Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. PSALM 10:12
Jesus would have known this psalm. What did it mean to Him? What use would it have been to Him? Did Jesus ever know what it was like to feel that the wicked were winning? Or to feel that His Father was far away? If you walk through this psalm, you will see Jesus all over it.
Jesus knows the greed of the wicked. He saw “the one greedy for gain” (Psa. 10:3), selling animals in the temple courts, turning the place of prayer into a market.
Jesus knows what it is like to stand alone when the wicked seem to be winning. He said to His enemies, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53).
Jesus knows what it is like for the wicked to “lurk in ambush” (Psa. 10:9). “When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me.” But now they had come to him “with swords and clubs” (Luke 22:52-53).
Jesus knows what it is like to be in great darkness: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mat. 27:46).
Jesus knows what it is like to trust the Father in the face of overwhelming evil: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Jesus knew this psalm more deeply than any of us ever will. He has lived this psalm, and He is able to pray this psalm with you. You can pray this psalm with Jesus.
Is there an injustice you have suffered? Do you have enemies lying in wait? Is there someone out to get you? Jesus will meet with you as you pray through Psalm 10.
Written by Colin Smith
Read by Sue McLeish
