Psalm 10

 1Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 
3He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
4In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 5His ways are always prosperous; your laws are rejected by ^b him; he sneers at all his enemies. 6He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.” He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
7His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. 
8He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9like a lion in cover he lies in wait. He lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fa ll under his strength.
11He says to himself, “God will never notice; he covers his face and never sees.”
12Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.  Do not forget the helpless.
13Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, “He won’t call me to account”? 
14But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;you consider their grief and take it in hand.The victims commit themselves to you;you are the helper of the fatherless.
15Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out.
16The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
17You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.

---

********************
Thoughts: Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble" ("tribulation" KJV).  The Psalmist feels far from God at first.  Specifically, he is being afflicted by a wicked person who is full of pride and arrogance.  
     I just watched the 2023 movie "Napoleon."  He clearly was one of the most brilliant yet most arrogant people in history.  Napoleon was not a church goer, but he restored the worship of the Roman Catholic church in France- which had been wiped out by the Enlightenment thinking of the French Revolution.  Napoleon had asked that the pope be "arrested" when the pope opposed his invasion of Rome.  The Pope was kidnapped but Napoleon released him after he ceded the papal lands to him.  Later he placed the crown of France on his wife's head and then his own head, not allowing the church to crown him (which was the common practice throughout Europe since Charlemagne 900 years prior).  In contrast to him, the Duke of Wellington was a church goer in the Anglican faith- even though in his later years he confessed that he could not hear the sermon.  I could imagine this Psalm was said much by the people who were conquered by Napoleon.  Napoleon (as Hitler later would) tried to use the church only to increase his popularity and stabilize his power.   However, as the Psalmist said, [only] the Lord is king forever (vs. 16).  

        How does this Psalm apply to the need to reach others for Christ?  God is the One who hears the desires of the afflicted. He is the One who helps those who cannot help themselves (the fatherless, the oppressed, but really ALL of us).  We all at some point (even Napoleon in his double defeats), are afflicted and deposed from the throne of life.  We all realize we are NOT king of the universe.  But there is One who IS who can help us.  Christianity is not about our helping ourselves- and earning our way.  It is about an outside Helper who lifts up our hearts when they are discouraged and in the dust.  People need to know there is a helper in times of affliction- that they are not alone- or simply dependent on the experts (doctors, financiers, political leaders).  

Prayer:  Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted and listen to their cry.  Hear my cry this day.  Have mercy on me.  And, let me tell others that YOU are the One who can help us when no one else can.  

Naomi the Bitter Woman

1In the days when the judges ruled,^a there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,5both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

19So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20“Don’t call me Naomi,^b ” she told them. “Call me Mara,^c because the Almighty^d has made my life very bitter. 21I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted^e me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

CHAPTER 4...

14The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!15He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

16Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Thoughts: "Naomi" means "pleasant" but when she got back home she asked that they change her name to "Mara" which means "bitter."  She lost her husband and both sons.  They had moved to Moab and Moab was in the midst of a famine.  She had to come back home to her people, but she came back with nothing. 
     However, Ruth, her daughter-in-law stayed with her mother-in-law out of sheer mercy and kindness.  Ruth ended up marrying Boaz and then had a son who became the grandfather of David the greatest king in Israelite history.  The Lord changed Naomi from bitter to pleasant again.  God can change things around.  He is the lifter of our heads as He lifted Naomi's head.  

Prayer: Lord, in the tough times of life, help me to remember you are the lifter of my head.