Deliver Justice for the Oppressed

God is Just and Merciful

Justice and Sabbath Laws

Psalm 10:12-18 The Message

12-13 Time to get up, God—get moving.
    The luckless think they’re Godforsaken.
They wonder why the wicked scorn God
    and get away with it,
Why the wicked are so cocksure
    they’ll never come up for audit.
14 But you know all about it—
    the contempt, the abuse.
I dare to believe that the luckless
    will get lucky someday in you.
You won’t let them down:
    orphans won’t be orphans forever.
15-16 Break the wicked right arms,
    break all the evil left arms.
Search and destroy
    every sign of crime.
God’s grace and order wins;
    godlessness loses.
17-18 The victim’s faint pulse picks up;
    the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood
    as you put your ear to their lips.
Orphans get parents,
    the homeless get homes.
The reign of terror is over,
    the rule of the gang lords is ended

For Reflection

Perhaps the key to understanding this Psalm lies in verses 15 and 16.  The psalmist is not talking about physically breaking arms.  The right arm is a symbol of giving to others. The left arm represents the act of balancing the altruism of the right arm. It is that act of a parent who helps a child learn to walk and has the wisdom to let the child fall during his first steps.

The psalmist is criticising those who falsely show concern for others but hide the self-indulgent motive behind it.  He is speaking about breaking those actions that manipulate the loving and merciful acts of helping and correcting. The wicked distort the truth to exploit one's desire to do good things in ways that will isolate one from the will of God.

Even though the wicked seem to go unpunished and the righteous suffer, God will not let those who seek him to be blinded by the temporal seductions of life. But through God's grace, those who choose the path of abiding in God's love will find peace even through the worst of times.

Pray

Pray, study scripture and build up your forces to resist false claims of pleasure.  Pray so that you will seek the treasures that God's has in store for you.