Sermon: Summer Psalms - Dealing With Justice -Psalm 10, August 9, 2026
Scripture: Psalm 10
Preacher: Ryan Slifka
Sermon: Dealing With Justice
Christianity Today recently published an essay by Jared Dodson, a teacher at Bushnell University in Oregon.1 In it, he details a shift in the thinking of his students that’s happened over time, most of whom are in their late teens or early twenties. A few decades ago, one of the main questions students had was: “why do bad things happen to good people?” Like, why is it that tragedy seems to befall virtuous people, or at least innocent people that have done nothing wrong? Now it’s it’s shifted from “why do bad things happen to good people” to “why don’t bad things happen to bad people?” Why don’t bad things happen to bad people?[i]
Why’s that?
When they look at the world, Dodson says, they see constant war and bloodshed. The mistreatment of migrants, and inequality that’s growing day by day. Billionaires and trillionaires, while many of the basic goods in life remain out of reach for so many. This is all filtered through the lens of social media, of course. But that doesn’t mean that the injustices aren’t there. Because they are.
And Dodson says this passion against injustice is a good thing. The scriptures, of course, tell us of God’s special care for those who live–in the words of Howard Thurman–with their backs against the wall.[ii] Especially the poor. To see the world as it is and long for the way it oughta be is a good thing. A holy thing, even.2[iii]
But the problem is that it’s leading his students in a couple darker directions. The scale of the world’s inequality and problems lead them to a sense of hopelessness. Like, I need to do something, but even if I did none of it would make a difference. There are no consequences for greed, oppression or evil. The other is to see the problems as so deep that drastic–usually violent–action is needed to change things. They might not be the one tossing the molotov cocktail, but they might cheer, or justify the murder of a CEO. Bad things need to happen to bad people. Or nothing will change for the better.
Passive despair, or violent resentment. These are our general responses to the injustices of our world. According to Dodson neither are good. Or particularly Christian.
Which brings us in a roundabout way to our August sermon series “Psummer Psalms.” The Psalms being the prayer book of the Bible. The prayer book of Jesus, in fact.
This Sunday the question we are hosting is related to Dodson’s article. How do we deal with injustice. I’ll say it again–how do we deal with injustice?
It doesn’t just apply to Gen Z Christian College students, but to all of us whose hearts are crushed by the amount of injustice in the world. Particularly those who Jesus calls “the least, the last, and the lost.” Their options tend to be our own. Either be crushed under the weight of hopelessness and despair, or worse–total indifference. Or be consumed with seemingly righteous anger.
Surely there’s an alternative. And we find this alternative through out the scriptures. But most especially the Psalms.
And we couldn’t do much better than today’s Psalm–the tenth Psalm. Psalm 10 might be the quintessential scripture text on the question of injustice.
Why? Because it mirrors so directly our own feelings and experience.
“Why O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” It begins. We start in the midst of trouble, and it looks like the Creator of the universe has gone AWOL. I mean, it’s funny, because before I became a Christian I assumed everything in the Bible was “ra ra God is awesome,” but not here. Here God appears to be missing in action.
Why does the Psalmist think this? Because, he says, “in arrogance the wicked persecute the poor.” Folks are taking advantage of the weak, the economically vulnerable. Without consequence. Sound familiar?
What’s worse, though, is that the perpetrators are just so arrogant. The way they parade their greed, show off their stolen treasures–they might believe in some kinda God but they act that there’s no God–that there’s no higher power who sees and judges their actions. “Their ways prosper at all times,” says the Psalmist.
They’re like mob bosses who’ve paid off all the police and the judges–they act like they’re bullet proof. Draped in Gucci behind the wheels of their luxury SUV’s–you know the ones with the tinted windows. Flaunting all that illicit wealth, broadcasting to the world their egregious sin without consequence. They curse and lie. Their eyes are always just scanning for the next victim. They’re like lions waiting for the next kill. Ducking out of sight, just waiting to seize the poor and drag them off. They lie, they cheat, they steal, and they crush the poor and needy under their boot-heel. All without any sense of accountability to anyone but themselves. If that’s not injustice I don’t know what is.
Just when we think we live at a unique time. Like us, the Psalmist looks out on it all and can’t stand what he sees. We’ve been here before.
Now, here’s where the alternative comes in.
No doubt, the Psalmist cries out to God, even calls God to account. “Where are you, Lord?” he asks. But that’s not the same as hopelessness. And that’s not the same as despair.
And the Psalmist doesn’t sharpen his blade, either. He doesn’t get out the guillotine either. To be fair, he does at one point express a desire to “break the arm of the wicked and the evildoers.” But he’s not the one who does it.
No. In between rage and despair, he turns to prayer.
“Rise up, O Lord,” prays the Psalmist. “O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.”
