Psalms 10

Psalm 10

1 Why do you stand so far away, LORD, hiding yourself in troubling times?

2 Meanwhile, the wicked are proudly in hot pursuit of those who suffer. Let them get caught in the very same schemes they've thought up!

3 The wicked brag about their body's cravings; the greedy reject the LORD, cursing.

4 At the peak of their wrath, the wicked don't seek God: There's no God— that's what they are always thinking.

5 Their ways are always twisted. Your rules are too lofty for them. They snort at all their foes.

6 They think to themselves, We'll never stumble. We'll never encounter any resistance.

7 Their mouths are filled with curses, dishonesty, violence. Under their tongues lie troublemaking and wrongdoing.

8 They wait in a place perfect for ambush; from their hiding places they kill innocent people; their eyes spot those who are helpless.

9 They lie in ambush in secret places, like a lion in its lair. They lie in ambush so they can seize those who suffer! They seize the poor, all right, dragging them off in their nets.

10 Their helpless victims are crushed; they collapse, falling prey to the strength of the wicked.

11 The wicked think to themselves: God has forgotten. God has hidden his face. God never sees anything!

12 Get up, LORD! Get your fist ready, God! Don't forget the ones who suffer!

13 Why do the wicked reject God? Why do they think to themselves that you won't find out?

14 But you do see! You do see troublemaking and grief, and you do something about it! The helpless leave it all to you. You are the orphan's helper.

15 Break the arms of those who are wicked and evil. Seek out their wickedness until there's no more to find.

16 The LORD rules forever and always! The nations will vanish from his land.

17 LORD, you listen to the desires of those who suffer. You steady their hearts; you listen closely to them,

18 to establish justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that people of the land will never again be terrified.

Psalms 10 Commentary

Chapter 10

The psalmist complains of the wickedness of the wicked. (1-11) He prays to God to appear for the relief of his people. (12-18)

Verses 1-11 God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people, especially in times of trouble. We stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then complain that God stands afar off from us. Passionate words against bad men do more hurt than good; if we speak of their badness, let it be to the Lord in prayer; he can make them better. The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. Wicked people will not seek after God, that is, will not call upon him. They live without prayer, and that is living without God. They have many thoughts, many objects and devices, but think not of the Lord in any of them; they have no submission to his will, nor aim for his glory. The cause of this is pride. Men think it below them to be religious. They could not break all the laws of justice and goodness toward man, if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion.

Verses 12-18 The psalmist speaks with astonishment, at the wickedness of the wicked, and at the patience and forbearance of God. God prepares the heart for prayer, by kindling holy desires, and strengthening our most holy faith, fixing the thoughts, and raising the affections, and then he graciously accepts the prayer. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord, and we must seek unto him for it. Let the poor, afflicted, persecuted, or tempted believer recollect, that Satan is the prince of this world, and that he is the father of all the ungodly. The children of God cannot expect kindness, truth, or justice from such persons as crucified the Lord of glory. But this once suffering Jesus, now reigns as King over all the earth, and of his dominion there shall be no end. Let us commit ourselves unto him, humbly trusting in his mercy. He will rescue the believer from every temptation, and break the arm of every wicked oppressor, and bruise Satan under our feet shortly. But in heaven alone will all sin and temptation be shut out, though in this life the believer has a foretaste of deliverance.

Footnotes

• [a]. Pss 9 and 10 contain part of an acrostic poem and might originally be one poem in Heb.
• [b]. Or soul’s
• [c]. Heb uncertain

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 10

This psalm in the Septuagint version, and those that follow it, is a part and continuation of the preceding psalm, and makes but one with it; hence in these versions the number of the following psalms differ from others, and what is the eleventh with others is the tenth with them, and so on to the hundred fourteenth and one hundred fifteenth, which also are put into one; but in order to make up the whole number of one hundred and fifty, the hundred sixteenth and the hundred forty seventh are both divided into two; and indeed the subject of this psalm is much the same with the former. Antichrist and antichristian times are very manifestly described; the impiety, blasphemy, and atheism of the man of sin; his pride, haughtiness, boasting of himself, and presumption of security; his persecution of the poor, and murder of innocents, are plainly pointed at; nor does the character of the man of the earth agree to well to any as to him: his times are times of trouble; but at the end of them the kingdom of Christ will appear in great glory, when the Gentiles, the antichristian nations, will perish out of his land, Ps 10:1-11,16,18.