Psalm 10:1

The psalm begins with the covenant name of God, Yᵉhôvâh, “O LORD”, the name of the self-existent, eternal God who bound himself to Israel. The question hurts precisely because of who he is. The psalmist knows the LORD as the faithful God who protects the oppressed, so his distance in a time of trouble is hard to bear.

Two pictures carry the complaint. “Standest” is ʻâmad, the ordinary verb for standing, and the distance lies in râchôwq, “afar off”, a word for what is remote in place or time. The psalmist feels that God has stepped back from the scene, present in the world and yet withholding his help. “Hidest” is ʻâlam, to veil from sight or conceal, and in its active forms the verb can describe a deliberate act such as closing one’s eyes to something. “Times of trouble” joins ʻêth, time, with tsârâh, a word whose root sense is tightness and which comes to mean distress and affliction. The hour when help is needed most is the hour when God feels hidden.

This psalm and the one before it belong together. Psalm 9 gives thanks for God’s righteous judgment and calls the LORD “a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9), and some ancient manuscripts present the two as a single psalm. Psalm 10 then faces the present, where that justice is still awaited and the wicked go unchecked. Psalm 10 as a whole moves from this question, through a long portrait of the oppressor, to a renewed plea and a declaration of trust.

From verse 2 the psalmist describes the man who is causing the trouble. “The wicked” is râshâʻ, a man who is morally wrong and actively bad, guilty before God, and the same word names him again in verses 3 and 4. His driving force is “pride”, gaʼăvâh, arrogance or loftiness, the self-exaltation that makes a man believe he answers to nobody. Proverbs warns where this leads: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

“Persecute” is dâlaq, whose root meaning is to flame or burn, and so to pursue hotly. The picture is a fierce, relentless chase. His victim is “the poor”, ʻânîy, a word that comes from a root meaning to depress or afflict. It covers the afflicted and the lowly as well as the materially poor, people with no patron or power to defend them, who must depend on God. The law of Moses repeatedly commanded protection for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger (Exodus 22:21–27, Deuteronomy 24:14–22), and God is the father of the fatherless and the judge of the widows (Psalm 68:5). The wicked man has made those whom God guards his prey.

Verse 3 turns the language of worship upside down. “Boasteth” is hâlal, the verb commonly translated “praise” or “glorify”, and here the wicked man praises himself and his own cravings. “His heart’s desire” joins nephesh, the soul or inner life, with taʼăvâh, a longing or appetite. What he celebrates is his own appetite, and it rules him in the place of God’s will.

“Blesseth” is bârak, a verb used for blessing God in worship and for blessing a person with good. Here it means to commend or applaud, and the ones he applauds are “the covetous”, bâtsaʻ, from a root meaning to break off or plunder. These are people greedy for gain and ready to take it by force or fraud, at the expense of the poor. God’s law forbade coveting in the tenth commandment (Exodus 20:17), and Isaiah pronounced woe on those who join house to house and field to field (Isaiah 5:8). Proverbs says that the proud stir up strife (Proverbs 28:25), and Paul describes people who practise such sins and take pleasure in others who do them (Romans 1:28–32).

Over all this stands the LORD’s verdict. “Abhorreth” is nâʼats, to scorn, despise or spurn. The covetous man whom the wicked applaud is the man the LORD rejects, and the one who blesses him shares his place. God resists the proud (James 4:6), and his holiness remains the measure of every human verdict.

Verse 4 goes to the root of everything the wicked man does. “Through the pride of his countenance” uses gôbahh, a word for height and loftiness, which is a different word from the pride of verse 2. “Countenance” is ʼaph, properly the nose or nostril, and so the face. His arrogance shows in his face and bearing for all to see.

“Will not seek after God” uses dârash, to seek, inquire of, require or care for, and the words “after God” are supplied by the translators. Scripture calls God’s people to “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually” (1 Chronicles 16:11), and this man refuses. Then comes the heart of the matter: “God is not in all his thoughts.” The word for God is ʼĕlôhîym, plural in form, a plural of majesty when it names the true God. “Thoughts” is mᵉzimmâh, the same word translated “devices” in verse 2. These thoughts are his plans and schemes, and God has a place in none of them.

