But what about those theological and existential questions that never seem to have a complete resolution?
What about those questions? What are we to do with them?
Psalm 10, I think, presents us with such a predicament.
After being told in Psalm 9 of God's nearness to the afflicted, we are now challenged here with the feeling of God's distance, particularly in times of trouble.
As Derek Kidner said, there in Psalm 9, the center of gravity was the judgment of God that is to come.
But here, it is the present age where injustice and wickedness is rampant.
And the intention of this psalm is made actually very clear in the first two verses.
Observing the tragic injustices that are committed against the vulnerable, the unnamed author of the psalm,
Ask God why he seems so distant in this evil.
Where are you, Lord, in this?
The question, it doesn't suppose that God is actually absent or that he has lost interest in the issue at hand,
but it does reflect the psalmist confusion with God's delay.
Surely, there has been some time in your life before and after Christ where you have looked at the rampant wickedness of this world
and you've asked something similar to this psalmist.
Lord, where are you in this evil?
Why aren't you doing something?
Why do you let this continue?
Why do abusers and warmongers and cheats continue to get by with oppressing the weak and helpless?
Lord, are you there?
So, the psalmist asked God to act.
Let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised, he prays.
Which, interestingly enough, if you think back on the previous psalms that we've studied,
this has been a common theme, hasn't it?
In relation to God's judgment, there is always this focus on a future judgment.
But some of these psalms indicate that God does indeed sometimes work now to judge the wicked.
And he has a particular way that he often does that.
And that is by turning their wickedness against them.
And this facet, feature of God's work and God's judgment is prevalent in the scriptures.
Do you remember in the book of Esther, the antagonist is a man named Haman.
And Haman prepares a set of gallows in order that he might hang Mordecai,
which is Esther's uncle, if I remember correctly.
And God uses Esther to orchestrate events in such a way that it's actually Haman who ends up being hanged on those gallows.
Do you remember that story?
A more familiar one to you would be Daniel.
Do you remember Daniel's enemies?
They prepare a den of lions.
And they craft a scheme not to serve justice as rulers,
but specifically so that they might entrap Daniel in his faithfulness.
And as soon as he falls into their trap, he's thrown into this den of lions, but God closes their mouths.
And then he orchestrates the events in such a way that the ones who ultimately are destroyed by the lions
are the very ones who provided the den to begin with.
The way that the book of Daniel describes it is that when they were cast into the den,
what hit the ground was their bones.
A poetic way of saying they were absolutely destroyed as God opened the mouths of the lions.
We know that God works this way.
The psalmist knows that God works this way.
And as he steps back in the psalm and he observes the wickedness that's happening,
and he sees that God isn't doing anything, at least it doesn't seem like he is.
And so he cries out in verse 2, in this summary of his prayer,
let them be caught, Lord, do what you normally do.
Bring justice in a way that I know you're pleased to do against the wicked.
The difficulty presented in Psalm 10 is the seeming contradiction of God's righteousness on one hand
and his delay of justice on the other hand.
The psalmist, and we, if we're honest, often look at these types of situations,
and on one side we say we know that God is righteous,
we know that God judges the wicked,
we know that God is not pleased by this,
but we can't understand why he's not acting.
Why is he letting children starve?
Why is he letting the vulnerable be abducted and sold into the sex trade around the world?
Why do needless murders continue?
Why do wars continue to grow?
Where is the Lord?
We know you're righteous God.
Why aren't you doing anything?
And while the scriptures do,
they help us to find answers to this kind of question,
that's not actually the intention of this psalm, funny enough.
It presents the problem.
It offers no solution.
It's not the reason for it.
The purpose of Psalm 10, rather,
is to give us a model for approaching God in such moments of doubt and confusion.
The author is not trying to give you all the answers about that particular question.
The author, through the inspiration of God's Spirit,
is teaching us how to come to God when we're in a similar place.
As he was in this moment.
The song is straightforward, actually.
There's three straightforward elements to the prayer here
that teach us how we might appropriately ask God,
why?
Why?
So let's just walk through them quickly.
The first thing I want you to see is the psalmist concern.
Notice the psalmist concern.
We find it enumerated in verses 3 through 11.
I won't read them all again now.
We'll walk through them together.
But what we see is that the first thing that the psalm teaches us to do
is actually to bring our concerns.
We might even call them complaints.
Bring our complaints to the Lord.
