Psalm 10 Study Notes

10:11 God’s inactivity is evidence enough for the wicked that he has forgotten the righteous, reinforcing the practical atheism expressed in v. 4. This is coupled with the assumption that God was hiding. For the afflicted, this apparent situation was a perplexing question (v. 1).

10:12-15 On rise up, see notes at 7:6-8 and 9:19-20. What is true in Ps 9 is now in conflict with what appears to be happening in Ps 10. God is asked not to forget the oppressed, but in 9:12,18 he does not forget them. Here the wicked think that God will not demand an account, but in 9:12 he clearly does. The tension is between appearance and reality, a common situation in the lament psalms. Fatherless is a better rendering than “orphan,” since in Hebrew society it was the lack (or loss) of a father that made a person helpless because he was left without property or rights. Breaking the arm of the wicked would make them helpless as well (37:17) and unable to continue to commit wickedness.

10:16-18 Since the Lord is sovereign forever, his justice will triumph. The statement that nations will perish from his land is reminiscent of the annihilation of the Canaanites from the promised land, a land that belonged to the Lord and was given to his people (Dt 7). The final result is that the wicked will no longer terrify others but will themselves be terrified (9:20).