The first part of Psalm 10:2 says, “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor...” Now there are all kinds of wicked in this world, but one may say that this Psalm focuses on those rich enough to exploit the poor. Why the poor? Because without any external help, the poor are too poor to stop those who are rich enough to exploit them.
To be sure, there is nothing wrong in being rich. Did not God in Genesis 1:28 command Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful”? But as we read on in the Bible, an issue arises regarding what some do with their wealth and getting more wealth. They are diverted in the face of evil to temptation to keep others from amassing any amount of wealth. They fly in the face of Genesis 1:28.
How easy it is to tempt someone into pursuing evil in exchange for promises of wealth. How easy it is for those with the means to pursue the path of evil against others. They give the poor the impression of being powerful, yet they are not strong enough to defy evil’s temptation. Satan in Matthew 4:8–10 tries to tempt Jesus with riches in exchange for him worshipping Satan. It is a call that not everyone can walk away from. Yet what was Jesus’ response to Satan? He says in Verse 10, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” And indeed, it is written in Deuteronomy 6:13–15, “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.”
For many who might otherwise serve the Lord God, who gave them life, the temptation to serve “other gods,” of which Satan is one, is too great when they are tempted with riches that, contrary to the eternal life that is available from God, only last so long as they are physically above ground. Compared to eternity, that life on earth is a mere nano-nanosecond at most.
How does the Gilded Age fit in with this scenario? In the Gilded age, which spanned from 1870 to 1900, there was intense labor exploitation, where powerful industrial figures built immense fortunes while large segments of the working class lived in severe poverty. The exploitation involved dangerous workplaces and long hours, lethal conditions in the factories, low wages, tenement housing, and a systematic suppression of labor rights in general.
Wha grounds can these powerful industrial figures be held accountable for the conditions they maintained over the less powerful? Simple. They could have used some of their wealth to improve the working and living conditions for those they employed, but they didn’t. Comes to mind Matthew 25:41-46 in which Jesus says those who refused to give to the poor will end up in the lake of fire.
No doubt that there have been changes made to the well-being of the workforce and their families since the Gilded Age, and the issue has changed from giving no help at all to the degree that help should be offered, coupled with the side issue of rooting out fraud and deception of those who would stick their hand into what’s offered to the less fortunate. But as we know, things have consequences and how they’re dealt with is a measure of our humanity.
So, amidst that scenario, the second part of Psalms 10:2 says to let the wicked “be caught in the schemes that they have devised.” There is no doubt that many of the wicked who have given into the temptation of the almighty Ca-Ching in their evil pursuits have been caught. Let the vigilant against that evil remain.
To be sure, there is nothing wrong in being rich. Did not God in Genesis 1:28 command Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful”? But as we read on in the Bible, an issue arises regarding what some do with their wealth and getting more wealth. They are diverted in the face of evil to temptation to keep others from amassing any amount of wealth. They fly in the face of Genesis 1:28.
How easy it is to tempt someone into pursuing evil in exchange for promises of wealth. How easy it is for those with the means to pursue the path of evil against others. They give the poor the impression of being powerful, yet they are not strong enough to defy evil’s temptation. Satan in Matthew 4:8–10 tries to tempt Jesus with riches in exchange for him worshipping Satan. It is a call that not everyone can walk away from. Yet what was Jesus’ response to Satan? He says in Verse 10, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” And indeed, it is written in Deuteronomy 6:13–15, “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.”
For many who might otherwise serve the Lord God, who gave them life, the temptation to serve “other gods,” of which Satan is one, is too great when they are tempted with riches that, contrary to the eternal life that is available from God, only last so long as they are physically above ground. Compared to eternity, that life on earth is a mere nano-nanosecond at most.
How does the Gilded Age fit in with this scenario? In the Gilded age, which spanned from 1870 to 1900, there was intense labor exploitation, where powerful industrial figures built immense fortunes while large segments of the working class lived in severe poverty. The exploitation involved dangerous workplaces and long hours, lethal conditions in the factories, low wages, tenement housing, and a systematic suppression of labor rights in general.
Wha grounds can these powerful industrial figures be held accountable for the conditions they maintained over the less powerful? Simple. They could have used some of their wealth to improve the working and living conditions for those they employed, but they didn’t. Comes to mind Matthew 25:41-46 in which Jesus says those who refused to give to the poor will end up in the lake of fire.
No doubt that there have been changes made to the well-being of the workforce and their families since the Gilded Age, and the issue has changed from giving no help at all to the degree that help should be offered, coupled with the side issue of rooting out fraud and deception of those who would stick their hand into what’s offered to the less fortunate. But as we know, things have consequences and how they’re dealt with is a measure of our humanity.
So, amidst that scenario, the second part of Psalms 10:2 says to let the wicked “be caught in the schemes that they have devised.” There is no doubt that many of the wicked who have given into the temptation of the almighty Ca-Ching in their evil pursuits have been caught. Let the vigilant against that evil remain.
