Turn with me now in your scriptures to Psalm 10. We'll also be reading from 2 Thessalonians. The page numbers and things are listed there in your bulletin. We're going to read our sermon text first. I normally do it the other way around, because some of the realities that our psalm ends on, we see how they're fulfilled when we get to the New Testament passage. So kind of historically and mentally, it will be a little easier to see that connection if we read it in that order. So, first Psalm 10, and then 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 3. Psalm 10, the Christian prays these words, Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? The wicked, in his pride, persecutes the poor. Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire. He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. His ways are always prospering. Your judgments are far above, out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved. I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages. In the secret places, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the poor. He catches the poor when he draws them into his net. And so he crouches, he lies low that the helpless may fall by his strength. He said in his heart, God has forgotten. He hides his face. He'll never see it. Arise, oh Lord. Oh God, lift up your hand. Do not forget the humble. Why? Do the wicked renounce God? He said in his heart, you will not require an account, but you have seen it for you observe trouble and grief to repay it by your hand. The helpless commits himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man. Seek out his wickedness until you find none. 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. And we turn to the New Testament. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 3 through 10, which speaks of Christ as this judge, the God of judgments, and what we are to think of that as Christians. In 2 Thessalonians 1 at verse 3, We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it's fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all of your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer. since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, inflaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. Amen. May God add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his gospel today. Let's pray. Father, we ask for your blessing upon us as we read scriptures which perhaps are not quite as familiar, but messages and themes which are very pressing and very much with us right now. Help us to hear your word, to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church today, to respond in faith, to go forward in faith and in confidence and trust in you. In Jesus' name, amen. congregation you'll find the bulletin has that sermon outline. Follow along as you like. But brothers and sisters, we all know that life isn't easy and we face all sorts of trials over the course of our life. That's not what Psalm 10 is talking about. Psalm 10 is a prayer of lament, of crying out to God, not when you're sick, there are psalms about that, or when things aren't going your way, but when you've been sinned against, when you have been oppressed, when you have been persecuted, that's what this psalm was written for, for the person who is victimized, It is written for the person who is suffering because someone has sinned against you and they're getting away with it. Think of all the different kinds of people that this Psalm is written for. Maybe it's a spouse who is betrayed. Maybe it's someone who's been abused mentally, verbally, physically. Maybe it's a young person who was molested. Maybe it's a family in Afghanistan cowering in the dark, wondering when the terrorists are going to barge in. Maybe it's a worker persecuted for his faith. or a student whose teacher hates God and is trying to indoctrinate the students to join in doubting that God exists and to conclude that Christianity is a dangerous religion that is intolerant and hateful. The psalm is even for the person who's cheated by the mechanic or the repairman and you can't quite find enough evidence to prove it. Indeed, anytime a Christian is under assault in this world, where people wish to use us, to harm us, and even to throw us away, this psalm is for you. And so if you are here today and somehow you're not in any of those kinds of illustrations I just gave, I'm sure you know someone who is. And this psalm is for you too. Where is God when it hurts? That's the title. Where is God when it hurts? That's how the psalm opens up. Verse 1 is not declaring a fact as if God is actually hiding. It's declaring the perception of reality. What it seems like to the Christian when he calls out in this prayer. When you're troubled, when you're a victim, you don't have to pretend, I'm not a victim, it's okay. That's not what God expects of us. You don't have to think somehow it's wrong for me to feel pain and agony that somehow it was okay the way I was treated. No, that's not what the Bible says. You can put the words of your oppression through the words of Psalm 10 on your lips. And at the end, you can put the song that we sing at the end of service in your heart and respond. You can face the reality and the truth, and the theme that we see, where's God when it hurts? The theme that we see in this passage, as I have listed there, is that in times of oppression, whatever kind of times they are, in times of oppression, the Christian still cries out to the king. the Christian still cries out to the king. The first half of the psalm, which will be really a good section of what we look at today, we're going to see something of the experience. I really want to change that word if you care about all the particular words that I put in there. If I were to describe the outline now, I wouldn't say the experience of oppression, I would say the description. of