Year 8, Day 167: Psalms 10-12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The psalms for today are similarly grouped.  A common thread runs through the first and the last psalm.  The psalmist wonders how it is that the Lord sits back while evil prospers and righteousness fades from the land.

This is a fairly common dynamic among human beings.  We hear the prophets speak frequently about the growing evil among the people.  We hear Jesus speak in the Gospels about the corrupt generation around Him.  Paul is so frustrated with the corruption f the Jews around Him that he vows to only minister to Gentiles after Corinth!  These feelings have continued even into the modern age.  Every generation has people within it that feel that the world is slipping more and more into self-centered evil.  It is easy to go through life and wonder why God can sit back and watch evil prosper.

This is a good theological question to answer.  The reality is that God gives us free will.  He has given us this life to choose what we will.  We can choose good or evil; it is our choice.  After all, if we didn’t have the ability to reject God and His ways, would there actually be a choice to follow God and His ways?  Would that choice be meaningful at all?  The reality is that in order to give space for people to choose relationship with God, God must also give space to allow people to choose their own ways while rejecting God’s ways.

In each of the first and the last psalms, and especially in Psalm 11, there is a very important point to bring out.  While the psalmist does wonder how God can sit back, the psalmist never questions God and His omnipotence.  In each case, the psalmist believes in God’s ability to protect the poor, counter the oppressor, and judge over evil.  God’s ability is not what is in doubt here, it is His timing.

This is really important.  It is one thing to doubt God’s timing in the midst of our own human inability to see and know everything.  We can doubt God’s timing because we don’t see the big picture.  That’s understandable.  What we want to avoid is questioning God’s existence or His power.  It never should be a question of ability, we can question when.

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