Father to the Fatherless

I learned this week that Northern Virginia and Maryland, so I’m not even talking about the district at this point, but Northern Virginia and Maryland are facing a crisis of desperate need for help with foster children in need of love from a family. So one of the state county workers we spoke with this week said the situation is the “worst they’ve seen in decades.” So there are kids sleeping on sofas in offices or in hotels, for weeks on end. Even in homeless shelters. Hundreds of them are being put into group homes, not because they need to be there, in fact, they definitely don’t need to be there for a number of reasons, but they just need a bed. All of this happening in some of the richest counties in our country. So in Virginia specifically, so this doesn’t apply to MoCo, but a quarter of the state’s children in foster care live within a 30-mile radius of where I’m sitting right now.

So just the counties in our church family, there are over 500 kids in our counties in foster care, and well over 100 in need of adoption. And they’re desperate for people to help. Here’s just one example of how serious the problem is. Loudoun County has 46 kids who need care right now and zero homes for them to go to. Zero. And the reality is, we as the Church, can change this now. And not just we can. We, as the Church are called by God to change this. We have gathered together today to worship the God who is … Just go ahead and look down at Psalm 10:14, “Who is the helper of the fatherless.” Some translations say the orphan and word refers to a child in need of a family. This is who our God is. Look down in verse 18, “We worship the God who does justice to the fatherless and the oppressed.”

We are worshiping, right now, the God who helps the fatherless, who does justice for the fatherless. Which begs the question well, how does he help them? How does God do justice for them? And here’s the answer. God helps them through his people. God does justice for them through the people who worship him. Truly, that’s why James 1:27 says “Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is to this, to look after orphans.” Means to take responsibility for the care of children without a family. That’s pure religion that God our Father accepts.

Listen to Isaiah 1 starting in verse 12. God says to his people, “When you come to appear before me, who is required of you, this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New Moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations, I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates. They’ve become a burden to me. I’m weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers. I’ll not listen. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless.”

God says, “You gather together to worship me, but you ignore the fatherless around you. You miss the whole point, the whole point.” God says, “My soul hates assemblies like that.” So what I want to do over the next few minutes is for us to simply listen to what the God we are worshiping, says in Psalm 10. And just to let you know where all this is going, a few minutes from now and in light of God’s word and in light of the needs right around us in the world, I’m going to invite people all across our church family to take a specific step today and in the days ahead, to do justice for the fatherless in our counties. I’m going to invite you to take a specific step to help the fatherless right around us, in a way that ultimately points them to the help and the justice and the love of God for them.

A Special Prayer

Before we dive in, I want to pray and I’m going to put a prayer up here on the screen that I want to lead us, to say to God before we listen to God. So here’s the prayer, I’ll just read it and then I want to lead us to pray it. So the prayer is, “God, I will do whatever you call me to do to care for children in need of a family.” That’s it. That’s the prayer. “God I will do whatever you call me to do to care for children in need of a family. And I want to invite every single follower of Jesus within the sound of my voice, to pray this out loud with me in a moment. So I’m going to start, I want to pray for us and then I’m going to lead us to pray this prayer if you would be willing, which is at the heart of worship.

“God, we’re not here just to go through religious motion. We don’t want to do that which your soul hates. We want to do whatever you’re calling us to do. So will you bow your heads with me? I’ll start. Oh God, as your people, we want to be a reflection of who you are and we’re asking you today to show us how you want us to do that. We don’t want to go through religious motion today that you detest. We want to worship you truly. We want to hear from you clearly. We want to obey you completely because we know you are our God. You know what is best, not just for these kids. You know what is best for us. You’re our God, you’re our Lord, our Savior, our king. So we want to pray this together.”

Now I invite you, just repeat after me phrase by phrase. Just say, “God, I will do …”

God I will do …

Whatever you call me to do …

To care for children …

In need of a family.

In Jesus’ name …

Amen.

Okay, now let’s listen to the God we just prayed to. We’re just going to work our way step-by-step to this psalm all the way to this picture of the fatherless at the end. So it starts Psalm 10:1. “Why oh Lord do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” So the key word from the beginning of the psalm is obvious. It’s “why?” The psalmist, as we’ll see, is looking at injustice and oppression around him and he’s saying, why God? Why are the poor and needy and fatherless crushed like they are? And why does it seem like you are hiding while this is happening?

