Summer Road Trip ‘08 Day Ten: Psalm 10:1 Distant Traveler “O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?”

Psalm ten is depressing. Let’s just make the point and go on. Sometimes it appears that the Psalmist is having a bad day (a bad life) and everything, everyone is against him.

I’ve wondered in the past why such passages were in the Bible at all. Shouldn’t the Bible be all about encouragement and uplifting ideals? Verses like “they seem to think that God is dead” (vs.4) don’t seem to help much when we’re feeling distant from God.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Psalm 10’s of the Bible are there to show us that we’re not the only ones who feel distant, discouraged or depressed. It’s not a sin to feel any of those things. Sometimes life is hard and things really are going against us. But, and this is an important but…

But in spite of the appearances, in spite of the discouragements, in spite of the set backs – God is still on our side and He has our best interests at heart.

The LORD is king forever and ever!

The godless nations will vanish from the land.

LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless.

Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.

You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,

so mere people can no longer terrify them. (vs.16-18)

This part of the journey will not last forever and when we look back at the road we have traveled we will have learned valuable lessons and enjoy the blessings of the present in even greater ways.

Enjoy the Journey!
Pastor Paul