Psalms 10

1 Why are you so far away, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?

2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor; catch them in the traps they have made.

3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the Lord.

4 The wicked do not care about the Lord; in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.

5 The wicked succeed in everything. They cannot understand God's judgments; they sneer at their enemies.

6 They say to themselves, "We will never fail; we will never be in trouble."

7 Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats; ¹ they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

8 They hide themselves in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They spy on their helpless victims;

9 they wait in their hiding place like lions. They lie in wait for the poor; they catch them in their traps and drag them away.

10 The helpless victims lie crushed; brute strength has defeated them.

11 The wicked say to themselves, "God doesn't care! He has closed his eyes and will never see me!"

12 O Lord, punish those wicked people! Remember those who are suffering!

13 How can the wicked despise God and say to themselves, "He will not punish me"?

14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering and are always ready to help. The helpless commit themselves to you; you have always helped the needy.

15 Break the power of wicked and evil people; punish them for the wrong they have done until they do it no more.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever. Those who worship other gods will vanish from his land.

17 You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly; you will give them courage.

18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans; you will judge in their favor, so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

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.

Cross References

• 1. 10.7Romans 3.14.

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.