Psalms 10:1-9

1 Why dost thou stand afar off, O LORD? Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?

2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes which they have devised.

3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his heart, and the man greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.

4 In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God."

5 His ways prosper at all times; thy judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6 He thinks in his heart, "I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity."

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the hapless,

9 he lurks in secret like a lion in his covert; he lurks that he may seize the poor, he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

Psalms 10:1-9 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.