O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.
Psalm 10 is a prayer for deliverance from enemies. The wicked do all sorts of bad things, trapping and tripping the orphan, poor and oppressed, believing God will do nothing. This prayer refutes that, acknowledging that God sees and knows all, and will deal justly with the wicked.
Side note – I know that I have dealt wickedly at times, and I hope God will deal both justly and mercifully with me. That’s one of my challenges with these hellfire psalms; it’s easy to assume that I’m always on the side of the righteous, and that the people I’ve deemed as my enemies are the ones who deserve the justice. On the other hand, my slip-ups were simply momentary lapses in judgement, so God will certainly deal with me with more mercy than justice. I don’t think everyone who reads the psalms gets to be on the side of the mercy-deserving-righteous every time, otherwise who would be the wicked? I think we’re all on both sides of that battle, all the time. But I digress.
I’m struck by the simple petition in this prayer. God will strengthen the heart of the oppressed. It doesn’t say that God will remove from them all woes, or kill the oppressor. Rather, God will simply strengthen their heart. God will listen and do justice for the oppressed, but to the oppressed, God will strengthen their heart so that those from the earth may strike terror no more.
To me, this sounds like a God-given fundamental change or bolstering of the internal constitution of the oppressed, rather than a guaranteed change in the external conditions in which they find themselves. I love this, because it supports lots of wisdom I’ve read and tried to practice. I genuinely don’t have power over anything beyond my reactions and thoughts, as much as I’d like to try to change what’s beyond me. But with a God-strengthened heart, I can withstand so much more.
Yesterday, for example. My sick loved one was on substance-altering bend. We were supposed to go out to dinner, but that clearly was not going to happen. They decided they wanted to slam their bedroom door repeatedly: open-slam, open-slam, open-slam. The reason for this? They wanted to get into their bedroom, but the door wasn’t working right, so they had to keep trying, louder and louder. My affronted self-righteous heart went downstairs, threatening to take the door off the hinges, nose to nose with my belligerent who was ready to rumble. Not one of my finer moments. That moment passed, and by the time it was time to settle down for the night, I was feeling calmed and genuinely strengthened. Our lovely sleeping porch was likely not going to be the place to settle in, as our loved one was continuing their boisterous, mostly happy social media entertaining directly below. It was loud. Without malice or martyrdom, I suggested we sleep inside.
It’s not just that I proposed moving inside, it’s more that I did so with love and acknowledgment that our loved one was sick, stoned, and unable to alter their behavior that night. I couldn’t have changed their behavior or decibel if I’d wanted to. But my heart was strengthened to better equip me to respond to what was happening around me.
This morning, I’m thinking about all the ways God can strengthen my heart, so that I am better able to be loving and non-reactive to what happens around me. It’s not my job to change what’s going on beyond my personal bubble; that’s God’s to work out.
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