These are questions that you will inevitably ask as soon as you take time to get to know children in foster care. So I want to be careful not to paint with a broad stroke, because every story is different. No story is the same. But children in our counties are being neglected, abandoned, abused, physically, sexually, emotionally, all of them in ways that are traumatic. I think of one girl with a club foot, with deformities on her hand and face, covered in lice who has never received medical attention because of an absent father and a mother on drugs. I think of one boy who witnessed a crime in his home that will forever change his life. So these are children and teenagers in our community, and the more you get to know them, the more you’ll ask, “Why God?

The Way of the World

So then the psalmist describes what I’ll call here, the way of the world, starting in verse two. And I should add, this picture of the world is not necessarily those who are outside of God’s people, but also those who are inside of God’s, people, who are not caring for those in need. Verse two says, “In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor. Let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised, for the wicked boast that the desires of his soul, the one greedy for gain, curses and renounces the Lord.” So see this description, they seek their own selfish gain in prideful pursuits, selfish schemes and desires. They’re greedy for gain, looking out for what is best for them while ignoring those in need around them. That’s the way of the world. And in the process, they ignore the one true God.

Verse four, “In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him. All his thoughts are there is no God.” So they may not be outright atheists, but if they live ignoring God and his command to care for those in need, what’s the difference?

And yet verse five, “His ways prosper at all times. Your judgments are on high, out of his sight. As for all of his foes, he puffs at them.” So despite wickedness or maybe even because of it, people in the world prosper and as a result, the psalmist says they trust in their worldly prosperity in such a way that they flaunt your judgments. God, they’re out of sight as if they don’t exist, trusting in what they think is prosperous and successful and comfortable.

When the psalmist says they live with deadly pride, verse six, he says in his heart, “I shall not be moved throughout all generations. I shall not meet adversity.” They think their way is secure, it’s safe. Set up the way the world says will be secure and safe. And the psalmist says “His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.” So their words are sinful. See the destructive power of the mouth, of the tongue, to actually promote oppression. Their words are sinful and their works are evil.

Listen to verses eight and nine. “He sits in ambush in the villages. In hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless. 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. Like a lion, he uses his power to pounce upon the weak in such a way that the weak get weaker and the strong get stronger.”

They oppress the needy, the helpless are crushed, they sink down and fall by his might, left by the wayside while everybody moves on with their lives. They oppress the needy and they disregard God’s justice. He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he’s hidden his face. He will never see it.” It’s where the whole picture started, now it comes full circle, the wicked are unjust because they disregard God’s justice saying “God doesn’t see.” They live and work in independence from him, experiencing what they think is prosperity in this world. And because they don’t immediately see the disastrous effects of their injustice in their life, they assume God doesn’t see it. And this is the way of the world and it leads the psalmist to pray, to petition God. It’s where the whole Psalm turns. Verse 12, “Arise, oh Lord. Arise Yahweh. Oh God, lift up your hand and forget not the afflicted.” 

The Way of Our God

Which all leads to the way of our God. Verse 13, asks, “Why does the wicked renounce God saying in his heart, you will not call to account?” Verse 14 answers, “You, 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.” God sees their need. God is not blind to injustice. The helper to the fatherless sees mischief and vexation, trouble and grief. That’s what Hagar said in Genesis 16:13, “You are the God who sees me in my suffering.” He sees their need and he hears their cry.

“Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer,” verse 15 says, “Call his wickedness to account till you find none. The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations perish from his land. Oh Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted, you will strengthen their heart. You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed. So that man who’s of the earth may strike terror no more. Mark it down, our God hears the desire of the afflicted. He inclines his ear from heaven to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed. He sees their need, he hears their cry and he brings them hope.

One of the key verses in the Psalm is verse 16. It’s the confession of faith in the middle of the struggle, the psalmist says, “The Lord is king forever and ever. And because he is king forever and ever, we can know ultimately, his justice will reign. The Lord is king and the Lord will execute justice for the fatherless and the oppressed to anyone and everyone who longs for justice in this world. Look to the Lord, the just king over the world. Because he is just you can know justice will reign and ultimately deliverance will come.” Last phrase of this psalm, “Man who is of this earth will strike terror no more.” The way of this world will not have the last word. God, the just King of the World will have the last word and he will deliver all who trust in him from this fallen sinful world to experience sin, suffering and injustice no more. It’s the hope of all who know and trust in God. And ultimately this whole picture, this hope, is fulfilled when God himself comes to this sinful, fallen world of evil, injustice and suffering.

