Psalm 10. You got it there in
front of you? Stay with me, we'll look at these
18 verses here together in Psalm 10. The title of the message
is taken from verse 16 where it says, the Lord, the Lord is
King. How long has He been King? From everlasting to everlasting
thou art King. God. He is always been King. As King, He has all power. As
King, He has all wisdom. As King, He has all sovereign
dominion. He rules and reigns over all
things. Your very life He rules over
all things. The Lord is King forever and
ever. As we read about the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 19. He is King of kings and Lord
of lords. Martin Luther said of this psalm
that it contains the full description of the wicked. And I believe
it is one of the best descriptions in all of scripture describing
the wicked ungodly, the wicked unbeliever. It contains a full
description of his mind, his attitude, his manners, his words,
and then his certain doom and destruction. For those who believe
not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the wrath of God does
abide upon them. Augustine, one of the early preachers
of the gospel, early leaders of God's church way back, first
century, I believe, called this psalm a description of the Antichrist,
the wicked man, the Antichrist. Spurgeon said of this psalm,
it's the cry of the oppressed, the poor man, as he says over
here, Lord, Lord, arise, oh God, and forget not the humble man,
forget not the poor man, arise up Don't turn, let me just read
this to you. I sought the Lord and he heard
me, delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him and
were enlightened, their faces were not ashamed. This poor man
cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his
trouble. That's what this poor man wants
to do, cry unto the Lord to save me from all my trouble, all my
distresses. Save me by your grace, make me
a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. The psalm, the cry of
the oppressed, the poor Cry of the believer. Well, let's notice
verse 1. A bold question from a man after
God's own heart. This is David crying unto the
Lord. David in his time of distress. David in the time in which he
was under severe persecution by the wicked. I believe this
wicked man that's referred to here, the wicked man in his pride
that persecute the poor, no doubt David has reference to his own
father-in-law, King Saul. You can read through 1 Samuel
how that wicked king in that day sought to put an end to David's
life. And David laments here, why standest
thou afar off, O Lord? David felt like God's mercy God's
hand had left him as he lamented another psalm Lord is your mercy
clean God? Why do you stand too far off?
Oh Lord? Why do you hide thyself in times
of trouble David felt like he was forsaken? Nobody cared Everybody
turned against him You ever feel that way? ever feel depressed
and blue and forsaken and you cry out, why do you stand thou
afar off, oh Lord? Why do you hide yourself in my
time of trouble? You know what? Oftentimes, when
we feel that way as believers, forsaken, we're not really forsaken,
but we often feel that way. But you know, even when we're
in that point of despair, it's for our good. It's for our good. For we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who love God,
to them who are called according to God's purpose. You see the
presence of the Lord is a great joy unto the believer. Any suspicion
of his absence causes us great alarm. Let us be reminded though
We may not sense His presence, the Lord is ever near His people.
He has promised, He said, I will never leave you, I will never
forsake you, even though we don't sense His presence, we don't
feel His presence, and David here is lamenting that, that
he did not sense God's presence, but the Lord's promise to His
people is, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. Lo, He
said, I'm with you always, even to the end of the earth. One
of my greatest fears, I'll just be real plain with you. Turn
over here to Isaiah 41. One of my greatest fears is to
try to stand and preach the gospel just purely in the energy and
strength of the flesh. Being left alone, often I pray,
oh Lord, don't leave me to myself. Don't leave me to my own wisdom,
which is foolishness, but God bless me, enable me to declare
your truth, your gospel. Isaiah 41 verse 10, circle this
if you have not yet circled it, fear thou not, I often read this,
before I preach the gospel or attempt to, for thou, fear not,
for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen
thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will hold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness, fear not, don't be dismayed,
I'm your strength, I'm your refuge, I am your wisdom. You see, oftentimes,
we feel like we've been deserted, but the reality of it is, God
says, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Now, in verses 2, down through verse 11, We have a true description of
the true character of the wicked unbeliever. I believe the rebel
and the reprobate before God. Notice this vivid description.
