In Psalm 10, we see again many of the questions of Job. David cries out as Job did,
Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)
He then questions why the wicked seem to prosper, though in their pride, they reject God and cause misery to so many.
And in verse 12, he pleads,
Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.
But after that, he says something interesting.
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. (14)
That third phrase really strikes me.
The victims commit themselves to you.
The word “commit” is very interesting. It is, in fact, the only time in the Old Testament that it’s translated that way. Literally, it means “to abandon.”
The idea is that these people are in such desperate straits, they come to an end to themselves. They let go, and completely surrender themselves to God.
And as they do, David says,
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed. (17-18)
That word for “encourage” is a very rich one. The Amplified version puts it this way: “You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts.”
When we abandon ourselves to God, it allows him not only to encourage us, but to prepare our hearts for the plans he has in store for us and to direct our steps.
What does it mean to abandon ourselves to God? I think it first means to give up our questions, and to surrender them to God.
To say, “I don’t understand why these evil things are happening. I don’t understand why you seem to be so far off. But I will trust you, anyway.”
That was the lesson Job learned.
It also means to give up trying to solve things in our own wisdom and strength.
So often when we are hurt, we think the logical thing is to hurt the other person back.
But to abandon ourselves to God is to give up our “right” to revenge and to leave justice in God’s hands. To trust him to do what is right with those who hurt us.
Oswald Chambers sums all of this up this way,
The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?”
Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God.
But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do.
Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions…
And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth.
God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 