Psalm 10

This psalm is a prayer for immediate help in affliction. It contains a powerful description of the wicked who oppose God and attack His people. The focus of the previous psalm was on the judgment to come, but in this one it is on the present age.

 1. Description of the wicked 10:1-11

10:1 The psalm begins with two questions that voice the psalmist's frustration as much as his ignorance. David could not understand why God did not act for His afflicted people. The word "why"occurs four times in this psalm, twice here and twice in verse 13 (as reflected in the NIV translation).

10:2-7 David pictured the wicked who oppress the righteous in graphic terms in this section of verses. They are proud, boastful, greedy, blasphemous, arrogant, haughty, self-sufficient, prosperous, careless about God, belligerent, self-confident, complacent, abusive, deceitful, oppressive, destructive, mischievous, and wicked. They opposed both God and His people with their speech as well as their actions.

10:8-11 Using the figures of a predatory animal, like a lion, and a hunter, like a fisherman, David described how the wicked cunningly pursue and snare the righteous in their traps. The fact that God does not punish them more quickly encourages them to continue their destructive work.

 2. Cry for vengeance 10:12-18

10:12-15 David appealed to God to act for the righteous against the wicked. He could not understand why God allowed the wicked to continue to spurn Him. It was not because their actions had escaped the Lord's notice. Beside this, the righteous were trusting in Him, and He had helped the helpless in the past. David wanted God to break the power (symbolized by the arm) of the wicked and to search out and destroy all their wickedness until it disappeared.⁴³

10:16-18 These closing verses express the psalmist's confidence that God had heard his petition. Because Yahweh is sovereign, the ultimate authority in the universe, the nations that refused to submit to Him would perish. God's land was Canaan, but in a larger sense all the world is His land since He is King of all creation. In view of who God is David was confident that even though God did not judge the wicked immediately He would do so eventually.

This psalm, as the preceding one, ends with a reference to the frail mortality of man (enos, v. 18; cf. 9:19-20). In view of God's power it is not right for Him to allow frail man to terrorize his fellows. Nevertheless since God is sovereign only He can decide when to step in and judge the wicked.⁴⁴

God's failure to execute justice immediately frustrates the righteous. We can live with this frustration because we know God is powerful enough to avenge the defenseless. He is also sovereign and just. Furthermore His past acts of deliverance should encourage us as we wait for Him to bring justice to pass in the world.