The wicked in his pride does persecute the poor. Let them
be taken in the devices that they have imagined. Pride, what
is pride? What is pride? Tell you what
it is. Pride is nothing more or less
than self-righteousness. That's what pride is. It's self-righteousness. Did you know that the Lord does
hate a proud heart? Turn over here to Proverbs. Right
after Psalms is Proverbs 6. Pride is nothing more or less
than self-glory, self-righteousness. Proverbs 6. Verse 16, six things
that the Lord hate, yea seven are abomination unto him. Notice
number one on the list, a proud look. Secondly, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that devises wicked
imagination, feet that be swift in running the mischief, a false
witness that speaketh lies, and he that sows discord among God's
family, among the brethren. Pride, pride, pride causes the
wicked man to persecute the poor man. to persecute the believer. Remember how the Pharisee prayed
in the temple? Lord God I thank you I'm not
like that poor old publican, that poor old sinner. Thank God
I'm not like him. The wicked in their pride, they
do persecute the poor, those who are humbled by God's grace. David says here, let them be
taken in the devices that they have imagined. Let them be taken
up in their own wickedness. Let them fall by the devices
that they have imagined to persecute the poor. Let them fall by their
own doing, their own hand. Look at verse three, the wicked,
boasts of his heart's desire, his soul's desire. He boasts
of it, brags about it. He blesses the covetous, whom
the Lord, the very thing the Lord hates, that's what that
man boasts in, he brags in. He blesses the covetous. The Lord hates a covetous heart. Pride causes a wicked man to
boast of his soul's desire. He blesses and rejoices in the
very thing the Lord hates. Covetousness is idolatry. Do you know that? Idolatry. The
Lord hates idolatry. The Lord hates covetousness. Turn over here to Hebrews chapter
13 and notice this. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13, verse 5, let your
conversation be without, let your conduct be without covetousness,
and be content with such things as you have. For he has said,
I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you, so that we may boldly
say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man will
do unto me. He has said, so we can boldly
say, let us be without a covetous heart. For the wicked, that's
their harsh desire. They bless covetousness. The
Lord hates that. Look at verse 4. The wicked, back in our text,
Psalm 10, the wicked, the wicked, the proud sinner, to the pride
of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all of his thoughts. A proud sinner, you know this
is true, don't you? A proud sinner will never seek
after God. This is the effect of his self-righteousness. He will not seek God. God is
not in all of his thoughts. Turn over here to Psalm 14. Psalm 14. Look at verse 2. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand. If there were any that would
seek God, they're all gone aside. They all altogether become filthy,
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. God is not in all their thoughts,
or their thoughts are there is no God. His thoughts, the wicked
man, are only upon his self-glory, his will, his way, his work. Therefore, he will not seek after
God. That's not to say that he won't
be full of religion. It's not to say that he won't
be full of his own morality, but he will not seek after God. Our Lord said, no man can come
unto me except the Father which sent me draw him. And then over
in John chapter 5, you remember, he said to those Pharisees, you
are they which search the Scriptures, but they are they which testify
of me, and you will not come to me. that you might have life. What's the problem? Pride. Pride. Pride. Self-righteousness. Will not seek after God. That
same thing is true today. A proud man has no need for God
who is God Almighty, for the sovereign God. Look at verse
5. His ways are always grievous
Thy judgments are far above out of his sight for all of his enemies,
and he has them. The law, sin, death, all his
enemies that are against him, you know what he does? He's not
alarmed. He said, I'll just blow them
away. I'll just do away with them. Is that right? You see
how full of pride he is? How full of pride? Now listen
to this, his ways are always grievous. Look what it says in
verse five, his ways are always grievous. The way of the transgressor,
the word of God declares, is a hard way. There's no peace,
God says to the wicked. God's judgments, God's decree,
His word are above his understanding. You see, the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. They have to be spiritually
judged and spiritually discerned. His ways are grievous. God's
judgment, His decree, His word are far above, out of His sight. The natural man doesn't understand
the gospel of God's grace. I thought about this. Sooner
a dog, a four-legged dog, a dog, sooner a dog look through a telescope
and study the stars and all the glorious heavens. Sooner a dog
looked through a telescope and studied the stars than for a
wicked man full of pride to understand the righteousness of God revealed
in the gospel. Remember Paul called them ignorant.