Foolish is the one who says it's inappropriate to ever ask God,
why?
That's foolish.
It's certainly not biblical.
God invites us, actually, to cast our anxieties upon him,
for he cares for us, Peter says.
And there is certainly a sinful way that we might go about doing that.
But the thing itself, bringing our concerns, bringing our complaints,
bringing our cares to the Lord, the thing itself is good and right.
Notice that more than half of this psalm,
which was meant to be repeated as an act of worship among God's people,
half of it is committed to the psalmist expressing his confusion
and his concerns and his complaints.
How could we come to a psalm like this and ever say,
it's never appropriate to ask God why he's not doing something
or where is he in a particular situation?
This was meant to be repeated in worship.
And more than half of the psalm is a complaint, a concern.
As he observed the injustices performed by the wicked,
the psalmist voiced four particular complaints about the wicked to the Lord.
First, he expresses his confusion about their pride.
Look with me at verse 2.
In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor.
Verse 3.
For the wicked boast of the desires of his soul,
the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
Verse 4.
In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him.
All his thoughts are there is no God.
It's the wicked's pride that drives his pursuit of the poor
and it's his pride that drives his blasphemy against the Lord.
And there's two dimensions to his pride.
First, there is this horizontal dimension.
In which he considers himself superior to the weak.
His injustices here, as they are recalled by the psalmist,
they're always aimed, if you notice, at the vulnerable.
Why does the wicked always aim, in this context,
his injustices toward the vulnerable?
Because he believes in his arrogance that he is superior to them.
That they are inferior people.
Therefore, he is justified in coming against them
and in abusing them.
You say, well, how does this work out in our lives around us?
Well, you don't have to look very far.
You pick up a newspaper and you'll probably see just about every day
a number of occasions where this is happening all around us.
This week, we'll celebrate the independence of our nation.
A wonderful celebration.
Andy mentioned the other day, it's his favorite, right?
Is that what you mentioned recently?
Favorite holiday of the year.
It's exciting.
Julie and the girls and I are planning to go to Washington, D.C.
for a few days in September.
And I always love going there.
It's one of my favorite places to visit
because there's so much about our nation, our independence,
and the boldness and courage of those who have gone before us
that is worth celebrating.
You know, we would do well this week
that in the midst of our celebrations,
we would recognize and stop and give attention
to our nation's history in regards to this very wickedness
that's described here.
Does this not describe the nature of the chattel slavery
of which many in our nation were guilty for so long?
The strong oppressing the weak,
believing that black people were less than human?
Wasn't that the argument?
That on one hand, we can write in our declaration of independence
that all people are created equal,
but we get the right to choose who is a person
and who is not a full person?
And that was the argument.
What is that if it's not what's being described in Psalm 10?
The powerful, the strong,
taking advantage of the vulnerable and the weak
in order that they might build themselves up.
Advocates of abortion make a similar argument.
They espouse a similar kind of reasoning
that an unborn child is something less
than a full human with an equal right to life.
The strong taking advantage of the weak,
aiming their injustices at the vulnerable.
There's a horizontal dimension to this pride
that we are better.
There is something superior in us than in them.
That's how the wicked one thinks.
Then there's this vertical dimension to the pride, isn't there?
So that the wicked, we're told,
renounces the Lord,
refuses to seek him,
and then mockingly declares,
there is no God.
There is no God to judge me.
That's what they say.
So there's this horizontal pride.
Then there's this vertical pride in the two are not unrelated.
Psalmist complains that the wicked
not only pursue the poor and renounce the Lord,
but they go so far as to boast in their evil deeds.
That's what he says in verse three.
The wicked boast of the desires of his soul.
He believes his desires are justified.
There is this Darwinian-like worldview
in these individuals that believe
only the strongest should and will survive.
They boast in predatorial behavior,
seeing a desire to win at all cost
as a virtue.
It is a prevalent,
although perhaps sometimes masked,
worldview of our day.
That all you need to do
is follow your heart,
choose your dream,
and don't stop at anything
to get there.
Let no one get in your way.
Let no relationship stand in the way
of your autonomy and your freedom
and your dream and your pursuit.
We only need to look at
even the candidates
for this year's presidential election
to see how this wickedness
is trumpeted as a virtue.
The wicked have an unmitigated pride,
and the psalmist can't understand
why God hasn't intervened.
Do you feel that?
Do you feel the raw emotion of this prayer
as he witnesses this?
