Psalm 10: A Cry For Justice

Ever prayed hard and then stared at the silence, wondering if God saw it at all? We’ve been there, and Psalm 10 gives us words for that exact moment. Pastor Brandon breaks down this “cry for justice” with a painfully relatable picture: it can feel like God left you on read, and your mind starts filling in the blanks with fear, frustration, and worst-case stories. 

Psalm 10 doesn’t sanitize the struggle. It names evil for what it is, calls out the way the wicked prey on the vulnerable, and refuses to pretend that oppression is small. Then the prayer turns a corner. We watch the psalmist move from “Where are You?” to “Arise, O Lord,” and finally to a steady confidence that God is King forever, that He sees trouble and grief, and that He defends the helpless, the orphan, and the oppressed. 

Along the way, we talk about a practical pattern you can use in your own prayer life: be honest about what you feel, ask clearly for help, remember what God has done before, and choose trust even before you see results. If you’re in a season where heaven feels quiet, we share why silence doesn’t mean absence and how you may only recognize God’s greatest work when you look back. 

Subscribe for daily Bible breakdowns, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review if the podcast helps you. What’s one area where you need God to “arise” and bring justice right now?

Transcript

Welcome And Daily Bible Rhythm

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

Psalm 10 And Feeling Ignored

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Well everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Psalm chapter 10, and today's title is A Cry for Justice. A cry for justice. Do you ever text somebody and they've got their read receipt on and you can tell they have read something, but they do not reply for a while. And at first, you know, you're like, okay, they're busy, they got something going on. But then after a few moments, your mind starts to go, okay, are they mad? Are they confused? Are they frustrated? And by the time they reply, you have come up with a ridiculous thing that you'd have to put on a wall somewhere to connect all the dots that ends out with, we're not friends anymore. And then finally they text you back and go, Oh, my bad. I I did read it, I forgot to reply. Really? And I don't know if you ever felt that way with people, but I've definitely felt that way with God. Wait a minute, God. I I I've I've prayed, I've trusted you. Where are you at? Did you leave me on read? You know? But we're gonna talk about that today because it's not just us, but the psalmist has felt that way before. And there's a there's kind of a road into having that conversation with God. So if you're ready, get your Bibles out, get your Bible journals out. We're gonna talk about what do you do when feel like God has left you on red? And we're gonna talk about that in just a moment.

Be Honest When God Feels Distant

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But first, make sure you take just a moment to like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star view on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. And as always, you can get all that information by going to thebiblebreakdown.com because the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you remember, we've been saying that the book of Psalms helps us to know how to relate to God. These are the greatest hits of the people of God for a thousand years. These are the ones that they said, this is how we relate to God. This is what God is saying. And the Holy Spirit inspired them. And it's for all different seasons of life. It really is a soundtrack of life. And so it's celebrations and it's also hard conversations. And as I was saying in the intro, there are times when we can feel like God has left us unread, that he is just distant. And I love that the psalmist is being honest about this. And honestly, I will go ahead and tell you that kind of spoiler alert, I think the whole takeaway of this chapter is when you feel uh distant from God, be honest. Don't hide from God. God's not distant from you. He just feels like it sometimes. And so that honesty alone can bring us back closer to God. So if you want to, let's read this. And if you don't want to, we're gonna read this anyway. So let's read it together.

Reading Psalm 10 Aloud

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Psalm 10, verse 1 says this, Oh Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I'm in trouble? The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor. Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others, for they brag about their evil desires. They praise the greedy and curse the Lord. The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead, yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies. They think nothing bad will ever happen to us. We will be free of trouble forever. Their mouths are full of curses and lies and threats. Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues. They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims, like lions crouching and hiding. They wait to pounce on the helpless. Like hunters, they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets. Their helpless victims are crushed. They fall beneath the strength of the wicked. The wicked think God isn't watching us. He has closed his eyes and won't even see what we do. Arise, O Lord. Punish the wicked, O God. Do not ignore the helpless. Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think God will never call us to account, but you see the troubles and griefs they cause. You take note of it and you punish them. The helpless put their trust in you and you defend the orphans. Break the arms of these wicked, evil people. Go after them until the last one is destroyed. The Lord is king forever and ever. The godless nations will vanish from the land. Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear the cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.

From Lament To Trust

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Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

How honest and what a roller coaster that was. It begins with God, where yeah, he left me on red. And then he goes into, I'm gonna need some help around here. I cannot do this by myself. And then he says, But you know, I remember that you've never left me. You've always helped me. And just like you've helped me before, God, they are some fools that are coming after me again. So I'm gonna need you to mess them up the way you messed up my last enemies. And God, you know what I need more than I know what I need. So I just trust you, and I'm no longer gonna be afraid of them. Say life. And that what a wonderful way to pray. Can I tell you there's been times in my life when I felt like God had left me on red? And there was a cry for justice in my heart. Not because I didn't think I was there. I just needed to be reminded he was there. And the way that I was able to be reminded he was there was when I remembered in the past, when I thought the same thing before. I thought that God had left me, that God wasn't faithful, God, whatever. And then I look back and go, wait a minute. While I thought God was distant and silent, he was doing his greatest work. I just didn't see it yet. So can I tell you, today, that's exactly what's going on right now. If you feel like God is silent, it doesn't mean that he's not there. It means he's probably doing his greatest work. But most likely, only when you look back will you be amazed at what God has done. So if that's you today and you feel like God is distant, first of all, be encouraged. He's not distant, he's doing more than you can imagine. Second, take a cue from the psalmist today and just be honest and say, God, I know you didn't leave me on red, but it feels like it. So I just want to say, I need you. And by the way, I remember what you did last time, and I'm so thankful. I need you to do that again. And I trust that you know exactly what's going on. And a prayer like that will make a huge difference in

Prayer And Closing Blessing

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your life. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you are with us and that you are for us. You're always doing more than we can ask, think, or imagine. Lord, I pray you open our eyes to see your goodness every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, God's word says in Psalm 34, verse 1, say it with me. So I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. There's always a new reason to praise the Lord. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Psalm chapter 11.