Resting When it Doesn’t Make Sense - Psalm 10 (Handout)

Resting When it Doesn’t Make Sense - Psalm 10


HOMEWORK: Read the Psalm 10 as a whole, turning it into your own words.

I. Opening Cry: Where Are You? (v. 1)

  1. Talk to God. Talk out loud. Many sufferers stay submerged in their thoughts and feelings, and stifle spoken prayer. Prayer means asking someone for help. Too often “prayer” is indistinguishable from thought life. “God” becomes blended with chaotic mental processes, rather than existing as a distinct person. But God is a person. Talk to him. Jesus prayed out loud with feeling: “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Heb. 5:7). Cry out.
  1. The psalms are intended for use by groups of people, as well as by individuals. Who can pray with you? Join the people of God in a setting where your needs can be presented to God by others.
  1. Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19 make it plain that Jesus not only experienced sufferings like yours, he experienced evil in greater concentration. In fact, he did it for you, and on purpose. And his cry was answered, as God delivered him in power: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21. Read a different version of the story each day. Think about these things.

 II. Analyze Harmful People: They are Proud, Willful, Godless, and Predatory (vv. 2-11)

  1. Are you suffering? Have you been “burned” because someone else “burned” to do you wrong? Have you been verbally attacked, humiliated, treated with contempt, slandered? Have you been sexually manipulated, molested, seduced, raped? Have you been physically threatened, stalked, attacked, beaten, or tortured? Describe what has happened to you: who, what, when, where, how, why. Talk it out with God in detail, according to the pattern of Psalm 10.
  1. We are usually aware of what wrongdoers do, because that directly affects us. What does Psalm 10 say about how they think, what they want, what they worship, what they do with God? How does recognizing this Godward dimension help you when you face the sting of their actions? How does it make you less alone?

III. Cry to God: Act to Aid the Hurting (vv. 12-15)

  1. What will Jesus Christ do to unrepentant sinners who harm God’s children? Study 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 for the condensed version. Study Revelation for the uncut version.
  2. Talk to God. But don’t babble. Talk intelligently, based on an understanding of God’s reign of power and grace that deals with evil and suffering. Many sufferers simply writhe in pain and confusion. Jesus prayed knowing exactly what he was saying, focused on obeying the will of the Father: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). He modeled the things he had taught his disciples to pray (Matt. 6:9-13
  1. Ask God to act: “Destroy evil and promote good.” Prayer is not about working up some state of mind, though prayer does affect our state of mind, as Psalm 10 illustrates. Prayer goes to Someone you love and trust, asking for action and confessing faith.

IV. Confident Affirmation: The Lord Will Right Wrongs (vv. 16-18)

  1. What truths do you need to affirm? Where can you find calm, strength, hope, and comfort? Begin where Psalm 10 begins. What else can you put in your confession of faith in the midst of trouble?
  2. David turned his suffering into words that have brought hope and guidance to countless people for three thousand years. Can you turn your experience into a ministry to others who suffer? God “comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 Cor. 1:4).

Psalm 10 teaches us to think clearly and seek help from where help really comes. You need to think about what has happened. Who has mistreated you? What have they done? How do they think? What are they doing with God (not just with you)? Since evildoers are often deceitful (vv. 5 and 7), they can be hard to identify. Often the first people they deceive are their victims. See your danger for what it is. You need to seek help. This help comes first and finally from the living God. He hears, helps, strengthens, and vindicates those who rely on him. If you look anywhere else first, you will set yourself up for a fall. You will get snared in bitterness and revenge (spurning God for your pride). You will flee in avoidance and addiction (spurning God for your false refuges and comforts). You will develop a perverted dependency on others (spurning God for your trust in man). Sadly, our culture has awakened countless people to think about what evildoers (“abusers”) have done to them, but it has cast them upon their own resources as “abuse victims.” Yet victims can properly understand their own sins and sufferings, and God’s grace. They can learn the faith of Psalm 10 and find hope, mercy, and courage in dealing with evildoers.

As you seek the Lord, you will find that many secondary helps contribute to the healing process. There is a place to call the police, press criminal charges, pursue church discipline, seek counseling, weep with a friend, get financial advice, and so forth. The Lord is a refuge who leads us to rightly appropriate the many other helpers who can play a part in our lives—and to play a part for good in others’ lives, as well.