And he says,
Lord, why aren't you doing something about this?
So there's their pride.
Then there's their prosperity.
Verse five.
His ways prosper at all times.
Your judgments are on high out of his sight.
As for all his foes,
he puffs at them.
He says in his heart,
I shall not be moved
throughout all generations.
I shall not meet adversity.
So that in addition to their pride,
the psalmist struggles to understand
their prosperity,
which increases their arrogance even more.
This is precisely what drove
another psalmist named Asaph
to nearly abandon the faith altogether.
Flip over to Psalm 73, would you?
It'll be a few years before we get to this one,
so we might as well look at it now.
Psalm 73.
This prayer of Asaph,
truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart,
but as for me,
my feet had almost stumbled.
My steps had nearly slipped.
Why, Asaph?
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
That sounds similar, doesn't it?
They have no pains until death.
Their bodies are fat and sleek.
I didn't know those two things worked together.
They have lots to eat.
They're wealthy.
They are not in trouble as others are.
They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore, pride is their necklace.
Violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness.
Their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice.
Loftily, they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore, his people turn back to them
and find no fault in him.
Do you see what Asaph is saying there?
That these people,
if we can follow the same theme
as the political environment of our nation right now,
these same people,
they see this wickedness that's happening,
and they just assume,
we can't do anything about it.
We might as well support it
so that the people of God say,
we can find no fault
in these wicked people.
Verse 11,
and they say,
how can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?
Behold, these are the wicked,
always at ease.
They increase in riches.
And what did this cause Asaph to believe?
Verse 13,
all in vain have I kept my heart clean.
All in vain it feels
that I've lived in holiness
and in righteousness.
Asaph knew what the psalmist of Psalm 10
was talking about.
We can all relate to this confusion on some level.
Why does God allow the wicked
not only to continue in their sin,
but prosper in it?
The way of the world is such that
the unrighteous increase in power,
the crooked gain tremendous wealth,
the corrupt are celebrated
when they should be incarcerated.
The struggle for a believer then
is that we expect God
to punish these people
when in fact they continue to prosper.
And we step back like the psalmist
so very often,
if you're paying attention,
and you just say,
Lord, where are you?
Why?
Then there's their plans
that frustrate the psalmist.
Verse 7,
his mouth is filled with cursing
and deceit and oppression.
Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
He sits in ambush
in the villages and hiding places.
He murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless.
He lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket.
He lurks that he may seize the poor.
He seizes the poor
when he draws him into his net.
It's the plans of the wicked.
Have you noticed how often
sins of the tongue
have been at the forefront
of the injustices described
in the first few psalms?
It feels like almost every psalm,
doesn't it?
There is some cry
against the words of the wicked,
the lies of the wicked,
the slanders of the wicked,
the cursing of the wicked.
It's not that the wicked
occasionally bend the truth to win.
The psalmist says their mouths are full of it.
They're full of cursing.
They're full of deceit.
They're full of oppression.
These sins of speech
are actually crucial to their schemes.
They know that if they do not engage
in this level of deceit and manipulation,
they will not achieve the goals
for which they desire.
And so it's crucial.
So that where you find a liar,
you are sure to find an oppressive scheme
shortly after.
He who has an ear,
let him hear.
Plans of the wicked
are marked by stealth.
Like a lion hurting her prey,
they wait in the shadows
until the weak are most vulnerable.
And when the time is right,
they take advantage
of the most helpless of people.
How many stories have we heard
in recent days
about abusers,
quote,
grooming
their prey?
Of thieves
baiting those,
sometimes in elaborate schemes,
in order to steal from them.
Of the powerful,
manipulating people
that they just plan to use
to advance their own desires,
and they're going to leave them
in the dust.
This is our world.
It's always been our world
since sin came in.
Then there's
the product of all of this
that frustrates the psalmist,
verse 10.
The helpless are crushed.
They sink down.
They fall by the might
of the wicked.
And then he says in his heart,
God is forgotten.
He's hidden his face.
He will never see it.
The psalmist laments
the products of the pride
and prosperity
and plans of the wicked.
All of it leads
to the helpless being crushed
and the wicked
increasing in their arrogance.
They say God has forgotten
and hidden his face
so that the wicked
will continue to succeed
in their schemes.
No one to hold them to account.
So now we come to this point
in the psalm
and we think,
okay, now we understand
that opening question
a little better.
