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Psalms 10:1-18 King James Version (KJV)

1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.

4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

8 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.

9 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.

10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

14 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.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

Psalms 10:1-18 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 Why standest H5975 thou afar off, H7350 O LORD? H3068 why hidest H5956 thou thyself in times H6256 of trouble? H6869

2 The wicked H7563 in his pride H1346 doth persecute H1814 the poor: H6041 let them be taken H8610 in the devices H4209 that H2098 they have imagined. H2803

3 For the wicked H7563 boasteth H1984 of his heart's H5315 desire, H8378 and blesseth H1288 the covetous, H1214 whom the LORD H3068 abhorreth. H5006

4 The wicked, H7563 through the pride H1363 of his countenance, H639 will not seek H1875 after God: God H430 is not in all his thoughts. H4209

5 His ways H1870 are always H6256 grievous; H2342 thy judgments H4941 are far above H4791 out of his sight: as for all his enemies, H6887 he puffeth H6315 at them.

6 He hath said H559 in his heart, H3820 I shall not be moved: H4131 for I shall never H1755 H1755 be in adversity. H7451

7 His mouth H6310 is full H4390 of cursing H423 and deceit H4820 and fraud: H8496 under his tongue H3956 is mischief H5999 and vanity. H205

8 He sitteth H3427 in the lurking places H3993 of the villages: H2691 in the secret places H4565 doth he murder H2026 the innocent: H5355 his eyes H5869 are privily set H6845 against the poor. H2489

9 He lieth in wait H693 secretly H4565 as a lion H738 in his den: H5520 he lieth in wait H693 to catch H2414 the poor: H6041 he doth catch H2414 the poor, H6041 when he draweth H4900 him into his net. H7568

10 He croucheth, H1794 and humbleth H7817 himself, that the poor H2426 H2489 may fall H5307 by his strong ones. H6099

11 He hath said H559 in his heart, H3820 God H410 hath forgotten: H7911 he hideth H5641 his face; H6440 he will never H5331 see H7200 it.

12 Arise, H6965 O LORD; H3068 O God, H410 lift up H5375 thine hand: H3027 forget H7911 not the humble. H6035 H6041

13 Wherefore doth the wicked H7563 contemn H5006 God? H430 he hath said H559 in his heart, H3820 Thou wilt not require H1875 it.

14 Thou hast seen H7200 it; for thou beholdest H5027 mischief H5999 and spite, H3708 to requite H5414 it with thy hand: H3027 the poor H2489 committeth H5800 himself unto thee; thou art the helper H5826 of the fatherless. H3490

15 Break H7665 thou the arm H2220 of the wicked H7563 and the evil H7451 man: seek out H1875 his wickedness H7562 till thou find H4672 none. H1077

16 The LORD H3068 is King H4428 for ever H5769 and ever: H5703 the heathen H1471 are perished H6 out of his land. H776

17 LORD, H3068 thou hast heard H8085 the desire H8378 of the humble: H6035 thou wilt prepare H3559 their heart, H3820 thou wilt cause thine ear H241 to hear: H7181

18 To judge H8199 the fatherless H3490 and the oppressed, H1790 that the man H582 of the earth H776 may no more H3254 oppress. H6206

Psalms 10:1-18 American Standard (ASV)

1 Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

2 In the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued; Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.

3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, And the covetous renounceth, `yea', contemneth Jehovah.

4 The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, `saith', He will not require `it'. All his thoughts are, There is no God.

5 His ways are firm at all times; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.

6 He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; To all generations I shall not be in adversity.

7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression: Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

8 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 helpless.

9 He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert; He lieth in wait to catch the poor: He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net.

10 He croucheth, he boweth down, And the helpless fall by his strong ones.

11 He saith in his heart, God hath forgotten; He hideth his face; he will never see it.

12 Arise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand: Forget not the poor.

13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God, And say in his heart, Thou wilt not require `it'?

14 Thou hast seen `it'; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: The helpless committeth `himself' unto thee; Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked; And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever: The nations are perished out of his land.

17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek: Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;

18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more. Psalm 11 For the Chief Musician. `A Psalm' of David.

Psalms 10:1-18 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 Why, Jehovah, dost Thou stand at a distance? Thou dost hide in times of adversity,

2 Through the pride of the wicked, Is the poor inflamed, They are caught in devices that they devised.

3 Because the wicked hath boasted Of the desire of his soul, And a dishonest gainer he hath blessed, He hath despised Jehovah.