oppression, because that's what's happening here. All the different oppressors, and the evildoers, and how they do what they do, the Christian experiences are being described in this first section. So first there's all this description of the oppression, and then there's this switch now. What does the Christian do? Second thing is he cries out to this God who is so distant, he thinks, and says, come near. And then at the end, you see the confidence that I serve a God who rights all wrongs. The confidence that I serve a God who rights all wrongs. We saw that even in the New Testament, and we'll look at that. First, then the description of the oppression that's experienced in the first 11 verses, the majority of this psalm. When someone is a victim, the challenging thing to do is what's next. How do I get past this? Can I get past my past? Am I forever scarred because of what he did or what she said or what they did against me? Whatever the case is. When we look to the Bible first to help us figure out how to interact with the suffering and sin of this world, whether it's ours or those that others have perpetrated upon us, we see that God cares about our specific experience, but we also see we can always learn from someone else's experience as a victim. That's what Psalm 10 gives us. It gives us a bunch of examples of other people's experience. Maybe some of this is yours exactly. Maybe some of it isn't quite. But you see from this psalm and throughout the scripture, we see that the communion of the saints includes the suffering of the saints. the suffering together of the saints. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and we suffer with those who suffer. Think of it this way, the choir's practicing after service later today. When you're in the gospel choir, after you've been singing for a while, and you get close to the end of the note, and all of a sudden, you're running out of breath. The person who's been victimized is the person who's run out of breath. And you stop, and you have to catch your breath. but the person to your right and to your left, hopefully, right? They keep going. So you catch your breath, and when you get your breath, then when they run out of breath because of the suffering and the oppression that they might be experiencing, then you can carry the tune. That's why this psalm is for all of us, and that's how we are to think about people who have been oppressed in any level to any degree. And these descriptions here are helpful for us to learn about how together we can experience and face these challenges when life, when things hurt. One of the first lessons from Psalm 10 is that the wicked don't just hate me. That might seem like a A weird comfort. But you should know that whoever or whatever is oppressing you, don't worry, you're not the only one they hate. In fact, the biggest problem that is behind what they're doing is that they hate God. And guess what? That alerts God. He's going to pay attention to that. For we see in the opening verses, and you see it described down in verse three and verse four, the wicked boasts of his desire, he renounces the Lord, verse four, the wicked in his proud countenance, he doesn't seek God, God is in none of his thoughts. This theological perspective on the suffering and the abuse and the challenge that any person goes through in this life is key for us as Christians. Whenever a person sins, you see, the person who's doing that is not asking first, well, let me see, what is God's opinion of this behavior I'm about to engage in? What is God's opinion of this anger in my heart and the way I want to put that other person down and put them in their place? so that I look better? What is God's opinion? The oppressor doesn't think of that. God's not in his or her thoughts. You see? Instead, they look to the world for answers. And they look inwardly to themselves. They're proud countenance. They don't even dream of what is God's opinion that I should do in this or that situation. God has nothing to do with whom I should love. I'm not asking his opinion on that. God has nothing to do with whom I should sleep with. I'm not asking his opinion on that. God has nothing to do with what I should spend my time on or where I should be. I'm not asking God's opinion on that. He's not in my thoughts. God has nothing to do with my recreation or entertainment or how I spend my money or my health choices or my politics. God has nothing to do with those things. He's not in my thoughts. You see, that's the behavior of the person who is an oppressor. We carve out a very small place that God can exist in our life, and then when the misery from sin comes out, then we cry, God, where are you? And God could respond, well, you said I had nothing to do with you. What's your problem? This is the dilemma, the foolishness of the oppressor. We have to be careful not to follow in that train of thought. There's another lesson here about the way this oppression is described in verses five through seven. We see arrogance, just all types of arrogance here. I can do what I want, saying in his heart, nobody's gonna stop me. No trouble is coming and I can lie about it. The abuser, the oppressor, always seems to get away with it. Think of a man who runs off on his wife. He gets the money, the girlfriend, the so-called freedom, the self-righteous attitude. He deserves to be happy. It's normal in this world. It's okay for him to do that. And the wife is left to pick up the pieces and to care for the kids and to face the scorn and the scars of others. The man tells lies to others about former wife and what she said and people seem to believe him because he's the respectable person in the community. Will she, the Christian victim, follow the mindset of her abuser though and refuse to have God in her thoughts and grow in bitterness or think that somehow she deserved to be