Not only is he confused
about what seems like
a contradiction
in God's righteousness
and God's action,
but we get to this
particular verse
and we think,
you know,
maybe the psalmist
has heard this declaration
of the wicked
in verse 11
that God doesn't see
and that he's distant
and that he doesn't care
and that he's not going to judge
and now even the faithful
are starting to wonder,
maybe they're right.
Maybe he doesn't see.
Has God actually
hidden his face?
Where is he?
Why hasn't he intervened?
Now the point of all of this
is to say
that though it is never right
to charge God
with an injustice,
the psalmist is not doing that.
It's never right
to charge God
with an injustice,
but that doesn't mean
it's wrong
to bring your cares
and your concerns
and your complaints
to him in prayer.
Psalm 10 is a model for us
that when we too
look around
and see things like this,
that it is okay
to go to the Lord
and pour out your heart
to him
and your confusions
to him
and your doubts
and your frustrations
to him.
Lord, why?
Why is it this way?
We have the model.
So we see
the psalmist concern.
Secondly,
we see the psalmist prayer.
The psalmist prayer.
Look with me
at verse 12.
Arise, O Lord,
O God,
lift up your hand.
Forget not
the afflicted, Lord.
Why does the wicked
renounce God
and say in his heart
that you will not
call to account?
You do see.
You note mischief
and vexation
and you note it
so that you may
take it into your hands
for judgment.
So to you,
the helpless commits himself
and you have been
the helper
of the fatherless.
So, Lord,
break the arm
of the wicked
and evildoer.
Call his wickedness
to account
till there's no more left.
So he moves
from the passion,
the emotion
of the question itself
to a passionate,
emotive,
prayer to the Lord
to act.
We've seen his concern.
Now we recognize
what he does
and what he does not do.
Psalm 10,
at this point,
brings us to a proverbial
fork in the road.
One leads to the dismantling
of one's faith,
determining that
if there is a God,
there must be
some injustice in him.
The other path,
however,
is the model of faith
that trusts the Lord
even when his ways
are difficult
to comprehend.
And the psalmist here
chooses to walk in faith,
doesn't he?
Asaph was nearly
about to abandon
the faith.
Perhaps the psalmist
in Psalm 10
was as well,
but neither one of them
do that.
They trust the Lord.
They model faith.
The psalmist
doesn't accuse God.
He doesn't doubt
God's goodness.
Instead,
he casts his cares
on the Lord.
He pleads with him
to act according
to his righteous character.
Habakkuk
had a similar
predicament,
didn't he?
Faith was
his answer from God
when he prayed
a similar prayer.
Habakkuk 2, 4,
the righteous
shall live by faith.
So that while
the wicked
live in skepticism,
the righteous
continue in faith
even when they
don't have
all the answers.
Rather than
believe the words
of the wicked
in verse 11,
the psalmist
responds with
what he knows
to be true
of God,
doesn't he?
He doesn't know
the reason
for God's delay,
but he affirms
that God does
indeed see our works.
He keeps a record
of our deeds,
and in time,
he will judge
all of us.
That's his affirmation
here, isn't it?
God will be a helper
to the fatherless,
those who have
no one else
to care for them.
psalmist knows
that God's heart
beats for the oppressed,
and his prayer
warns the wicked
regarding their judgment.
He says,
you may think
you're getting by
with it,
but God sees you.
He's keeping a record
of everything you do,
and one day
you will stand
before him,
and you will
give an account
for your sin.
Proverbs 5, 21,
a man's ways
are before the eyes
of the Lord,
and he ponders
all of his paths.
Proverbs 15, 3,
my dad quoted this
to me so often,
growing up,
the eyes of the Lord
are in every place,
keeping watch
over the evil
and the good.
God,
he does see.
He sees you.
He sees your works.
He knows your heart.
He knows your thought,
and it may seem
like things are working
out for you
just fine right now,
but all of us
are going to stand
before him one day.
All of us.
So the psalmist
knows that judgment
will eventually come,
but his prayer
desires that God
will bring it now,
doesn't it?
Wait no longer,
God.
Break the power
of the wicked now.
Judge the wicked
until there's
no unrighteousness left.
We know this is
ultimately going to be
fulfilled in the
final judgment,
but that doesn't mean
that we cannot
or should not
pray for it now.
It doesn't mean
that we shouldn't
act against the wicked
now.
If God cares for the
afflicted,
and he does,
then so should his
people.