They being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
to establish their own. What's their problem? Pride. God's truth, God's judgment,
God's gospel is far out of their sight. And as far as his enemies
go, notice how ignorant he is, this proud man who says there's
no God and I have no problem. He thinks he can huff and puff
and blow all his enemies away. What about the holy law of God?
Let's see you handle that one. How about sin? God demands punishment
for sin. What about death? How you gonna
get around that one? There's a constant reminder every
time I drive up and down the highway. There's a constant reminder,
a monument to sin up and down the highway. You ever notice
them? Out on the hillside there's these little stones. Set on the
hillside. And beneath that stone is a body
dead. I tell you, there's nothing we
can do about it. It's only by the grace of God that he makes
us new creatures in Christ. Now, he did something about it
for us, but there's nothing we can do about it. When sin is
finished, it brings forth death. Our hope is in the Lord Jesus
Christ and his glorious atonement to put away our sin and his glorious
resurrection. He said, I am he that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. And he said, because I live,
you live also. That's our hope. He took care
of our enemies, but this wicked man, he just sits back and puffs
at them. He thinks he can just blow them
all away. That's ignorance, isn't it? That's just pure ignorance. To think you can handle the holy
law of God, and satisfy the holy justice of God, and just puff
at those things? And get rid of those things?
Oh no. Oh no. Look at verse six. He has said
in his heart, He was talking about the wicked man. Now, you
see what a full description this is of total depravity? You know,
we preach and believe not only depravity, but total depravity.
And this is true. It's also a fit and true picture
of us in our rotten nature and in our state of unbelief and
rebellion against God before salvation. He said in his heart,
I shall not be moved. I shall never be an adversity. You know, this is real prevalent
among young people. young people who are strong in
body. They think that no one can move
them. They think no one can get to them. They think, well, I'm
pretty strong. Old man, you're no challenge
to me. The wicked says in his heart,
no one can move me. I shall not be moved. And then
the wicked man also says, I'll never be in adversity. Trouble
won't come to me. I've heard people actually say
this. I've never been sick a day in my life. They intend that they never will
be sick a day in their life. Oh yeah, it's coming. Just stick
around a few years. A proud wicked man thinks himself
self-sufficient. He thinks himself immutable. God's the only one that's immutable.
The wicked man says, I'll never be in adversity. I'll never get
sick. I'll never die. This man's house
is built upon the sand of works. And God said, it will surely
fall, and great will be that fall. Verse 7 says, His mouth
is full of cursing and deceit. and fraud, and under his tongue
is nothing but iniquity." Iniquity, his mouth is full of cursing.
You know why his mouth is full of cursing? Because his heart's
full of iniquity, full of sin. What a trio that's given to us
here. Deceit, fraud, and iniquity. That sums up this old nature
that we have. Remember our Lord said, Out of
the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and I've often
said, what's in the well of the heart comes out through the bucket
of the mouth. You just stick around. You can
find out a whole lot about somebody, just listen to them a while. The wicked unbeliever, his mouth
is full of cursing because his heart is black. His heart is
full of sin, deceit, and fraud. Look at verse 8. Pretty bleak
picture, isn't it? Verse 8. He's not only notoriously
wicked and proud, but he's also a coward and he's cruel. He secretly plots and plans against
believers. He sitteth in the lurking places
of the villages, in secret places, he doth plot and plan to murder
the innocent. His eyes are privileged set against
the poor." Isn't that exactly what those self-righteous Pharisees
did? They plotted and planned. Matter
of fact, it says in Scripture, they went out and they held a
council how they might destroy the Lord Jesus Christ and put
him to death. They plot and plan against the
poor, and the real aim and objective is against God Almighty, to dethrone
Him and put Him off the throne. Look, verse 9 describes His mischief,
the wicked man. He lieth in wait secretly in
the secret places as a lion in his den. He lieth in wait to
catch the poor. not to help the poor, not to
bless the poor, not to help the believer. He doth catch the poor
when he draweth him into his net. The wicked man seeks to
act like his father. You know who his father is? The
Lord said, John, you are of your father the devil. Speaking of
those self-righteous Pharisees. The wicked man seeks to act like
his father the devil, seeking whom he may devour, that he may
draw the poor, deceive the poor with the net of lies and falsehood. That's exactly what goes on in
religion in our day. You read 2 Corinthians chapter
11 where Paul talks about those false apostles, deceitful workers. He calls them ministers of Satan
who go about declaring a righteousness that's produced by the sinner.