treated this way? It's so hard when you've been oppressed to not respond in a sinful way as well. But the Bible shows us how not to do that, and this psalm also calls us to that. We do not have to follow the way of the wicked. Instead, the Christian wife in that scenario I mentioned would put God in her thoughts and turn towards him, even in the midst of this terrible, terrible situation, knowing that God is just, even though my husband or former husband or all the friends and people who I thought were friends might be believing these lies, God is just and he is my deliverer. And in verse 12 and following, we'll see how she or any of us can do that. There's another description here of the oppression. And in verses 8 through 10, the oppression that can come upon us in this life when we feel like God is far away. There's oppression that comes very often because of deception and a sneak attack. Verses 8 and 10, he sits in the lurking places, in the secret places, right? Lying in wait like a lion and then jumping out. It's a sneak attack. But notice also how it's a coward. The abuser is a coward. Who is he oppressing in this story? He didn't have to wait for nighttime to oppress a poor, the widow, the orphan, the helpless person. He could have oppressed those people in broad daylight and still gotten away with it. but he tries to do it in a way that will help him continue this as long as possible, which is why you see so often when we hear about people who have been mistreated and then others around them, we say, how could they not have known? It's not just the person who did the bad things fault. It's everybody else around them who didn't say anything. Well, sometimes that might be the case, but you see, the way of the oppressor is to lurk, to sneak attack, to deceive. So it doesn't surprise me that almost everybody or everybody around this person did not know how truly wicked that oppressor was. The Bible describes that. So let's be very careful not to point our fingers at the wrong person when we hear about these abusive situations and cases. They're cowards. They are deceptive. Well, have you or someone you know experienced this kind of oppression that comes from deception and cowardly sneak attacks? This happens a lot, not just in sort of a, we might think of an abusive guy-girl or man-woman relationship, but even in the areas of ideas and worldviews and cultural doctrines and the new morality. The sneak attack and this deception is a very, very common way of oppression. There's a couple of examples that are just in this week's news. Harvard University has a new chaplain. He's an atheist. I'm going to repeat that. Harvard University has a new chaplain. He's an atheist. But don't worry, Harvard has assured its supporters this week that the chaplain would have, quote, no influence on religious life. So the chaplain who's in charge of religious quality of the students will have no influence on religious life. This is deception among other things. It's a sneak attack on the existence of a godly faith in an institution that has for a very long time rejected its charter and original founding mission as the first seminary in the United States. The first college in the new world. College founded on the truth of God's word. Another set of examples of deception in the world of ideas and sneak attacks has to do with the conversation about abortion. past week that you might have heard about it and the new law that went into effect in Texas that regulates abortions so that they have to occur in Texas before six weeks of pregnancy or before a baby's heartbeat can be detected. In reporting on this, one news outlet said that described this law as you can't get an abortion in in cases where there is a so-called fetal heartbeat. Which makes you wonder if that reporter had a heartbeat when they said those words. Planned Parenthood is deeply concerned because about 85 to 90% of women in Texas who want an abortion cannot access this so-called healthcare now. This is what they say. Do you realize the deception of what they're saying? They are saying 85 to 90% of our clients stop beating hearts when they get an abortion. That's not a problem. See, the deception, the sneak attack, the redirect of the conversation. For almost 50 years, we have been oppressed in our country. 50 years is a long time of oppression. We have been oppressed. Not only the millions of babies murdered, but every one of those babies had two people directly responsible for it. millions more moms and dads, and then all the citizens throughout our society who have been deceived and tricked into thinking that somehow or another, this isn't really what you think it is. It's deception. It's a sneak attack and people are oppressed and praise God that there's lifting of that oppression in many ways. But so many in our culture, whether it be even in the medical community, or in the insurance world, or politicians, or the media, or the educators, all sorts of ways, many, not all, but many, work together to do what verses eight through 10 say, to lie in wait to catch the poor and the helpless, to attack them. All because of a disastrous lie with disastrous consequences. And this is just a very obvious example of all different types of categories we could say and work through that the abuse happens this way, with this cowardly attack upon those who cannot protect themselves through deception. The last part of the description, verse 11, of oppression. I know it can be weighty to hear about this oppression. Don't worry, the psalm isn't over yet. We're going to see the joy that's coming of God's answer to this. But the last verse, verse 11, is where the wicked oppressor stands up and recites his catechism answer. But it's theological heresy. For in verse 11, he has said in his heart, God has forgotten, he hides his face, and he's never going to see it. That's