“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!””
Psalm 10:7-11 NLT
Who are the “helpless” that the Psalmist was writing about? These were people who were at the mercy of the wicked among them. People who were presumably unable to defend themselves against the murderous intent of their attackers, who, we’re told, had “trouble and evil … on the tips of their tongues”. The wicked attackers looked around for those in their societies who were weaker than them, and they then proceeded to crush them, impervious to the thought that God was looking on. Mankind has always had a propensity to try and get one over their fellow members of society. That was true in the days when the Psalms were written and it is still true today.
As I wrote this I immediately thought of the scammers and fraudsters who contact vulnerable people and relieve them of their money. I regularly receive emails from my bank warning me of the tactics that fraudsters use to try and gain access to my bank account. And I think of the “helpless victims” who, nevertheless, are taken in by plausible tales and are soon parted from their savings. I recently heard of someone who had a text from one of their children (or so they thought) using a phone that wasn’t theirs, to say that they were in trouble and needed some funds. It was so convincing that the person concerned was well along the way of arranging a money transfer before something made them think that there was something not quite right here. Fortunately, the scam was stopped before any harm was done.
The helpless in our societies today are those who are weaker, mentally and physically, because of age or upbringing. Children can be very trusting of the adults around them and can end up abused and manipulated. Older people can find themselves lacking the mental capacity they once had and inadvertently are talked into danger. And in between, there are always “innocent people” who find themselves defenceless in the face of a murderous attack of one kind or another.
In Biblical days, lawlessness made travel between cities fraught with danger, and Jesus even told a parable about a man robbed by bandits, beaten up and left for dead at the side of the road. A story that people in those days would immediately relate to. Travel by anyone of any importance was always accompanied by a contingent of soldiers for protection. But even those in cities were not immune from petty thieves and pickpockets. There was always someone out to prey on “helpless victims”.
Of course, we pilgrims can look on and wonder where God is during these times of danger and anxiety. We pray, but evil people seem to prevail. Then we turn to Psalm 91 and read, “This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease” (Psalm 91:2-3). We will find a refuge from danger in God. There are no scammers in God’s Kingdom and the wonderful thing is that as we stay close to Him, He will keep us safe. There are many people with testimonies of how God has stopped something bad happening to them. I look back on my own life and see the times when God protected me in a time of danger. And for those who fall victim to an evil person, there is always a way back. He promised to look after us as we ” … live in the shelter of the Most High …” (Psalm 91:1a).
Dear Father God. Your protection is assured and we are so grateful. Please lead us and guide us in Your ways, in the paths of righteousness. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 