Paul said, I would cut them off, put an end to their ministry. He crouches, verse 10, and he
humbleth himself. that the poor may fall by his
strong deeds, by his doing. He may even come under the disguise
of humility. That's the way these false preachers
act. You know who they represent? They're ministers of Satan. That's
right. He may come under the disguise
of humility. Our Lord said, beware of false
prophets. They'll come unto you in sheep's
clothing. But inwardly they're ravening
and malicious wolves ready to devour you and put an end to
you. That the poor ones may fall by
his devices. Thank God he keeps us, the Lord
does keep us. Notice verse 11, he has said
in his heart, here's this same wicked man, he's said in his
heart, God has forgotten. Has God forgotten anything? I
can only think of one thing God has forgotten. And I'm glad for
it, too. He said, their sin and their
iniquity will I remember no more. But this wicked man has said
in his heart, you know, God's not looking. God's forgotten. You know, he's just like an old
granddaddy, can't really remember anything, you know. Oh, no, not
the God of the Bible. God has not forgotten. But the
wicked man thinks that God has forgotten, he's thinking that
God has hidden his face, and he's thinking that God will never
see. My friend, God knows all things. He knows our thoughts
afar off. This is a God with whom we have
to do. The proud wicked man comforts
himself with the vain idea that God is blind. Or as the popular
saying, some of you young people probably don't remember this.
Some of you older ones do. Back in the 60s and back in the
70s, there was a saying that said, God is dead. You remember
that? It's much like that same thing
that's going on in New York today. No God, no problem. I'm okay. You're okay. We don't need God.
Goodbye, God. He hath said, God hath forgotten,
he hideth his face, he'll never see it. God is blind. God's forgotten. Oh no, my friend. God is God. He's still on the
throne. He rules and reigns over all
things. Now here's our cry. Our cry is
not, you know, we're going to get even. Our cry is not, we're
going to take vengeance. Our cry is, oh Lord, Help. See what it says in verse 12?
Oh Lord, oh God, lift up thy hand and don't forget me. Don't forget the humble. Don't
forget the afflicted. This poor man cried. Here's the
believer's confidence and trust. The Lord will take vengeance
in due time. Judgment will fall by the hand
of Almighty God for none can stay His hand, the hand of God. I used to tell my boys when they
were little, I've got two boys and they were small. I would
challenge him to stay my hand, trying to illustrate where the
scripture says and where God said none can stay his hand or
saying to him, Lord God Almighty, what are you doing? And when
they were little types, I used to challenge him. Now, I tell
you what that's teaching in scripture, can you stay my hand and they
grab it and I just move them all over the room. I'm stronger
than them. One day they grew up and they
could overpower me. But I tell you what's being said
here, no one can stay the hand of God. He moves and He does
according to His will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of this earth and none can stay His hand. None can stop Him. You just look
at what happened this last week down in that country, Haiti,
where the hand of God just caused the earth to tremble
and all the monuments of man fell flat. Those palaces they
built. The churches and cathedrals that
they built flattened, flattened to the ground. You see, none
can stay the hand of God. And one day, my friend, he will
shake not only this earth, but heaven and earth. And he will
completely destroy heaven and earth. That'll be an earthquake,
won't it? He'll burn up this earth and
he'll make a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. That's our hope. That's our comfort.
