Psalms 10:1-7

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.

1 Why 1do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why 2do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In 3pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be 4caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked 5boasts of his 6heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and 7spurns the LORD.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, 8does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "9There is no God."
5 His ways 10prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, 11out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, "12I will not be moved; Throughout all generations 13I will not be in adversity."
7 His 14mouth is full of curses and deceit and 15oppression; 16Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

Psalms 10:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References 16

  • 1. Psalms 22:1
  • 2. Psalms 13:1; Psalms 55:1
  • 3. Psalms 73:6, 8
  • 4. Psalms 7:16; Psalms 9:16
  • 5. Psalms 49:6; Psalms 94:3, 4
  • 6. Psalms 112:10
  • 7. Psalms 10:13
  • 8. Psalms 10:13; Psalms 36:2
  • 9. Psalms 14:1; Psalms 36:1
  • 10. Psalms 52:7
  • 11. Psalms 28:5
  • 12. Psalms 49:11; Ecclesiastes 8:11
  • 13. Revelation 18:7
  • 14. Romans 3:14
  • 15. Psalms 73:8
  • 16. Job 20:12; Psalms 140:3

Footnotes 7

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.