Psalm 10:2-12

2 In ¹pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be ²caught in the plots which they have devised.

3 For the wicked ³boasts of his ⁴heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and ⁵spurns the LORD.

4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, ⁶does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "⁷There is no God."

5 His ways ⁸prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, ⁹out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

6 He says to himself, "¹⁰I will not be moved; Throughout all generations ¹¹I will not be in adversity."

7 His ¹²mouth is full of curses and deceit and ¹³oppression; ¹⁴Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

8 He sits in the ¹⁵lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he ¹⁶kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the ¹⁷unfortunate.

9 He lurks in a hiding place as ¹⁸a lion in his lair; He ¹⁹lurks to catch ²⁰the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his ²¹net.

10 He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.

11 He ²²says to himself, "God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never * see it."

12 Arise, O LORD; O God, ²³lift up Your hand. ²⁴Do not forget the afflicted.

Psalm 10:2-12 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

• 1. Psalms 73:6, 8
• 2. Psalms 7:16; Psalms 9:16
• 3. Psalms 49:6; Psalms 94:3, 4
• 4. Psalms 112:10
• 5. Psalms 10:13
• 6. Psalms 10:13; Psalms 36:2
• 7. Psalms 14:1; Psalms 36:1
• 8. Psalms 52:7
• 9. Psalms 28:5
• 10. Psalms 49:11; Ecclesiastes 8:11
• 11. Revelation 18:7
• 12. Romans 3:14
• 13. Psalms 73:8
• 14. Job 20:12; Psalms 140:3
• 15. Psalms 11:2
• 16. Psalms 94:6
• 17. Psalms 72:12
• 18. Psalms 17:12
• 19. Psalms 59:3; Micah 7:2
• 20. Psalms 10:2
• 21. Psalms 140:5
• 22. Psalms 10:4
• 23. Psalms 17:7; Micah 5:9
• 24. Psalms 9:12

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "burn"
• [b] Or "They will be caught"
• [c] Or "blesses the greedy man"
• [d] Or "plots"
• [e] Lit "are strong"
• [f] Lit "To"
• [g] Lit "lie in wait"
• [h] Or "poor"
• [i] Or "thicket"
• [j] Or "is crushed"
• [k] Or "is bowed down"
• [l] Or "poor"
• [m] Or "into his claws"