4 The wicked according to the height of his face, inquireth not. `God is not!' `are' all his devices.

5 Pain do his ways at all times, On high `are' Thy judgments before him, All his adversaries -- he puffeth at them.

6 He hath said in his heart, `I am not moved,' To generation and generation not in evil.

7 Of oaths his mouth is full, And deceits, and fraud: Under his tongue `is' perverseness and iniquity,

8 He doth sit in an ambush of the villages, In secret places he doth slay the innocent. His eyes for the afflicted watch secretly,

9 He lieth in wait in a secret place, as a lion in a covert. He lieth in wait to catch the poor, He catcheth the poor, drawing him into his net.

10 He is bruised -- he boweth down, Fallen by his mighty ones hath the afflicted.

11 He said in his heart, `God hath forgotten, He hath hid His face, He hath never seen.'

12 Arise, O Jehovah! O God, lift up Thy hand! Forget not the humble.

13 Wherefore hath the wicked despised God? He hath said in his heart, `It is not required.'

14 Thou hast seen, For Thou perverseness and anger beholdest; By giving into Thy hand, On Thee doth the afflicted leave `it', Of the fatherless Thou hast been an helper.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil, Seek out his wickedness, find none;

16 Jehovah `is' king to the age, and for ever, The nations have perished out of His land!

17 The desire of the humble Thou hast heard, O Jehovah. Thou preparest their heart; Thou causest Thine ear to attend,

18 To judge the fatherless and bruised: He addeth no more to oppress -- man of the earth!

Psalms 10:1-18 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 Why, Jehovah, standest thou afar off? [Why] hidest thou thyself in times of distress?

2 The wicked, in his pride, doth hotly pursue the afflicted. They shall be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

3 For the wicked boasteth of his soul's desire, and he blesseth the covetous; he contemneth Jehovah.

4 The wicked [saith], in the haughtiness of his countenance, He doth not search out: all his thoughts are, There is no God!

5 His ways always succeed; thy judgments are far above out of his sight; [as for] all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.

6 He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; from generation to generation I shall be in no adversity.

7 His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and oppression; under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

8 He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages; in the secret places doth he slay the innocent: his eyes watch for the wretched.

9 He lieth in wait secretly, like a lion in his thicket; he lieth in wait to catch the afflicted: he doth catch the afflicted, drawing him into his net.

10 He croucheth, he boweth down, that the wretched may fall by his strong ones.

11 He saith in his heart, ùGod hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see [it].

12 Arise, Jehovah; O ùGod, lift up thy hand: forget not the afflicted.

13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require [it].

14 Thou hast seen [it], for thou thyself beholdest trouble and vexation, to requite by thy hand. The wretched committeth himself unto thee; thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked, and as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness [till] thou find none.

16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever: the nations have perished out of his land.

17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek, thou hast established their heart: thou causest thine ear to hear,

18 To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed one, that the man of the earth may terrify no more.

Psalms 10:1-18 World English Bible (WEB)

1 Why do you stand far off, Yahweh? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2 In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak; They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

3 For the wicked boasts of his heart's cravings, He blesses the greedy, and condemns Yahweh.

4 The wicked, in the pride of his face, Has no room in his thoughts for God.

5 His ways are prosperous at all times; He is haughty, and your laws are far from his sight: As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.

6 He says in his heart, "I shall not be shaken; For generations I shall have no trouble."

7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

8 He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

9 He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless, when he draws him in his net.

10 The helpless are crushed, they collapse, They fall under his strength.

11 He says in his heart, "God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it."

12 Arise, Yahweh! God, lift up your hand! Don't forget the helpless.

13 Why does the wicked person condemn God, And say in his heart, "God won't call me into account?"

14 But you do see trouble and grief; You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.

15 Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

16 Yahweh is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land.

17 Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,

18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

Psalms 10:1-18 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 Why do you keep far away, O Lord? why are you not to be seen in times of trouble?

2 The evil-doer in his pride is cruel to the poor; let him be taken by the tricks of his invention.

3 For the evil-doer is lifted up because of the purpose of his heart, and he whose mind is fixed on wealth is turned away from the Lord, saying evil against him.