That's our plea. Arise, oh Lord. Oh God, lift
up your hand. Have mercy upon us sinners. Wherefore,
verse 13, wherefore doth the wicked contend Contempt God that
word contempt means to scorn it means to despise Wherefore
does a wicked despise? God he has said in his heart
God does not require I Tell you here's the vain. Hope of an infidel
He despises and curses and scorns the Lord because he does not
believe that God will punish sin. I Word of God declares, the soul
that sinneth shall surely die. God requires full payment for
sin. The wicked man has said, well,
God doesn't require it. Oh, yes, he does. Our Lord said,
except you repent, you'll perish. Our Lord said, except a man born
again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Our Lord said,
except you are humbled by the power of God, like a little child,
you're not gonna enter into the kingdom of God. And except you
have a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisee, you'll
in no wise enter in. God requires an absolute righteousness. Did you know that? Because God
is holy. Where is that absolute righteousness
found? Only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only in Him. Verse 14. Thou hast seen it. For thou beholdest the mischief
and spite. The Lord has seen it. He's not
forgotten. The Lord has seen it. For thou beholdest mischief
and spite. to requite it, to stop it with
thy hand. The poor, look at this now, verse
14, the poor committeth himself unto the Lord, unto thee. Thou
art the helper of the fatherless. Our all-knowing Lord and all-seeing
Lord will not overlook the mischief, the sin, in spite of the proud. All things are naked and open
with Him with whom we have to do. He will righteously and powerfully
judge all rebellion. He has all power to retaliate. Vengeance belongs unto the Lord. The believer is ready and willing
to leave all judgment with Him. Look what it says in verse 14.
The poor committeth himself unto thee, thou art my helper. The believer is ready and willing
to bow to the sovereign rule and reign of the Lord. He is
our helper. I tell you, we need a helper.
You know the Lord is the helper of the helpless? Have you ever
heard this saying? You ever heard this? And this
is often said in religious circles. I don't know how it got started,
but there's a saying that goes like this, the Lord helps them
that helps themselves. That's not subtle. The Lord helps them that are
helpless. Saves the lost, the ungodly. The Lord is our strength and
help in time of trouble. Thou art the helper. Thou art
the savior of the lost. Thou art the savior of sinners,
the fatherless, the helpless, the orphan. Verse 15, break thou the arm
of the wicked. That word there arm, often time
when you see that in scripture, it has a reference to the word
power. David here is praying Break thou the arm of the wicked,
the power of the wicked and the evil man. Seek out his wickedness
till thou find all of it, none. Verse 16, the Lord. The Lord
is king forever and ever. And one day it will be true,
the heathen are perished out of the land. They are perishing.
They are perishing. And one day they will completely
perish out of God's land. He'll make a new heaven and a
new earth, as I said earlier, wherein dwelleth nothing but
righteousness. Now, verse 16, the Lord is king forever and ever. He's not going
to be king someday. He's always been From everlasting
to everlasting, He is God over all things. The Lord is King. The Lord is King. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the everlasting King. He's King in providence. He works
all things after the counsel of His own will. He is King in
creation, created all things by the word of His power. And
He is most certainly King in salvation. He will have mercy
on whom he will have mercy. He prayed that in John 17, didn't
he? Father, you've given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as you have given me. Seems that
he has all power and he's going to give that to whom he will.
I'm going to take my place before his sovereign throne and cry
out for mercy. God have mercy on me, the sinner. Verse 17. Lord, thou hast heard the desire
of the humble. Thou will prepare their heart.
Thou will cause thine ear to hear. I like this verse. I like all these verses, but
verse 17. I thought about this. The Lord
has heard the desire of the humble. What is the desire of the humble?
We know what the desire of the wicked man is, but what is the
desire of the humble man, the poor man? I tell you what it
is. I know what it is. I'm confident
I know what it is. What is a desire of the humble? Here it is. To win Christ and
be found in Him. That sums it all up. Is that
your desire? I pray that it is. And if it's
not, I pray that the Lord would change your heart. Thou hast
heard the desire of the humble, now watch this, thou will prepare
their heart. You know salvation is a heart
work. The Lord will prepare, and that word there means to
establish, to confirm, direct the heart of his people to love
and to worship him, to bow and to submit unto his sovereign
rule. God who has begun a good work
in you, he will perform it, he will perfect it. Lord, thou hast
heard the desire of the humble. Thou will do a work in their
heart and hear their cry. Verse 18, to judge the fatherless
and the oppressed, that the man of the earth, that's the wicked
man, that's the unbeliever, that's the ungodly reprobate, may no
more oppress, no more terrify the poor man. The man of the
earth, the proud, the wicked, the oppressor will be cut off
from the face of the earth and will be eternally condemned without
God, without hope, without help, an endless, endless eternity
of judgment, judgment, and judgment. I'm going to cry unto the Lord
for mercy. How about you?