By Katie Kenlein, YWA Chapter President at Grove City College
When we read the Psalms, David’s prayers and songs and pleas pull our hearts closer to God and help us remember that there is nothing new under the sun. As we mark one year since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision on that glorious June 24, in 2022, Psalm 10 can act as a guide for prayer and meditation on behalf of the helpless.
1Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
While we know that God is near to us, sometimes we feel like David, calling out to God— “Come closer! We need you! Help us!” I cannot help but think of the thousands of faithful men and women who have prayed for life since Roe was handed down in 1973—who no doubt have called out to God, saying “Where are you?” as sixty-three million children were sacrificed to the Enemy.
Later in this Psalm, David will remember the truth, that God is always here and always in control, which is something we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us experience in times where we feel God is far away. I think of all the stories I have heard from after 1973, where God pulled women, one at a time, out of the decision to end her baby’s life or helped a woman heal from having an abortion. Just because evil became the law of our land, it did not mean God left in defeat. We can pray for peace in the knowledge that, in His timing, God will deliver us from evil and bring justice.
When we look at the abortion industry and the lies of abortion, we see the ways the “wicked hotly pursue the poor,” and we can see the “schemes that they have devised.” Planned Parenthood itself says there are “millions of poor women who depend on [their] clinics.” (1) Not only do the Enemy’s followers pursue the poor, but the wicked have also devised many schemes, aided by sickening marketing and PR campaigns, like #shoutyourabortion, and the help of celebrities. We can pray that, in God’s perfect judgement, the wicked will be caught in their schemes.
The Oprah Magazine featured a story about “Shout Your Abortion.” This feature brings me to another key takeaway from this passage— David’s observation that “the wicked boast of the desires of the soul.” Many celebrities and ordinary people are living day to day “greedy for gain,” boasting of the desires of their souls, cursing, and renouncing the Lord our God. Those, with power and influence, act too proud to seek God, maybe even living in a sad denial of God’s existence. We can pray that their eyes will be opened to the truth and that people will praise God instead of celebrity status.
5His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
We know the frustration David is feeling. Sometimes it seems as if the Enemy is prospering at all times with the wicked ignorant of their punishment awaiting them. But the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe is a blessing from God that reminds us that He will win in the end. Evil will not always be allowed. The Evil One’s ways do not prosper at all times. We praise God for His victory on June 24, 2022, and for the victories He secures every day in the battle for life.
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
But, like David says, the Enemy brings the spirit of cursing and deceit and oppression, lying about abortion, even calling it a “fundamental right,” equating it to the empowerment of women, and saying that Roe could never be overturned because it was “precedent.” We know the enemy is at work—verses 8-10 are painfully reminiscent of the laws that passed during primary and general elections in 2022. From Kansas to California, from Vermont to Michigan, anti-life bills were sitting under the tongues of the wicked, ready. There, “in hiding places he murders the innocent.” While this section is a horrifying reminder of the Enemy’s power, it also must motivate us. The pro-life fight is a spiritual fight—we know “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
How can we stop the ambush? How can we protect the poor from seizure? How can we aid the helpless before they are crushed? We can ask God for wisdom and for places where we can intervene to protect the helpless women and babies under attack by the Enemy.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.
We know that many in our country are in denial about the evils they celebrate. Like David sees, they think “God has forgotten.” As we even saw on the House floor in January when Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Michigan) cited Jeremiah 1:5 for the abortion cause, they use God’s word for evil, and they perpetuate lies about abortion, lies like “it’s just a clump of cells.”
God, while the wicked may be denying that you will call everything to account, we can pray remembering that “you take it into your hands.” We can meditate on the knowledge that you, oh God, “have been the helper of the fatherless.” We can pray that the women preyed upon by the Enemy commit themselves to You, for peace and true healing. God, we pray verse 15, against the Enemy’s spirit of death and destruction. Thank You for the victories in states like Texas and Oklahoma, where you broke the arms of the wicked, God. We can pray that God will keep calling this “wickedness to account till [he] find[s] none.”
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
David ends Psalm 10 remembering the Truth. We can meditate on verses 16-18, holding on to our Heavenly Father’s power over sin and death. Let us pray this Psalm in light of the abortion battle in this nation, trusting that abortion will someday perish from this land, knowing that our just God is King forever and ever. He will bring ultimate justice.
This article first appeared in the print edition of Cogitare Magazine.
(1)https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/planned-parenthood-community-health-centers-and-women-s-health-getting-facts-right