Psalm 10:1-11  
Wicked men
        We need to step back for a moment, at the beginning of the Psalm, and ask ourselves who the psalmist is describing in this angry outpouring against injustice. The opening eleven verses are peppered with words like arrogance, boasting and pride. The vocabulary then changes and speaks of threats, ambush, murder and victims.  In an increasingly godless culture, the words start to resonate as we see around us those who ignore the Lord God and who seem to descend into ever increasing depths of self-interest and depravity.  Look at the list here in Psalm 10. 
The wicked: -
·     Are arrogant
·     Hunt down and take advantage of, and entrap the weak in their schemes
·     Boast about their lusts and their cravings
·     Praise those who succeed by greed
·     Revile the name of the Lord
·     Are too proud to seek God
·     Never even think about God
·     Seek to prosper themselves in all they do
·     Reject God’s laws and rules for living
·     Arrogantly sneer at their enemies
·     Believe themselves to be the untouchables
·     In their vanity, believe themselves to beyond restraint and danger
·     Lie, curse and deceive continuously and threaten and defraud others continuously
·     Use slander and false testimony for malicious purposes
·     Plot and scheme to murder innocent people
·     Use deceit and trickery to silence the poor and the weak
·     Entrap the helpless and abuse them
·     Use intimidation, torture, brute force and violence to crush their victims
·     Easily dismiss God and their accountability to Him
·     Convince themselves that God will never act against them

These are all hallmarks of God’s enemy, the Satan, and all who behave thus are self-evidently on his payroll. His objective is to take control of the earth, to remove accountability, to diminish God’s sovereignty, to convince men that God does not exist or if He does, He is powerless. It was ever so, for it started in the Garden of Eden. The greater a man’s power, authority and wealth, the more susceptible he is to the enemy’s influence. History is littered with the arrogance of nations, kings, rulers and leaders who use all of these tactics to get their way. However, it is NOT their way they are getting!  The closer any individual gets, to the top of the tree, the more dangerous their position and the more likely they are to be minions in the Satan’s hands. How many third world rulers have come to power on a wave of populism and before long have turned into corrupt despots, intent on growing their status and their wealth. It all started well but power corrupts. It is hard to think of many god-fearing individuals who made it to the top! In commerce and business the media is full of accounts of greedy Company Chairmen and Directors who rip off the poor for their own benefit, driven by avarice and self-interest. The corridors of politics are full of plots, counter-plots and subterfuge as individuals climb over one another for power and advancement. It can even be seen in a school playground!


Too often we look down on drug addicts, drunkards, petty thieves and adulterers and label them as sinners, just as they did in Jesus day. Meanwhile the truly wicked, who bear all the hallmarks of the Satan’s ambassadors, those described in this Psalm, get away with their scheming and greed with barely a comment.  Unless, of course, they are found out and fall from grace through some highly publicised Court case. GOD FORBID THAT ANY CHURCH LEADER USE SUCH TACTICS!! Pride, greed and devious scheming should never be part of the body of Christ. Jesus, who had no earthly possessions, was quick to point out how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. He also commanded His followers not to lay up treasure on earth, not to seek worldly things but to seek God’s kingdom. He reminded the disciples that,“Your heavenly Father knows what you need.”He promised that He who sees a sparrow fall to the ground and who numbers the hairs on our heads will look after us!

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