Do Not Forget O Lord

Today’s psalm follows:

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof?

Why hide in times of distress?

Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted,

who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived. 

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

For the wicked man glories in his greed,

and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought.

The wicked man boasts, “He will not avenge it”;

“There is no God,” sums up his thoughts. 

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

He lurks in ambush near the villages;

in hiding he murders the innocent;

his eyes spy upon the unfortunate. 

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,

taking them in your hands.

On you the unfortunate man depends;

of the fatherless you are the helper.

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord! (Psalm 10:1-4, 7-8, 14)

If only it was so.  The Lord does seem to forget the poor and stand aloof, hiding in times of our distress, unless the Lord relies on us to remember the poor.  And we do.  But the “wicked and greedy man” still lurks and harasses the afflicted.  The wicked man believes God will not punish him, because there is no God, so the wicked man [men and women] think.  

The unfortunate among us depend on the Lord who we believe beholds their sorrow and misery.  God must be terribly sad about the wicked who wreak havoc on this Earth and devastate God’s people, especially through oppression and war. Death and destruction are apparent everywhere throughout the world with the Ukraine being an example. Of course, there is love everywhere throughout the world as well.  

Our challenge is to faithfully believe and pray: “You do see, O Lord, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands. On you the unfortunate man depends; of the fatherless you are the helper.”

Deacon David Pierce