heresy, but that's the catechism answer from the faith of the unbeliever, the unbelieving faith, the false faith. That says that God is not omnipresent, which means he's everywhere. God is not omniscient, which means he knows everything. He doesn't know things. He isn't where I am. He can't see me, and he's definitely not gonna do anything about it. He is not the judge. All of those things are heresy. The Christian knows that. When we receive, when we see, when we understand that that is ultimately behind whatever kind of outward oppression and abuse and mishandling of our life from those around us, it will help us to know what to do next. And what we do next is verse 12 through 15. We cry, that second aspect of the psalm, the cry for the distant God to come near. Arise, O Lord. O God, lift up your hand. Do not forget the humble. Humble is used in this Psalm to describe the Christian who's humble and not proud and arrogant like the wicked abuser. The Christian here prays in a way that shows I've been affected by these ungodly people around me. I'm getting close to doubting if you can help. But he stops himself, right? Because verse one, he was doubting, where are you, God? You're hiding. But now, verse 12, after he's thought about what's really going on with the oppression he's facing, somehow he still thinks that it's worth talking to God. Somehow, I guess this God will hear. I guess he does exist. And he does, indeed, believe that. And he prays for mercy and for aid. You see, even though God might seem to be very far away from you in whatever your situation is right now, and there are times where it seems that way, doesn't it? It feels that way. Where is God in all of this? He can still see and he can still help. What does verse 14 say? part of this prayer, that when a Christian cries out, arise, O Lord, O God, and then he repeats what the wicked's catechism question and answer is, and then verse 14 he says, but you have seen, for you observe trouble and grief to repay it by your hand. We are meant to read the whole Psalm together. So verse 14 comes right after, or shortly after verse 11, and verse 11, the person says, God hides his face. God's never gonna see what I'm doing. He's never gonna know the secret agenda behind what we're accomplishing and why we manipulate the things here and there and the culture and society and whatever it is or in the relationship. And in verse four it says, God has seen it. God knows. God has seen it. And so that leaves us with the question, who are you gonna believe? The oppressor? The Christian who's wondering, God seems so far away. Or the Christian who's confidence that the God who says I can see everything is the God who I have, is the God who exists. We need to get real today. Apply this to ourselves. Who are you going to believe? Apply this to those whom you know who might be victimized even right now. Or maybe it was a very long time ago and the effects linger, we know, for all our life long in some way. And we say to such people, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that you are oppressed or have been oppressed so, so terribly in some cases. Perhaps, you know, I've been oppressed at various times and stages in my life in certain ways. It might be very different from the sorts of oppression and experiences and persecution that others, Christians, have had, but this psalm is for me too, just like it's for you. The word of God is for all of us. Can we move forward with the scars that we have, or do we always have to stay stuck? I am a victim, period. World psychology wants to put us in a category. It says, you are this, you have this condition, you fit here, and that's who you are, and you can't do anything about it. Christianity redeems us from that kind of reality. Yes, those things happened. We don't need constant sympathy, constant pity parties. We need compassion. But we also, by God's grace, over time are able to move Forward. Do not stay in verse 11 and copy the sin of your oppressor and say, God has forgotten me. He hides his face. He can't help. No, God is with you. He can help. He is helping. He's brought you a Christian here to pray with you, even through this pain. We have to move to verse 12 and to verse 14 and say, get up, God, arise, don't forget me. You have seen, you know all my trouble and grief and you will repay. Somehow, some way, maybe God's repaying those who have oppressed you or oppressed Christians right now and we just don't know it. And so who are you going to believe? The wicked person who says in verse 11, God's forgotten me, he hides his face, he doesn't see, he can't do anything. or the God who says, I have seen it, I know your trouble. Other people might not be believing you right now, even though you tell them about how you've been mistreated, but I know, I believe you, I have seen it, and I am with you. You see the comfort we have as the Christian in life and in death, because our God is the God who sees. But verse 14 says, right after this confidence that the God sees, it says, the helpless, in the last part of verse 14, the helpless commits himself to you. You are the helper of the fatherless. And then further comfort in the next verse, in verse 15, this God who sees is also the God who acts. He will bring vengeance upon our oppressors. Vengeance is not ours, but vengeance is the Lord's. and he will repay. Of course, and there are other scriptures that talk about the right that we have as individuals to defend ourselves from those who would be seeking to harm us, whether that be physical violence or to defend ourselves in the court of law in other ways. But ultimately, even when the court of law, when the justice system fails, when Christian liberty is viewed as violent and dangerous, right? we still have direct access to the one and true judge in heaven. And that's what this verse reminds us of. In verse 15, it