Reflections on Psalms 10

 Psalms 10(Contemporary English Version)

1. Why are you far away, LORD? Why do you hide yourself when I am in trouble?
   
2. Proud and brutal people hunt down the poor. But let them get caught by their own evil plans!
   
3. The wicked brag about their deepest desires. Those greedy people hate and curse you, LORD.
   
4. The wicked are too proud to turn to you or even think about you.
   
5. They are always successful, though they can't understand your teachings, and they keep sneering at their enemies.
   
6. In their hearts they say, "Nothing can hurt us! We'll always be happy and free from trouble."
   
7. They curse and tell lies, and all they talk about is how to be cruel or how to do wrong.
   
8. They hide outside villages, waiting to strike and murder some innocent victim.
   
9. They are hungry lions hiding in the bushes, hoping to catch some helpless passerby. They trap the poor in nets and drag them away.
   
10. They crouch down and wait to grab a victim.
    
11. They say, "God can't see! He's got on a blindfold."
    
12. Do something, LORD God, and use your powerful arm to help those in need.
    
13. The wicked don't respect you. In their hearts they say, "God won't punish us!"
    
14. But you see the trouble and the distress, and you will do something. The poor can count on you, and so can orphans.
    
15. Now break the arms of all merciless people. Punish them for doing wrong and make them stop.
    
16. Our LORD, you will always rule, but nations will vanish from the earth.
    
17. You listen to the longings of those who suffer. You offer them hope, and you pay attention to their cries for help.
    
18. You defend orphans and everyone else in need, so that no one on earth can terrify others again. 

---

Psalm 10 can be considered part 2 of Psalm 9. At one time they were both one Psalm but have now become two. So the psalmist is still David who was being threatened by wicked people. Though he spoke confidently in Psalm 9 of God's care for the oppressed, his time of being oppressed had become prolonged causing him to ask of God the question we all come to at various times: "Why do You hide in times of trouble?" (10:1) The trouble had gone on indefinitely and God had not yet responded to his cry for help and it seemed that God was far away and unconcerned. Meanwhile, the wicked "relentlessly pursue the afflicted" arrogantly convinced that "There is no accountability, since God does not exist." (10:4) We see in this that God is the ultimate restraint on wicked activity and where the belief prevails that God does not exist or does not care wickedness also prevails.

In spite of his doubts raising concern that God was far away and not paying attention to his troubles and those of others who were afflicted, David's faith comes through once again confident that the Lord has heard his prayer and will carry out "justice for the fatherless and the oppressed." (10:18) He calls out for God to rise up, lift up His hand, and not to forget the afflicted. He knows that God will deal appropriately with the wicked, calling "his wickedness into account until nothing remains of it." (10:15) Therefore he will continue to entrust himself to the Lord who is the "helper of the fatherless."