Psalms Chapter 10 (KJV)
Psalms 10
God's apparent absence and the cry for interventionThe arrogance and oppression of the wickedDivine justice and judgmentGod's care for the poor and fatherlessThe eternal reign of God
Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? {why} hidest thou {thyself} in times of trouble?
The wicked in {his} pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. {The wicked...: Heb. In the pride of the wicked he doth persecute}
For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, {whom} the LORD abhorreth. {heart's: Heb. soul's} {blesseth...: or, the covetous blesseth himself, he abhorreth the LORD}
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek {after God}: God {is} not in all his thoughts. {God is...: or, all his thoughts are, There is no God}
His ways are always grievous; thy judgments {are} far above out of his sight: {as for} all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for {I shall} never {be} in adversity. {never: Heb. unto generation and generation}
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue {is} mischief and vanity. {deceit: Heb. deceits} {vanity: or, iniquity}
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. {are...: Heb. hide themselves}
He lieth in wait secretly 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. {secretly: Heb. in the secret places}
He croucheth, {and} humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. {He...: Heb. He breaketh himself} {by...: or, into his strong parts}
He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see {it}.
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. {humble: or, afflicted}
Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require {it}.
Thou hast seen {it}; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite {it} with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. {committeth: Heb. leaveth}
Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil {man}: seek out his wickedness {till} thou find none.
The LORD {is} King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: {prepare: or, establish}
To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. {oppress: or, terrify}
Context & Meaning
Psalm 10 is a lament psalm expressing the psalmist's distress over God's apparent absence during times of trouble and the wicked's seemingly unchecked oppression of the poor. The psalm alternates between describing the wicked's arrogance and calling on God to arise, remember the humble, and execute justice, concluding with a declaration of God's eternal kingship.