even says that God will come and break the arm of the wicked. This doesn't mean God's going to put all of the oppressors in castes, because actually you can heal from a broken arm. word, the terminology of the arm in the Bible for someone or for a nation has to do with their strength and their power. So if God breaks it, they're never going to be able to use it again. He's going to stop the oppressor from hurting you. You will be safe. This is our confidence. And the third and final thing, the last couple of verses of the Psalm, is the confidence that we have. We face these terrible challenges, the confidence that the God we serve rights all wrongs. Verse 16 says, the Lord is king. I don't know about you, but I've been looking for a king lately. In recent weeks, it's what's happened in our world and months in our country. Just thinking particularly Afghanistan, for example, I've been grieved and angered and appalled as so many of you and our country I've grown for our fellow Christians who are being oppressed right now. I've grown for the fear of our fellow citizens and allies who were left behind with nothing to hold on to but broken promises. I've grown for all those who have sacrificed in any way these last 20 years to protect and preserve security abroad and for us, for their service in the military, what this means to them and how they have to face this challenge. We cry out, why? Where are you, God, in all of this? Where's the person who can fix this, who will just use the power and the authority to stop it? Not only what we started to see for a little while, but to stop it to such a degree that there's no reason to be concerned about evacuating. There's not any ragtag band of people are gonna come in and terrorize others that that even doesn't exist. Where's the person who can stop this? There's one who fits that description. Verse 16, the Lord is king. He is the one. He is the ruler. I know we're patriotic coming in this week and we're going next week after Saturday's somber 20th anniversary of 9-11. I'll have a message from the Lord related to that. It's okay for us as Christians to be patriotic. But look at what verse 16 says to put that in perspective. The Lord is King forever and ever. The nations have perished out of His land. As Christians, we remember that every nation, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, Brazil, all of them will cease to exist one day. They will perish and our hope is not in vain when our hope is in the King. not a president, not a politician, but the king of the only kingdom that's left in that day. And that's the kingdom described here, the kingdom of Jesus. These verses are very familiar throughout Scripture. Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord, as an eternal King, is described and worshiped for that. He cares about real justice. He will right wrongs, and especially for those who have been victimized. Psalm 146, which is the closing hymn, is Psalm 146, put to music. In verse nine, notice this, we'll sing a variation of this. The Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. That's why we need someone to come in and turn this wickedness upside down. That's who Jesus is. We learn that Jesus does that. He's about to ascend into heaven in Matthew 28, and says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given unto me. In 1 Corinthians 15, we read that Jesus' kingdom is busy, and as people come into his kingdom, there are new creations in Christ, and he's putting to death every enemy, and the last enemy that will be destroyed is death itself. And in our New Testament reading from 2 Thessalonians 1, we see that helpful lesson. Judgment day is coming, that's for us to know now, not just then. It's comforting for us now because it's dreadful for the unbelievers who hate Jesus and oppress us. As we read earlier from 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 6, it's a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who are troubling you. and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has seen, God knows, and he will repay. That's our king. The last familiar echo of Psalm 10 in the scriptures that we note in the New Testament is Philippians 2. Verse nine through 11. All these people and kingdoms and corporations and media companies and their agendas and their evil, whether it's a politician or a terrorist or a family member or a coworker, whatever kind of level of oppression, they're not gonna get away with it. You can cry out to God, He's not far away. It only seems that way. He reminds you he can see. He knows the evil of your enemy even better than you know it. And he's keeping perfect notes. He knows it all. And they are going to have to answer to him. As Philippians 2 says, God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is our King. He himself was victimized and oppressed, yet he conquered the wicked and he conquered sin itself. He comes to deliver us to right all wrongs, to comfort and care for each of us, to take us as little lambs in the arms of the good shepherd. So go ahead and cry, cry to Him. He only seems far away. He's right here, ready to comfort you in life and in death. He's your King and your faithful Savior. Amen. Let's stand and pray. Father in heaven, we thank you. We confess that this is a challenging Scripture, a challenging topic to go through and relive even perhaps aspects of oppression. But we thank you that we do not have to stay in that past, but you give us a glorious future. You will set things right. And you give us confidence now to say, even through tears perhaps, that you are with us, that you will never leave us or forsake us. We pray as Jesus taught us, saying together, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Please be seated. Let's turn now to hymn 53 and sing, hallelujah, praise Jehovah. We worship God with our tithes and offerings as well.