The Psalmist turns to God in prayer. And those words “rise up, O Lord,” aren’t just nice poetry. The Psalmist is reaching back into the history of Israel, God’s people, to a formula invoked throughout scripture. “Rise up, O Lord,” is what Israel would sing out before they marched into battle with the ark of the covenant.[iv] In saying “rise up, O Lord,” they are calling God to act against injustice in ways that they’ve seen God act before in the past. Where great odds, great powers and great rulers were humbled.
God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. God overthrew Goliath with a single rock to the head, defeating the Philistines. God brought God’s people out of exile. God did it before, so God can do it again.
“Why do the wicked renounce, you, God, and say in their hearts that ‘you will not call [them] to account’? But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, so that you may take it into your hands.” The Psalmist teaches us that God is not blind to injustice, but sees. That there is a judge to whom we can make our appeal. How does he know? Because he’s seen it before. “The helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan.” God did it before, so God can do it again.
One of the great gifts that we’ve been given by our ancestors in faith in the scriptures is the gift of a long memory. Not just of natural cycles of history, but of times and situations where all hope was lost, slavery and oppression reigned, and the reigning powers were all but invincible. Injustice was just the way it had to be with no other option. But then a power greater than all other powers intervened, and brought about a new reality and a new freedom where everything seemed closed. God did it before, so God can do it again.
God did it before, so God can do it again.
Which means that when it comes to injustice we have been given a whole different option. We need not give in to despair. We need not to look at the state of our world, the treatment of the poor, or the flourishing of the wicked, and just write it all off. Nor do we have to turn to violence and resentment–justice by “any means necessary.” Why? Because we believe that we are not alone. Which means we can act and live in ways that contribute to relief for the poor, and holding the powerful to account, without the burden of believing that it’s all up to us. Even though we may be powerless, there is a power greater than all powers. The power of the living God.
The great reformer, John Calvin, said it like this: “[the] rule which we should observe, when we are in trouble and sorrow is this: we should seek comfort and solace in the providence of God.”[v] Our alternative to dealing with injustice is faith. That the Lord has acted in the past, and will act again. History is not closed, newness, change is always a possibility. All because there is a God in heaven.
Now, there is one other issue at stake. Not everyone in every situation will find justice in this lifetime, in this world.
Note the language of the last couple verses: The Lord is king for ever and ever! The nations shall perish from his land. You will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror anymore!” It’s not “might,” it’s not “It’s all will, it’s all shall.
The truth is that countless children have died and will die due to malnutrition. And plenty of those who oppress will take their last breath, unrepentant, unmoved by their own misdeeds, dying at a ripe old age the way they lived. Ebenezer Scrooge is something of an exception. The fact that God has acted in the past and can act in the present and future is meaningless for the many who’ll never live to see it. There’s no “will” or “shall” for any of them. At least not past the grave.
But here’s the thing: that is the ultimate hope at the heart of the Christian faith. That one day the wicked will be held to account. And justice will be done for all. How do we know that?
Because we have not only been given the gift of the testimony of our dear Psalmist, but we have been given our Lord, Jesus Christ. The gift that brings all other gifts to completion.
The one who though he was rich, became poor for our sake, that we might become rich in him. The one who died naked, and abused, the innocent one, put to death as a criminal. Only to be raised again on the third day. The one who ascended, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, given all glory, honour and praise. The one who will come again in glory, in the words of the creed, to judge the living and the dead. And whose kingdom will have no end.
His resurrection is the ultimate triumph over evil and injustice. A victory he shares especially with all who have been ground into the dirt. Remember Jesus’ words in the sermon on the plain: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”[vi] That is not only a possibility, but a promise. That, in the end, every theft will be restored, every tear wiped away. Fullness, and laughter and joy, forever. Around the throne of God.
And those who were never brought to justice? One day they, like we, they will stand before the throne of judgment. Meaning that we can actually forgive, and let go. We don’t have to make sure everything turns out right, we don’t have to be consumed by anger or vengeance. Why? “Because nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.”[vii] They, like we, will one day be held to account by the one true and just judge.
How do we deal with injustice? Do we give in to apathy or despair? No. Do we become consumed with resentful rage? There’s no need. Rather, in the end, we can take heart. We can be bold, we can be resourceful, and faithfully optimistic. Because, in the words of the Psalm, “The Lord is King, forever and ever.” And “he will do justice for the orphan and the oppressed,” in this life or the next. And that one day “those from earth [will no longer] strike terror anymore.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
[i] Jared Dodson, “Gen Z Isn’t Asking Why Bad Things Happen to Good People,” Christianity Today, May 13, 2026. https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/05/gen-z-why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people-theodicy-evil-suffering/
[ii] Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996), 7.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] James Luther Mays, Psalms: A Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 74.
[v] John Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 10, https://psalms.org/study/john-calvin-commentary-psalm-1
[vi] Luke 6:21
[vii] Luke 8:17