Psalm 10, like every other chapter in the Bible is ultimately pointing us to Jesus, the one who would come to this sinful [inaudible 00:18:08] fallen world, and himself endure injustice and oppression at the hands of sinful people, including religious leaders who were seeking their own selfish gain, ignoring the one true God and with worldly power and deadly pride, cursed the Son of God himself.

They mocked him, beat on him, beat him, spit on him, and ultimately murdered him. And yet in that act, God was doing the unthinkable. He was saving sinners in this world. This is the good news of the Bible. It’s the greatest news in the world, that Jesus has come and through Jesus he has made clear God sees every sinner who looks to him. God hears the cry of everyone who calls on him, and God gives hope to everyone who trusts in him, forgiveness of your sin and freedom from death. Justice reigns as Jesus pays the penalty for sin on a cross and deliverance comes as Jesus rises from the dead and victory over sin and the grave.

God has sent his son Jesus to save anyone in this world who will turn from this world and trust in his love. 

The Solution to Our Crisis

It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is the solution to our crisis. Here’s what I mean by that. We need to see Psalm 10 through the lens of our lives. Did you know Romans 3 in the New Testament actually quotes Psalm 10 and a variety of other texts and applies these verses to you and me saying “There’s no one righteous, not even one.” Which means that when we see the way of the world, we see a mirror of ourselves.

Let’s be honest, we seek our own selfish gain. It’s a starting point of every sin in our lives. We are prone to ignore God. To live our lives independent of God, our way instead of his way, according to what we think is good, not what he says is good. We are prone to seek after and trust in the prosperity of this world. We’re prone to look at our homes and our possessions and our plans for our safety and our security in this world. We battle with deadly pride thinking we know what is best for our lives, and in the process we disregard the justice of God.

We fail to do what God has called us to do. And then on top of that, we feel the effects of sin in this world in different ways. We know what it’s like to experience mischief and vexation trouble and grief, which means we all need Jesus. We all need the Lord, the just and holy king of all the earth to rise up and save us from our sins and carry all our sorrows. If you’ve never trusted in Jesus friend, I invite, I urge you to do that today. Turn from your sin and yourself and the ways of this world and trust in Jesus as your Savior and the Lord who’s over this world and the Lord over your life, and he will give you a new heart in this world and everlasting hope that transcends this world.

The Bible later uses the language of adoption, described how God sent his son to die on a cross for our sins, to rise from the dead in victory over the grave, so that we can be set free from sin and become sons and daughters of God. We can know God as our father, adopted into his family in such a way that, so now follow this, in such a way that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just the solution to our crisis. 

The Solution to Children in Need

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the solution to the Christ of children in need. Follow this with me, brother or sister in Christ, God has adopted us. God’s brought us broken sinners into his family as his sons and daughters. This is who we are. So now doesn’t it just make sense for people who’ve been adopted into God’s family with God as our Father, his Holy Spirit living in us, doesn’t it just make sense for us to show his love to children in need of a family, around us?

It would make no sense for us as adopted children of God and the forever family of God, to see children in need of a family and do nothing for them. It makes no sense. It’s not true religion, James 1 says. And this is so critical because what drives foster care or adoption or support for children in need, is not mere altruism or humanitarian concern. That will only go so far, especially when you and these children and their parents are dealing with all the brokenness this world brings. 

There’s a Challenge for Us Individually and as a Church

To be clear, what we are challenging one another to today, individually and as a church family, is not easy. It will be very hard. So how can we do this? Well, not by our own strength. But we are not called to do this in our own strength. We have the Holy Spirit of God in us, and his supernatural power and his selfless love at work within us, and that’s what drives us.

