Psalms

Psalms 10

18 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1Why do you stand far off, Yahweh? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise. 3For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh. 4The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God. 5His ways are prosperous at all times. He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them. 6He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.” 7His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. 8He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless. 9He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net. 10The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength. 11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”
12Arise, Yahweh! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless. 13Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account?” 14But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless. 15Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none. 16Yahweh is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land. 17Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, 18to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

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What others are saying

4 commentators · 44 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17142

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–11

David, in these verses, discovers, I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing his gracious presence (Psa 10:1): "Why standest thou afar off, as one unconcerned…

v. 12–18

David here, upon the foregoing representation of the inhumanity and impiety of the oppressors, grounds an address to God, wherein observe, I. What he prays for. 1. That God would himself appear (Psa 10:12): "Arise, O Lord! O God! lift up thy hand, manifest…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176318

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?.... This psalm begins with a complaint which proceeds on two general heads; the one is with respect to God, his distance from his people, and desertion of them in times of trouble, in this verse; and the other is with…

v. 2

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor,.... The "poor" is the good and gracious man, who is commonly poor in this world's things, and is sensibly poor in spirit, or sensible of his spiritual poverty; or he is so called because "afflicted", as the…

v. 3

For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire,.... As antichrist does of his universal power over all bishops and princes, which his heart was long desiring after; of his being Christ's vicar, Peter's successor, and head of the church; and of having power in…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–187511

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1–2

The Psalm opens with the plaintive inquiry, why Jahve tarries in the deliverance of His oppressed people. It is not a complaining murmuring at the delay that is expressed by the question, but an ardent desire that God may not delay to act as it becomes His…

v. 3–4

The prominent features of the situation are supported by a detailed description. The praett. express those features of their character that have become a matter of actual experience. הלּל, to praise aloud, generally with the accus., is here used with על of…

v. 5

This strophe, consisting of only three lines, describes his happiness which he allows nothing to disturb. The signification: to be lasting (prop. stiff, strong) is secured to the verb חיל (whence חיל) by Job 20:21. He takes whatever ways he chooses, they…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187113

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

Literally, "In pride of the wicked they (the poor or humble, Psa 10:17; Psa 12:5) shall be taken in the devices they (the proud) have imagined."

v. 3

heart's--or, "soul's." desire--that is, his success in evil. and blesseth, &c.--he (the wicked) blesseth the covetous, he despiseth the Lord.

v. 4

The face expresses the self-conceit, whose fruit is practical atheism (Psa 14:1).

World English Bible — Public domain