And that care
should be expressed
in our prayers first,
praying for God
to act,
and then that care
should be expressed
in real advocacy
for the vulnerable
and the weak.
The scripture makes
this clear.
God himself says
to Israel
through Isaiah,
wash yourselves,
make yourselves
clean,
remove the evil
of your deeds
from before your eyes,
and what will
that result in?
You will cease
to do evil,
learn to do good,
seek justice,
correct oppression,
bring justice
to the fatherless,
plead the widow's
cause.
Yes,
God is the judge,
but he expects
his people
to advocate
for the vulnerable.
That's our
responsibility,
church.
We must do this.
As James makes
very clear,
religion that is
pure and undefiled
before God the Father
is this,
to visit orphans
and widows
in their affliction
and to keep oneself
unstained from the world.
Part of our responsibility
as God's people,
as his church,
is to live in holiness
and then to help
the afflicted.
That's why we love
people like Andy
and Amy
who have committed
themselves to adoption.
That's why we love
what,
foster care.
I was losing it.
I was losing,
starting to lose my mind.
We love it.
We love what Kristen
does for a living.
She helps children
who are parentless
or at least in situations
where their parents
are not good.
They're in affliction
and they're oppressed
and she helps.
That is,
that is very Christian.
It's very Christian.
It's why we advocate
for the right to life
for the unborn.
It's why we want
to support organizations
that are helping
crisis pregnancy issues.
It's why we want
to support organizations
that are helping
the homeless
and helping supply needs.
This is the heartbeat
of God.
It should be our heartbeat
as well.
the model given to us
after we voice
our concerns to God.
It's good and right
to pray that he act
according to his
righteous character.
And while we trust
his purposes,
we should seek
for his work
to be accomplished
in the here and now.
And how do you think
he's going to accomplish that?
He's going to accomplish
it through his people.
Through his people.
We see the psalmist
concerned.
We see the psalmist
prayer.
Finally, we see
the psalmist praise.
We see his praise.
Verse 16.
The Lord is king
forever and ever.
The nations perish
from his land.
O Lord, you hear
the desire of the afflicted.
You will strengthen
the heart.
You will incline
your ear
to do justice
to the fatherless
and the oppressed
so that man
who is of the earth
may strike terror
no more.
Psalm 10 ends
with a moment
of worship.
A declaration
of confidence
that God will act
as the psalmist
has prayed.
But what's interesting
about it
is that this
conclusion
does not follow
a resolution.
It does not follow
an explanation
to the question
that he asked.
In verse 1.
Do you remember
how he opened?
Why, Lord?
Why are you distant?
Where are you
in times of trouble?
And God never
gives an answer.
He doesn't offer
an explanation.
He doesn't usually.
God more often
deals in promises
than he does
in explanations.
The psalmist
clings to the promises
of God
and that's why
he prays the way
that he does
and he worships
the way that he does.
But this worship
and this confidence
it doesn't follow
an explanation
and I think
that's important
for us to see.
The faithful
are not without
their questions.
Neither is their faith
crippled by those questions.
Faith doesn't come
from having
all the answers.
Faith is trusting God
especially
when you don't have
all the answers.
That's what faith is.
And we find it
modeled here.
Despite the emotion
of the question
at hand
the faithful
can
genuinely worship.
You can
have real confidence
that God is present
and that he
is doing what is right
and what is good
according to his purposes.
Perhaps this is
challenging for you.
Perhaps the most
challenging thing
for you
is to genuinely
worship
to express
confidence in the Lord
when you actually
do have doubts
and confusion
about his ways.
The problem of evil
is a common
it's a common issue
for everybody
to grapple with.
There are people
that we pray for
regularly
that the reason
that they are
reluctant
to trust the Lord
is because
they don't actually
believe he's good.
They look at the problem
of evil
and they say
there is injustice
in God
and we'd be lying
to say
that there's never
a time
where we're like
confused
like the psalmist
is confused
and in those moments
it's difficult
isn't it?
It's difficult
to engage
authentically
in worship
on a Sunday morning
to have confidence
in your evangelism
when you know
that this issue
is not only
in your mind
but it's probably
in the minds
of others around you
and it's difficult
to be genuine.
What the psalm
teaches us here
is that you
actually can
be genuine
in both your worship
and your confidence
and the key
to both of these things
is in personal
communion with God.
That's the key.
