Psalm 1 is a song about two kinds of people; those who love God and listen to his instructions and obey them and those who do not. Psalm 10 is a song about those who live as if there is no God at all. They say he forgets the past, he hides his face from us in the present and he will never respond to our cries for help in the future. This type of person has no room in his life for God. In Psalm 14 we might the person who actually says, “There is no God.” Of course the context is, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.”
But David with great boldness clambers into God’s presence with all his wants and needs. He fearlessly cries out to God for help in every life situation. He sees God’s hand working all around him in day to day life and in the affairs of nations. In the opening verses of the 17th Song makes a double assertion to God. He claims that he is righteous and his cause is right, So God must help him. I am astounded by David’s boldness. The song ends with, “Because I am righteous, I will see you. When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.”
We too can share this confidence. It’s not because of our own righteousness, but because of the Son of David’s righteousness. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:12, “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.” We need not be afraid to bring our requests to Him. In fact the write of Hebrews instructs us to do just that. It’s when we look to God that we will find what we need. He says, “So let us boldly approach the throne of grace. Then we will receive mercy. We will find grace to help us when we need it.”
Chuck
“Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. (Psalm 10:17)