal one. And if you don't know Jesus is your Savior, you may think that all is good now, and you may even be prospering now, and you may even have fun now, but your problem is an eternal one. And that person who passes you in their Mercedes and splashes you and looks like they've got everything now, they will have to answer to God for everything that they've done. And the drug dealer will have to answer for every life that he has wrecked. And every wicked person will be put on trial. And that's why I read about the rich man Lazarus. Because the rich man Lazarus is almost a parallel to what's going on here. In life, it looked like the rich man was prospering. And in eternity, it was horrendous. And the poor man Lazarus, in his sickness and illness and his destitution, looked like he was losing. And his eternity was in the bosom of Abraham, as the picture language puts it. And this is where the psalm is. And this is the God that we are praying to. And we need to remember that this is who is helping us. And our help isn't just a momentary help. Our help is an eternal help. Our help is from a God who knows the beginning from the end. There is a God. He does see everything. He does care about justice and righteousness. He will call it to account. And those of us that are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins forgiven, we have an eternity and we have a hope and God will take care of us now. But what of the wicked God? And that is the contrast. That is the big contrast of what's going on here. And I think there's no doubt in my mind that the Psalms are put together like this in order. Psalm 10 comes after Psalm 9. Of course it does. And what's the last line of verse 9? Let the nations know that they are but men. The wicked that come against us, they're but men. And the Lord who is helping us is King forever. And so as we pray, we need to remember to ask and ask for help. We need to remember who is helping. But lastly, we need to remember the promises in verse 17 says, Oh Lord, you will hear the desire of the afflicted. You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that the man of the earth may strike terror no more." Friends, do you get what's going on here? It's an amazing promise. As we pray, we are told here that God will hear the afflicted. It's times two. It's poetry. Times two means it's got a highlighter. It means remember this. Oh Lord, you hear the desires of the afflicted. And in the end of that same verse, you will incline your ear. God is hearing your prayers. God is hearing you when you cry out, why? God is hearing you when you are complaining about the wicked and you don't know what to do. God is hearing you when you ask for help. And he has promised to strengthen you. He's promised to strengthen you in their heart. This is what God will do. We can come confidently to God. He's not saying He's going to take the problem away. He's not telling you that you will prosper and everything will work out well. He's saying, I will strengthen you. So there's a promise for now, and then there's a promise for then, because he goes on and says, I will do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed. The justice that we receive may not be in this lifetime, but it will be for eternity. It will be for eternity. The oppressors of the fatherless, the oppressors and the wicked, They for eternity will be dealt with and the man who is of the earth will strike terror no more. There is a day and an age coming when there will be no more sin and no more pain and no more tears and no Psalm 10s. We're not going to get Psalm 10 out in heaven. and sing this psalm in heaven. It's finished. It's done with. There's other songs for us to sing then. This is for now. This is for the moment. And this is to help us to look forward and to remember that this world is not what it's about. Our God has beaten it. And the wicked have prosperity now. But their problem is for eternity. And believer, you may have problems now, but your prosperity in Christ is for an eternity. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we live in a sad, sin-sick, messed-up world. And some of these issues are very, very, very real to us. We're in a church family and there's hurting people. People hurt by circumstance. People hurt by others. And we see the wicked around us prospering. And oh Lord God, we do cry out to You why, and we thank You that we can. But Heavenly Father, for each one of us that knows You, may we realize that Although this moment may be painful, you do hear us, and you are strengthening us, and there will be justice. And for any here who don't know you, O Lord God, we plead with you. We plead with you that even though they may be prospering now, even though they may be having what they think is a nice life now, may you make them acutely aware of their eternal problem. and that they need to call out upon your name, and they need to be saved. Oh Lord God, break the hard heart, bind the wounded, draw us close to you, and may we all leave in the knowledge that you are the God who looks after the fatherless. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.