January 12

GENESIS 26:17-27:46

MATTHEW 9:1-17

PSALM 10:16-18

PROVERBS 3:9-10

Confidence in God.

Psalm 10:16-18 The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.  Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

The Psalmist began this Psalm with almost despair in his times of trouble; he ends with calm confidence in the reign of the Lord as an eternal King.

If David wrote this Psalm (especially during a time of persecution from Saul), the words the Lord is King forever and ever would have special meaning, recognizing the reign of God even over the troubled and dysfunctional reign of Saul.

He then says that the nations have perished, remembering the past victories of God against the cruel enemies of His people (in this case, the Canaanites who occupied His land).  This gave the Psalmist greater confidence regarding the present help of the Lord.

You have heard the desire of the humble . . . You will prepare their heart . . . You will cause Your ear to hear: This continues to express the calm confidence of the Psalmist. God will not abandon the poor and needy, but will help and bless them.

“David does not say, ‘Thou hast heard the prayer of the humble;’ he means that, but he also means a great deal more. Sometimes, we have desires that we cannot express; they are too big, too deep; we cannot clothe them in language. At other times, we have desires which we dare not express; we feel too bowed down, we see too much of our own unrest to be able to venture near the throne of God to utter our desires; but the Lord hears the desire when we cannot or dare not turn it into the actual form of a prayer.” (Spurgeon)

I love the phrase "you will prepare the heart" the Psalmist reminds us that the spiritual preparation of the heart is a great gift, an answer to prayer, and a mark of God’s blessing. 

“Surely none but the Lord can prepare a heart for prayer. One old writer says it is far harder work to raise the big bell into the steeple than to ring it afterwards. This witness is true. When the bell is well hung you can ring it readily enough; but in that uplifting of the heart lies the work and the labor.” (Spurgeon)

The Psalmist ends with assurance of God’s justice applied to the wicked. What began with a sense of despair in times of trouble has ended with calm confidence in God’s justice and victory.

This is our hope and our faith in God.  Be blessed today!