You say
that sounds too simple
it doesn't sound
like that could work.
It's the key.
This is the model
of Psalm 10.
This is why
it's so important.
It is in the regular
study of the Bible
and prayer
that we don't
convince ourselves
that things
are okay
but that the Holy Spirit
strengthens our hearts
in His power
despite the fact
that we don't have
a lot of answers.
Isn't that what
the psalmist says?
He worships the Lord
and then he says
in verse 17
you hear the desire
of the afflicted
you will strengthen
their heart.
I can't strengthen
your heart
but He will strengthen
your heart
and how does He do it?
By the Spirit
through His Word
in the prayer closet
Derek Kidner says
however distant
may be the day
of justice
one promise
is not delayed
you will strengthen
their heart.
This is what
Asaph discovered
in Psalm 73
flip back to it
we'll just read
the whole thing
Psalm 73
look this time
at verse 16
after Asaph
makes his complaint
and he tells us
where he had come
notice what he does
when I thought
to understand this
it seemed to me
a wearisome task
I kept trying
to come up
with a solution
with answers
and I couldn't do it
and now I'm burdened
by it
so what does he do?
He doesn't abandon
his faith
verse 17
until I went
into the sanctuary
of God
then I discerned
their end
not their present
then I discerned
their end
truly you set
them in slippery
places
you make them
fall to ruin
hell they are
destroyed in a
moment
swept away
utterly by
terrors
like a dream
when one awakes
oh Lord
when you rouse
yourself
you despise
them as phantoms
when my soul
was embittered
when I was
pricked in heart
I was brutish
and ignorant
I was like a
beast towards you
nevertheless
I am continually
with you
you hold
my right
hand
in my
questions
and doubts
and confusions
you guide me
with your
counsel
and afterward
you will receive
me to glory
whom have I
in heaven
but you
Lord
there is
nothing on
earth
that I desire
besides you
my flesh
my heart
may fail
but God
is the strength
of my heart
and my portion
forever
for behold
those who are
far from you
shall perish
you put an
end to everyone
who is unfaithful
to you
but for me
it's good to be
near to God
I have made
the Lord
my refuge
that I may
tell of all
your words
isn't that
wonderful
what does
Asaph do
he goes to
the Lord
and what does
the Lord do
he strengthens
his heart
it's what
Habakkuk
discovered as
well
Habakkuk 3
17
though the
fig tree
should not
blossom
nor fruit
be on the
vines
the produce
of the
olive
fail
and the
fields
yield
no food
the flock
be cut
off from
the fold
and there
be no
herds
in the
stalls
by the
way
that's
exactly
what was
happening
to Habakkuk
and the
people of
Israel
at that
time
their
life
was
absolutely
destroyed
what does
he say
though all
of that
be
yet
I will
rejoice
in the
Lord
I will
take
joy
in the
God
of my
salvation
because
God
the
Lord
is
my
strength
your
strength
does not
come
from having
it all
together
and being
able to
answer
every
question
that you're
ever
asked
about
theology
and
existence
that's
not where
your
strength
comes
from
it
comes
from
your
communion
with
God
if
you're
struggling
with
this
question
bring
your
concern
to
the
Lord
but bring
it to
him
in
private
prayerful
communion
study the
word
pray
sincerely
to him
he will
do this
work
in you
it's his
promise
he will
do it
he will
strengthen
your heart
the best
place to take
your doubts
and confusion
is to the
throne room
of God
there he
will meet
you
and he
will
strengthen
your
heart
as no
explanation
will
ever
do
now
to
close
I want
us to
consider
the
implications
of the
gospel
on this
question
okay
just think
about how
does this
relate to
the gospel
regarding
the question
of why
God allows
evil to
continue
we may
never have
a fully
satisfying
answer
this side
of heaven
don't
expect
that
there's
ever
going
to
come
a day
where
finally
you
just
got
it
all
figured
out
his
ways
are
not
our
ways
we're
not
going
to
comprehend
it
like
that
but
there
are
some
affirmations
that
we
can
make
that
may
bring
us
some
peace
