I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 10-17.

    There is a common thread which goes through the psalms in today’s passage: the wicked believe that they will not be held accountable for their actions. Actually, there is a second theme as well: God will hold the wicked accountable for their actions, they will suffer the consequences of their evil. The wicked brag about their desire to do evil. They praise the greedy. They think that God is either dead, or not watching. They prey upon those who cannot protect themselves and think no one can stop them. However, God will bring justice for the weak and oppressed.

    Put your trust in the Lord and there is no need to flee for safety. It may appear that the righteous and faithful are disappearing from the face of the earth, that the foundations of law and order have collapsed, but there is no need to flee to remote areas for safety. God will protect and reward those who remain faithful to Him in the face of the wicked. Evil may be praised by our society, but God will continue to protect the oppressed and to bring judgement on the oppressor. Even when it seems that God has forgotten us, let us continue to trust in Him and praise His name. When life is a struggle I will praise God for rescuing me, because I know that He will do so. I do not need to wait for God to act to praise Him, because I have experienced His deliverance in the past and know that I will experience it again.

    The psalmist tells us that, ultimately, those who believe that there is no God are fools. He tells us that they tell themselves that because of their wickedness and evil actions. Further, he tells us that all of us have done wrong, have committed evil at some point. However, those who know there is a God will turn to Him for forgiveness. He then tells us what we should strive for in order to stop doing evil. He gives us a list of things to avoid to move away from doing evil, and advice on how to do so. If we do what is right, we will not do what is wrong. The psalmist list of things to avoid is an active list. It is not enough to desire to not gossip, we must actively refuse to gossip. The same is true of harming our neighbors and speaking evil of others. These are things we must actively refuse to do, or we will find ourselves doing it without intending. We must reserve our admiration and praise for those who perform godly acts.