In Psalm 10:12–15, the psalmist calls on the Lord to act, to “lift” his hand and remember the afflicted. To “break the arm of the wicked and evildoer.” All throughout the Scriptures, we are told that God will defend the defenseless—he is a friend, a father and a helper to the fatherless. To quote Spurgeon, God “chastises the oppressor,” but “befriends the oppressed.”
The psalmist reminds himself of this reality. To himself and to all the faithful, he says, “God will act. Remember who he is—remember that he is good. Remember that he is faithful. Remember that he is just. Remember that he commits himself to the helpless and helps the fatherless. Remember that he is the friend of the oppressed.”
To the wicked, he says, don’t say to yourself that God won’t call you to account, because he will. Though you sneer now, you won’t for long. God will not let injustice stand. All of us will be held to account for what we do in this life, and all that is done will receive its due. Wickedness will be accounted for until there is no more wickedness to be found in all the earth.
And for those who believe in Jesus Christ, what we know is that the accounting has already been made. It was made by Jesus, God’s only Son—God himself!—when he was nailed to a Roman cross and killed 2000 years ago. He died so that we could be forgiven of all our wrongdoing no matter how great or small. He died because we were oppressed by a greater tyrant—sin—and we were helpless to save ourselves from it.
Jesus is the helper of the helpless—and we are the helpless. That is the good news of the gospel, y’all.