Psalms 10

1 O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?

2 The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor. Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.

3 For they brag about their evil desires; they praise the greedy and curse the LORD .

4 The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead.

5 Yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies.

6 They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us! We will be free of trouble forever!”

7 Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats. Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.

8 They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims.

9 Like lions crouched in hiding, they wait to pounce on the helpless. Like hunters they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets.

10 Their helpless victims are crushed; they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.

11 The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”

12 Arise, O LORD ! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless!

13 Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.”

14 But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans.

15 Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed.

16 The LORD is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land.

17 LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.

18 You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.

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]. Greek version reads cursing and bitterness. Compare Rom 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.