Psalms 10:1-18
1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
2 The wickeda in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart'sb desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall neverc be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceitd and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretlye as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.f
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committethg himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepareh their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.i
9 and 10. Yahweh the Refuge of His People. These two Pss., divided in MT, were originally one, This is proved by the fact that they are one in LXX. and Vulg., by the absence of title over Psalms 10, and, conclusively, by the evidence that 9 and 10 form one acrostic poem. It was arranged in strophes of four lines each, the first letter of each strophe being one of the letters of the Heb. alphabet in regular succession. This system is carried out in the whole of Psalms 9-2 in Psalms 10. So far we have the first twelve letters of the alphabet, the only omission being that of the fourth letter, which, however, can be supplied by an easy and convincing emendation. Then from Psalms 10:3 to Psalms 10:11 the acrostic character disappears and can be recovered only by precarious emendation. It reappears in Psalms 10:12 and continues to the end, where the strophes begin with the last four letters of the alphabet. This irregularity implies great corruption in MT, and shows, like the comparison of Psalms 18 with 2 Samuel 22, that any absolute trust in that text is misplaced.
The subject-matter raises a further difficulty. The poem is in part a triumphal song over Israel's foes, but the writer oscillates between the thought of foreign oppressors and of godless Israelites who defy Yahweh and spoil the orphan and the afflicted. A very slight emendation in Psalms 10:16, proud instead of nations, removes this second difficulty. But a third remains: the Psalmist begins with gratitude for the defeat of his adversaries and changes his song to one of supplication for a victory which is not yet secure.
Psalms 9:13 f. Observe the contrast between the gates of Sheol and those of Zion.
Psalms 10:4. Here, as always in the OT, the atheism meant is practical not theoretical. The godless believe in a God who lives far away and does not trouble Himself with human affairs.
Psalms 10:5. Read, He prospers in his ways at all times. The villages in Psalms 10 may, being unwalled, have fallen an easy prey to the enemy, or, more probably, they have become nests of robbers. The LXX. Psalms 10:8 reads, He sitteth in ambush with the rich.