That’s what drives us to take steps and that’s what sustains us as we take those steps. I’ve said this before, we don’t foster or adopt because we’re some group of good altruistic, nice people, out to rescue children in need. No, we don’t care for children in need and their parents because we’re rescuers. We care for children in need and their parents because we are the rescued. We don’t care for children and parents in need because we’re good and we’ve got it all together. We care for children and parents in need because God is good and we are broken. And by his grace, God has come to us in our brokenness. He’s brought us into his family forever. And now we care for children and parents in need because the God who sees the broken and inclines his ear to them and works for them, is alive in us.

We have new hearts. We leave behind selfish gain. It’s not about what our idealized view is for our life or our home, our plans, our future, our retirement, our vision for what a home should look like and what’s comfortable for us. We lay aside our pride, what we think is best. We lay aside the way of this world and we live to do the justice of our God because we have a totally different outlook on what we’re made for in this world, and we trust that his way is good, not just for those in need. His way is good for us as well.

In all of this, I want to make sure to say to every child or every adult who has been without family in your life, maybe you’ve been a part of the foster care system or maybe you’ve been adopted, I want you to know specifically on behalf of our whole church family, that you are honored here. We honor you for so many reasons. First and foremost, for how you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God our father. And we honor you for all you have faced and continually face in your unique life story, including unique challenges. We honor you and we love you in a way that we hope you see far more important, God loves you and God on high, honors you.

And I also want to say to every mom or dad who for any number of reasons has not been able to care for a child or maybe you’re currently unable to care for a child or children, we as a church want you to know that we honor and love you, that we are for you. We want to support you in every way you need, because we know God sees what you’re walking through and he inclines his ear to you in your need and he loves you and longs for your good, which leads us then at church to put feet to this picture of God in the world.

Some of you may have seen a recent movie called The Sound of Hope. It’s a story of an African-American church, a tiny town in Texas called Possum Trot, where a couple of families decided to foster, ended up adopting, children in need. They challenged their small church of less than 200 people with very little money, to do the same. And over the coming days, 22 families adopted 77 of the hardest to place children in their local foster foster care system. They got to the point where in their surrounding area, there were no more children in need of a home.

A church of 200 and a low-income community, fostered and adopted 77 children and teenagers. What could we do as a church family of thousands of people and some of the most well-off counties in the country? We could do so much more than that, to care for the children right around us. I know there is one seventeen-year-old who’s here today with county workers. He came into care a couple of days ago. He’s a follower of Jesus, came from North Africa to the U.S. with his mom to escape persecution for their faith. Three days ago, his mom was sent back home. Now he’s in a shelter because there’s not a home for him.

He wanted to come to church today. We can do this for him and for so many others. The need, the opportunity, is before us. The word of God is speaking to us, and let’s be clear, it’s not “Okay. I feel guilty,” Or “I feel like I have to.” That’s not what drives us. We have the spirit of God in us. We do this because we’re overwhelmed by the grace of God, the love of God. It just overflows from us. That’s what drives us. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what drives us to care for children and family in need.

Observation (What does the passage say?)

• What type of writing is this text?
  _{(Law? Poetry or Wisdom? History? A letter? Narrative? Gospels? Apocalyptic?)}
• Are there any clues about the circumstances under which this text was originally written?
• Are there any major sub-sections or breaks in the text that might help the reader understand the focus of the passage?
• Who is involved in the passage and what do you notice about the specific participants?
• What actions and events are taking place? What words or themes stand out to you and why?
• Was there anything about the passage/message that didn’t make sense to you?

Interpretation (What does the passage mean?)

• How does this text relate to other parts of the Scriptures
  _{(e.g., the surrounding chapters, book, Testament, or Bible)?}
• What does this passage teach us about God? About Jesus?
• How does this passage relate to the gospel?
• How can we sum up the main truth of this passage in our own words?
• How did this truth impact the hearers in their day?

Application (How can I apply this to passage to my life?)

• What challenged you the most from this week’s passage? What encouraged you the most?
• Head: How does this passage change my understanding of the Lord? (How does this impact what I think?)
• Heart: How does this passage correct my understanding of who I am to the Lord? (How should this impact my affections and what I feel?)
• Hands: How should this change the way I view and relate to others and the world? (How does this impact what I should do?)
• What is one action I can take this week to respond in surrender and obedience to the Lord?

[Note: some questions have been adapted from One to One Bible Reading by David Helm]