– adopted from Seeing with New Eyes by David Powlison

Resting When it Doesn’t Make Sense - Psalm 10


HOMEWORK: Read the Psalm 10 as a whole, turning it into your own words.

I. Opening Cry: Where Are You? (v. 1)

  1. Talk to God. Talk out loud. Many sufferers stay submerged in their thoughts and feelings, and stifle spoken prayer. Prayer means asking someone for help. Too often “prayer” is indistinguishable from thought life. “God” becomes blended with chaotic mental processes, rather than existing as a distinct person. But God is a person. Talk to him. Jesus prayed out loud with feeling: “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Heb. 5:7). Cry out.
  1. The psalms are intended for use by groups of people, as well as by individuals. Who can pray with you? Join the people of God in a setting where your needs can be presented to God by others.
  1. Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19 make it plain that Jesus not only experienced sufferings like yours, he experienced evil in greater concentration. In fact, he did it for you, and on purpose. And his cry was answered, as God delivered him in power: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21. Read a different version of the story each day. Think about these things.
  1. Analyze Harmful People: They are Proud, Willful, Godless, and Predatory (vv. 2-11)
  2. Are you suffering? Have you been “burned” because someone else “burned” to do you wrong? Have you been verbally attacked, humiliated, treated with contempt, slandered? Have you been sexually manipulated, molested, seduced, raped? Have you been physically threatened, stalked, attacked, beaten, or tortured? Describe what has happened to you: who, what, when, where, how, why. Talk it out with God in detail, according to the pattern of Psalm 10.
  1. We are usually aware of what wrongdoers do, because that directly affects us. What does Psalm 10 say about how they think, what they want, what they worship, what they do with God? How does recognizing this Godward dimension help you when you face the sting of their actions? How does it make you less alone?

III. Cry to God: Act to Aid the Hurting (vv. 12-15)

  1. What will Jesus Christ do to unrepentant sinners who harm God’s children? Study 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 for the condensed version. Study Revelation for the uncut version.
  2. Talk to God. But don’t babble. Talk intelligently, based on an understanding of God’s reign of power and grace that deals with evil and suffering. Many sufferers simply writhe in pain and confusion. Jesus prayed knowing exactly what he was saying, focused on obeying the will of the Father: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). He modeled the things he had taught his disciples to pray (Matt. 6:9-13
  1. Ask God to act: “Destroy evil and promote good.” Prayer is not about working up some state of mind, though prayer does affect our state of mind, as Psalm 10 illustrates. Prayer goes to Someone you love and trust, asking for action and confessing faith.

IV. Confident Affirmation: The Lord Will Right Wrongs (vv. 16-18)

  1. What truths do you need to affirm? Where can you find calm, strength, hope, and comfort? Begin where Psalm 10 begins. What else can you put in your confession of faith in the midst of trouble?
  2. David turned his suffering into words that have brought hope and guidance to countless people for three thousand years. Can you turn your experience into a ministry to others who suffer? God “comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 Cor. 1:4).

Psalm 10 teaches us to think clearly and seek help from where help really comes. You need to think about what has happened. Who has mistreated you? What have they done? How do they think? What are they doing with God (not just with you)? Since evildoers are often deceitful (vv. 5 and 7), they can be hard to identify. Often the first people they deceive are their victims. See your danger for what it is. You need to seek help. This help comes first and finally from the living God. He hears, helps, strengthens, and vindicates those who rely on him. If you look anywhere else first, you will set yourself up for a fall. You will get snared in bitterness and revenge (spurning God for your pride). You will flee in avoidance and addiction (spurning God for your false refuges and comforts). You will develop a perverted dependency on others (spurning God for your trust in man). Sadly, our culture has awakened countless people to think about what evildoers (“abusers”) have done to them, but it has cast them upon their own resources as “abuse victims.” Yet victims can properly understand their own sins and sufferings, and God’s grace. They can learn the faith of Psalm 10 and find hope, mercy, and courage in dealing with evildoers.

As you seek the Lord, you will find that many secondary helps contribute to the healing process. There is a place to call the police, press criminal charges, pursue church discipline, seek counseling, weep with a friend, get financial advice, and so forth. The Lord is a refuge who leads us to rightly appropriate the many other helpers who can play a part in our lives—and to play a part for good in others’ lives, as well.


– adopted from Seeing with New Eyes by David Powlison