MERE disease!

Psalm 10

  O Lord, why do you stand so far away?

      Why do you hide when I am 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 cursing, 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 crouched in 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 trouble and grief they cause.

      You take note of it and punish them.

   The helpless put their trust in you.

      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 their cries and comfort them.

  You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,

      so mere people can no longer terrify them.

We studied this Psalm on Sunday at our Ethiopia Team Meeting.  It was really great to look at this Psalm and gain understanding and confidence through it.  We know that we are going to Ethiopia to work with people who are dealing with death on a daily basis and that is heavy, but we also know that God has a plan for these peoples lives. Reading through this Psalm together really made feel excited to GET THERE!  One thing I thought of while I was reading through this Psalm is that if you insert "HIV/AIDS" into every spot where "wicked people" are mentioned this Psalm is very relevant to what is going on in Africa.  Essentially, HIV/AIDS is hunting down people and destroying lives and families.  The last line pumped me up for this trip...God will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed so that mere [disease] can no longer terrify them."  That is what we are going to do...to bring them hope and a purpose to live instead of waiting to die.  It's awesome that it says: "mere people" because the rest of the Psalm seems to be describing its power and strength, but compared to God it is nothing.

 

We also saw a slideshow of pictures of Addis Ababa and the people there and it touched me so deeply.  We will be working with the children a lot and after seeing the Watoto Children's Choir on Sunday I am so anxious to just GO, MEET and SERVE alongside Beza Ministries.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!