Verse 5 shows how such a man prospers in his own eyes. “His ways are always grievous”: “always” is ʻêth, the same word as “times” in verse 1, so his ways bring trouble at every time. “Grievous” is chûwl, a verb whose root sense is to twist or whirl, which comes to mean to writhe in pain, and in other forms means to bring forth or to cause anguish. His conduct brings pain to others at every turn. The word may also carry here the sense of being firm or strong, so that in his own eyes his ways hold fast and succeed.

“Thy judgments are far above out of his sight.” “Judgments” is mishpâṭ, a verdict pronounced by a judge, and the word covers God’s decrees, his law and his acts of justice. “Far above” is mârôwm, a height or elevated place. God’s judgments stand on high, beyond the view of a man absorbed in his own gain, and so he lives with a false sense of impunity. Notice that the psalmist speaks to God here, “thy judgments”, even in the middle of describing the oppressor.

“As for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.” “Enemies” is tsârar, to cramp or distress, and so an adversary. “Puffeth” is pûwach, to puff or blow with the breath. It is a snort of contempt, as though his opponents were something to blow away, and anyone in his path, the righteous and the helpless alike, receives only scorn. From Psalm 1 onward the Psalms set the way of the wicked against the way of the righteous, and Psalm 73 describes the same proud prosperity (Psalm 73:3–12).

Verse 7 turns to the wicked man’s speech. “Full of” means his speech overflows with these things until they are the very stuff of his talk. “Cursing” is ʼâlâh, an imprecation or oath, from a root meaning to adjure, curse or swear, and it covers both calling down harm on others and swearing false oaths. “Deceit” is mirmâh, fraud, guile or treachery, words calculated to mislead. “Fraud” is tôk, a word for oppression as well as deceit, so his words end in real harm to others.

“Under his tongue is mischief and vanity” points to what he keeps hidden and ready for use. “Mischief” is ʻâmâl, toil or wearing effort, and so trouble and grievance, and he labours at causing it. “Vanity” is ʼâven, from a root that may mean to pant, to exert oneself in vain and come to nothing. It covers trouble and wickedness, and at its heart lies emptiness. His schemes harm others, and in the end they come to nothing.

Jesus taught that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34), and that the evil which comes out of the mouth comes from the heart (Matthew 15:18–19). Another psalm laments the same deceitful lips (Psalm 12:2), and Proverbs describes the worthless man and his deceitful ways (Proverbs 6:12–14). Paul takes up this picture when he describes all mankind under sin: “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness” (Romans 3:13–14). God sees what lies under the tongue as clearly as what comes out of the mouth.

Verses 8 to 10 describe the oppressor as a hunter waiting for his prey. “He sitteth” is yâshab, to sit down, a verb used of sitting in ambush or in quiet as well as of dwelling. He settles in to wait. “The lurking places” is maʼărâb, an ambush, a place of lying in wait. “Of the villages” is châtsêr, an enclosed yard or a hamlet, an unwalled settlement that lacked the defences of a city. Such places lay open to robbers and to powerful men who could strike and extort far from any authority.

“In the secret places doth he murder the innocent.” “Secret places” is miçtâr, a covert or hiding place, and the same word lies behind “secretly” in verse 9. “Murder” is hârag, to smite with deadly intent, to kill. “The innocent” is nâqîy, the blameless and guiltless. His victims are blameless, and he kills them in hiding, out of every witness’s sight.

“His eyes are privily set against the poor.” “Privily set” is tsâphan, to hide by covering over, and here it describes a hidden, watchful gaze fixed on the victim. “The poor” here is chêlᵉkâʼ, a rarer word than the one in verse 2, meaning an unfortunate or a wretch, from a root that probably means to be dark or unhappy. The same word lies behind “the poor” in verse 10. Proverbs warns against the men who say, Come with us, let us lie in wait (Proverbs 1:11–12), Micah pronounces woe on oppressors (Micah 2:1–2), and Psalm 94 describes the wicked who slay the helpless and deny that the LORD sees (Psalm 94:6–7).

