1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
he is haughty and your laws are far from him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me;
I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent,
watching in secret for his victims.
9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover;
he lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
he covers his face and never sees."
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
***
A few chinese sayings came to mind:
好人难做 (It's difficult to be a good [law-abiding/integrity-filled] man)
英雄早逝 (Heros died young)
On the other hand, it seems
奸人当道 (Evil man rules)
So someone actually joked:
奸人当道，忠臣该不该跳槽？(Since evil man rules, as a loyal subject, should I consider switching camps?)This psalm also brought to mind a difficult time during my early part of NS days, before I disrupted. I was put in charge as the 2nd IC of my battalion's signal store.
It was tough enough handling ALL the operations of the battalion, supporting the communication equipment needed.
But on top of that, I had to deal with an ambitious lady Master Sergeant from the logistics side, who played office politics and tried to meddle with the signal platoon operations.
In short, I was often caught with unnecessary arrows fired by this Master Sergeant. If the task went well, she claimed all the credit. If it was screwed up, we took the blame and punishment.
I was one of the few who really "worked" while most of the other servicemen tried to "siam" (evade duties) or find opportunities to "nuah" (slack).
It is at that time I often thought to myself:
Why do I still put in my effort to do what is right and work? Why not join the rest of them and slack? Why make my life so unhappy?In the end, I grudgingly accepted it as "tough luck" and "my lot in life".
I was still a backslider at that time, and didnt trust God for my life.
But as I looked back at my life at that period of time, I am glad I hanged in doing what is right.
I may have gone through a lot of "shit" during those times, but it was not unnoticed.
My 1st IC (the signal store supervisor, a regular army personnel) was really appreciative of my work. I became a "legend" at my old unit, because my supervisor kept telling the subsequent batches of servicemen posted to the signal store:
"Lam is the best 2-IC I had. You should follow his example."That was because I went through thick and thin with her, during those times when we were "oppressed" by this Master Sergeant.
Till date after 8 years, she still sms me "Happy New Year" and "Happy Deepavali" (because she's an Indian).
In the same way, I believe God honours those times we dont give in to the standards of this world.When evil abounds, would you keep doing what's right, because God is the one whom you are living your life for?
