Psalm 10:1-18

¹Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

² In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
³ For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
⁴ In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
⁵ His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
⁶ He says 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 helpless;
⁹     he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

¹² Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
¹³ Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
¹⁴ But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.

¹⁶ The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
¹⁷ O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

 

 

This psalm is of a type called “imprecatory.” It is an imprecation—a type of prayer in which the speaker calls for Gods’ judgment to even the score with the wicked. It is a “wishing” of bad stuff, so to speak, onto the wicked people around him. The speaker notices that this is an unfair world, and justice does not seem to reign. The wicked pay no heed to God’s word, and continues about his business unabated. Equally galling to the speaker is the fact that the wicked seems to prosper in all that he does—evidence that material blessing isn’t always a “blessing,” isn’t always from God, and isn’t always evidence of God’s favor on a person’s life. The speaker articulates his weakness and ineffectiveness, and turns to the only place that he really can: YHWH. He recognizes himself as helpless and begs God to hear his plea and uphold him.

 

You and I are incapable of changing this world in the utopian sense. We cannot make it a better place through our efforts and superior ideas; it is a place of injustice and horror. It is a world in which children die and women are mistreated and the hungry starve and the wicked prosper. The more closely we look at the world around us, the more backwards it seems to be. Nothing is as it should be. And we feel that injustice in our own lives. But it is in such moments that we are reminded that we were always helpless, anyhow. We must stop thinking of ourselves as powerful…we are weak and helpless. And we depend on the greatness of God Almighty in order to make it through a single day in this place.

 

If we have confidence, it is in Him. He is the only One Who will even the score. He is the only one Who sustains and provides and protects. This world is overrun by people who do not recognize Him or observe his judgment. We join in wishing that He would come quickly and even the score….uphold the righteous and destroy the wicked. Because only He can do this, it is in Him that we place our ultimate trust today….and in Him that we seek our ultimate comfort.