As a boy, it was always my dream to find myself in the batter's box at the World Series in the bottom of the ninth - bases loaded ... ready to do nothing other than hit a massive Home-run. You see, my dad was born in New York - he grew up in love with baseball - more specifically, in love with the the Yankees. I was raised to love them myself. Not because they win all the time, but because of the way they play the game. One of the things that many people don't realize about this power house team is that they win most of their games in the last few innings. They might spend 90% of the game down in the dumps, but it's the "bottom of the ninth" that determines who wins the game at the end of the day. Here's the link for this weeks Psalm - Psalm 10
Verses 1-11 In my life, there have been times where I wondered what God was up to. I knew the story of Elijah in Kings by heart, and I wondered why God didn't answer my prayers like He did with Elijah. If God sent fire from heaven for Elijah, he could at least do a little something for me right? I had problems at school, I had frustrations and worries - where was God when I needed Him most? This is what the chapter speaks of. David is upset, he is saddened, he is worn out, and he is curious why evil always seems to get its way on this earth. He asks God, "Why are you so far away?" ... or as Michelle would say "hey ... What gives?" Anyway, David looks around, he sees pride, he sees pain, he sees greed, cursing, deceit, he sees the persecution of the innocent, but he does not see justice - he does not see evil being punished. He sees evil growing like weeds, and righteousness being choked out. Think about the community we live in - it's pretty much the same. The divorce rate is sky-rocketing, innocent children get aborted by selfish mom's on daily basis, and I don't think that's going to change any time soon. I mean, when I was in High School, I lost a good deal of friends to drugs and drinking - and I thought to myself quite often ... "why do they get away with it? Where is the justice? I'm a good kid - why am I the one that has to have such a hard time?" To be honest it does not seem fair - but it does not mean God wasn't there. There will never be time in your life, no matter how low, that God is going to "lose the game" in your life . God always has a plan - and his plan always works ... whether you like it or not. If we think in terms of baseball, it's about mid-game. The Yankees are down 5 to nothing and things do not look good. The team is asking , "God, when are you gonna strike back?" The devil seems to be winning, and he thinks that he's not going to lose (Verse 11) ... well ... it's not over yet.
Verses 12-18 David calls out to God, and says "arise, life up your mighty hand." I like to think for the sake of the example that he's saying, "God, pick up a bat, you're on deck ..." David stops questioning God and starts questioning the enemy. How can anyone in their right mind stand up to their creator and say "I'm gonna beat you." It's foolishness. It's pride. Needless to say, God doesn't put up with that nonsense. If you read the first verses of this section, it's almost as if David is giving God a laundry list of things to do - maybe even a game plan. Seek out the wicked. You see the grief and trouble, repay it! (This last one is my favorite) "Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man." God will not only strike back, but he will annihilate all evil in his presence. I like that so much - our God will not tolerate evil - in fact, he's going to break evil's arm in half. Pretty awesome if you ask me. We get to the end and David says that there will come a day that the men of the earth will oppress no more. What does that mean? Evil will never triumph over God. Period.
The Bottom of the Ninth It almost sounds silly, but when I read this, I kind of compared God to the Yankees. You see, like I said before, the Yankees are a come from behind team - they're known for it. In the same way, it may seem in your life like God is getting rocked by evil - that there's no way He could come back. You might question like David did - "where are you God?" But this Psalm tells us one thing that always hold true - it's the bottom of the ninth that really matters. It's almost like my dream come true. God steps to the plate - bottom of the ninth, world series, down by three, bases loaded, two strikes, two outs. That day will come when evil throws its last pitch, and when it seems like all hope is lost, God hits a Grand Slam - game over.
- Chris
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