one
affirmation
is
that
God
is
indeed
righteous
this
is
what
Abraham
says
as
he
converses
with
God
about
the
destruction
of
Sodom
I
know
it's
right
because
you
are
right
you
are
righteous
another
affirmation
is that
he
is
always
working
for
his
glory
and
the
good
of
his
people
that's
Romans
8
isn't
it
all
things
are
working
together
for
the
good
not
all
things
are
good
all
things
are
working
together
for
the
good
of
his
people
we
may
be
conformed
to
the
image
of
Christ
that
we
may
trust
the
Lord
and
bring
him
glory
another
affirmation
would be
that
God
delays
his
justice
to
give
the
wicked
time
for
repentance
it's
clear
that's
Romans
2
do
you
not
know
that
God's
kindness
is
meant
to
lead
you
to
repentance
another
affirmation
would be
that
God's
delays
allow
the
wicked
to
store
up
wrath
for
their
coming
judgment
again
that's
Romans
2
God
desires
to lead
them
to
repentance
but
he
also
allows
them
to
keep
storing
up
wrath
so
that
day
of
judgment
will
be
very
clear
another
affirmation
would be
that
if
God
were
to
act
in
immediate
judgment
whenever
some
wickedness
took
place
it
would
result
in
the
immediate
damnation
of
all
people
not
just
the
most
wicked
among
us
all
of
these
things
are
true
all
of
these
things
can
bring
us
a
measure
of
peace
it
doesn't
mean
that
they
completely
satisfy
all
of
our
questions
about
it
but
they
are
affirmations
that
we
can
and
should
make
as
we
think
about
it
but
to
comprehend
God's
heart
in
all
of
this
we
have
to
look
to
the
cross
God
does
not
stand
distanced
from
our
suffering
he
does
not
even
stand
close
to
it
and
peer
and
observe
what
we
deal
with
God
in
his
great
love
instead
enters
our
suffering
he
becomes
a man
taking
on
flesh
Jesus
Christ
the
son
of
God
subjecting
himself
to
the
severest
of
oppressions
he
leaves
the
throne
room
of
heaven
to
be
born
on
a
stable
floor
every
part
of
his
life
was
threatened
from
its
very
beginning
from
its
very
conception
every
part
of
his
life
was
a
struggle
in
his
ministry
the
son
of
God
said
foxes
have
holes
birds
have
nests
the
son
of
man
has
nowhere
even
to
lay
his
head
and
then
of
course
is
ultimately
seen
at
the
cross
not
only
does
God
enter
our
brokenness
but
he
suffers
at
our
hand
those
whom
he
created
he
allows
to
nail
him
to
a
tree
why
so
that
he
might
take
the
wrath
of
God's
judgment
in
their
place
he
said
I
don't
understand
everything
there
is
to
know
about
why
God
does
things
the
way
that
he
does
and
I
can
often
pray
Psalm
10
as a
legitimate
prayer
of my
heart
because
I
don't
understand
all the
time
but
I
cannot
logically
conclude
that
something
in
God
is
unloving
if
I
turn
my
attention
to
the
cross
of
Christ
the
very
condescension
of
Christ
that
he
would
even
come
to
be
a
man
is
speaking
measureless
about
his
love
but
to
see
that
he
lays
down
his
life
even
to
the
point
of
death
even
the
death
of
the
cross
there
I
can
see
God's
heart
there
I
can
understand
his
love
and
though
we
can't
always
comprehend
how
he
works
because
of
the
cross
we
cannot
logically
and
reasonably
charge
him
as
being
unloving
but
there's
one
more
step
to
the
gospel
that
helps
us
with
this
after
Jesus
his
resurrection
from
the
dead
what
happens
he
ascends
doesn't
he
ascends
to
the
exalted
position
in
heaven
he
is
Lord
to
which
every
man
woman
boy
and
girl
will
have
to
give
an
account
for
their
deeds
in
this
life
part
of
the
gospel
message
is
the
good
news
that
Jesus
the
exalted
Lord
and
Savior
will
judge
the
earth
and
he
will
make
all
things
new
we
don't
often
see
that
now
but
we
can
rest
assured
that
because
of
the
death
and
resurrection
and
exaltation
of
Jesus
the
final
judgments
coming
even
so
come
Lord
Jesus
we
pray
Psalm
10
it
truly
is a
helpful
model
for how
to
ask
God
why
in
our
confusion
we
should
bring
our
concerns
to
God
we
should
pray
for
him
to
act
and
then
we
should
be
his
instrument
of
action
if
he
so
wills
and
we
should
trust
that
he
is
doing
what's
right
but
in
the
end
we
must
ultimately
look
to
the
cross
there
we
find
mercy
for
our
wickedness
and
hope
for
our
justice