Verse 11 brings the portrait to its root lie. Once more “he hath said in his heart”, and this time what he says concerns God. “Hath forgotten” is shâkach, to forget, to mislay from want of memory or attention. “He hideth his face” pictures God turning away. “He will never see it” uses netsach, a word of long duration, “continually”, so he expects his deeds to escape God’s notice for ever. Psalm 13 opens by joining these two words, forgetting and “for ever”, in a believer’s cry.

His words echo the psalmist’s question in verse 1. The psalmist asked why God hides himself, and the wicked man says God hides his face, though the English “hide” translates two different Hebrew verbs. The psalmist brings his question to God and waits on him. The wicked man treats the delay of judgment as proof that God is blind or indifferent, and acts on it.

These verses meet their fulfilment in Jesus Christ, who suffered as the poor and innocent one and will come as the judge who sees all.

On the cross Jesus cried the opening words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He bore the weight of our sin there, for God “hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because he entered the darkness of that hour, he is a high priest who sympathizes with our weakness (Hebrews 4:15), and those who trust him can be separated by nothing from the love of God (Romans 8:38–39).

Jesus is the lowly and afflicted servant whom the proud persecuted (Isaiah 53:3–7), the blameless Lamb of God (John 1:29), the innocent one whom wicked men took by their devices and delivered to Pilate (Matthew 27:1–2). His enemies scorned him as he hung on the cross, as the wicked man puffs at his enemies (Matthew 27:39–44, Mark 15:29–32). Yet God turned their scheme against them. At the cross Christ disarmed the powers and triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15), and the wicked were taken in the device they had imagined. He “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”, and God has highly exalted him so that every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:8–11). The wicked man of verse 10 humbles himself to destroy, and Christ humbled himself to save.

He stands against each mark of the wicked man. Where the wicked man boasts of his heart’s desire, Jesus came “not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38), and he warned, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15). Where the wicked man refuses to seek God, Jesus always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29) and came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Where the wicked man says “I shall not be moved”, Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, and God raised him up, loosing the pains of death (Acts 2:24). He is the one foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11), and those who build on him receive “a kingdom which cannot be moved” (Hebrews 12:28). Where the wicked man’s mouth is full of cursing, the Word made flesh was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Where the wicked man lies in wait like a lion, Peter warns of the devil who prowls “as a roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), and Jesus the good shepherd guards his sheep from the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).

He came to preach the gospel to the poor and set the oppressed at liberty (Luke 4:18–19), and he called the poor in spirit and the meek blessed (Matthew 5:3–6). He knew the thoughts of men’s hearts (Matthew 9:4), the Father has committed all judgment to him (John 5:22), and when he comes he “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness” (1 Corinthians 4:5). Revelation shows him riding out as the righteous judge (Revelation 19:11–16), the dead judged before the great white throne (Revelation 20:11–15), and God wiping away every tear (Revelation 21:4). The wicked man said that God had forgotten, and in Christ God answers that he sees, remembers and will set all things right.

This passage gives us words for the times when injustice goes on and God feels far away. The psalmist brings his bewilderment to God openly and keeps speaking to him. He calls on the LORD by name and lays out the whole case: the pride, the greed, the lies, the ambush, and the boast that God has forgotten. That is how faith speaks when it is hurting, and Scripture gives such prayer a place among the prayers of God’s people.

The passage also shows us who God is. He is the LORD who has bound himself to the poor and afflicted, who scorns the greed the world applauds, and whose judgments stand on high however little the proud regard them. The wicked man stakes everything on the hope that God forgets and looks away, and Scripture answers that hope at every point. God sees what is done in the secret places, he remembers the cry of the humble, and in Christ he has taken the side of the innocent and will judge the oppressor. When the helpless are drawn into the net, this psalm carries their cause to the God who will arise.