4 The evil-doer in his pride says, God will not make a search. All his thoughts are, There is no God.

5 His ways are ever fixed; your decisions are higher than he may see: as for his haters, they are as nothing to him.

6 He has said in his heart, I will not be moved: through all generations I will never be in trouble.

7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and false words: under his tongue are evil purposes and dark thoughts.

8 He is waiting in the dark places of the towns: in the secret places he puts to death those who have done no wrong: his eyes are secretly turned against the poor.

9 He keeps himself in a secret place like a lion in his hole, waiting to put his hands on the poor man, and pulling him into his net.

10 The upright are crushed and made low, and the feeble are overcome by his strong ones.

11 He says in his heart, God has no memory of me: his face is turned away; he will never see it.

12 Up! O Lord; let your hand be lifted: give thought to the poor.

13 Why has the evil-doer a low opinion of God, saying in his heart, You will not make search for it?

14 You have seen it; for your eyes are on sorrow and grief, to take it into your hand: the poor man puts his faith in you; you have been the helper of the child who has no father.

15 Let the arm of the sinner and the evil-doer be broken; go on searching for his sin till there is no more.

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations are gone from his land.

17 Lord, you have given ear to the prayer of the poor: you will make strong their hearts, you will give them a hearing:

18 To give decision for the child without a father and for the broken-hearted, so that the man of the earth may no longer be feared.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 10

Commentary on Psalms 10 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Keil & Delitzsch   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Psalm 10

The Septuagint translation joins this psalm with the ninth, and makes them but one; but the Hebrew makes it a distinct psalm, and the scope and style are certainly different. In this psalm,

  • I. David complains of the wickedness of the wicked, describes the dreadful pitch of impiety at which they had arrived (to the great dishonour of God and the prejudice of his church and people), and notices the delay of God's appearing against them (v. 1-11).
  • II. He prays to God to appear against them for the relief of his people and comforts himself with hopes that he would do so in due time (v. 12-18).

Psa 10:1-11

David, in these verses, discovers,

  • I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing his gracious presence (v. 1): "Why standest thou afar off, as one unconcerned in the indignities done to thy name and the injuries done to the people?' Note, God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people at any time, but especially in times of trouble. Outward deliverance is afar off and is hidden from us, and then we think God is afar off and we therefore want inward comfort; but that is our own fault; it is because we judge by outward appearance; we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then we complain that God stands afar off from us.
  • II. A very great indignation against sin, the sins that made the times perilous, 2 Tim. 3:1. he beholds the transgressors and is grieved, is amazed, and brings to his heavenly Father their evil report, not in a way of vain-glory, boasting before God that he was not as these publicans (Lu. 18:11), much less venting any personal resentments, piques, or passions, of his own; but as one that laid to he art that which is offensive to God and all good men, and earnestly desired a reformation of manners. passionate and satirical invectives against bad men do more hurt than good; if we will speak of their badness, let it be to God in prayer, for he alone can make them better. This long representation of the wickedness of the wicked is here summed up in the first words of it (v. 2), The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor, where two things are laid to their charge, pride and persecution, the former the cause of the latter. Proud men will have all about them to be of their mind, of their religion, to say as they say, to submit to their dominion, and acquiesce in their dictates; and those that either eclipse them or will not yield to them they malign and hate with an inveterate hatred. Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin to pride. The psalmist, having begun this description, presently inserts a short prayer, a prayer in a parenthesis, which is an advantage and no prejudice to the sense: Let them be taken, as proud people often are, in the devices that they have imagined, v. 2. Let their counsels be turned headlong, and let them fall headlong by them. These two heads of the charge are here enlarged upon.
    • 1. They are proud, very proud, and extremely conceited of themselves; justly therefore did he wonder that God did not speedily appear against them, for he hates pride, and resists the proud.
      • (1.) The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. He boasts of his heart's desire, boasts that he can do what he pleases (as if God himself could not control him) and that he has all he wished for and has carried his point. Ephraim said, I have become rich, I have found me out substance, Hos. 12:8. "Now, Lord, is it for thy glory to suffer a sinful man thus to pretend to the sovereignty and felicity of a God?'
      • (2.) He proudly contradicts the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth; for he blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors. See how God and men differ in their sentiments of persons: God abhors covetous worldlings, who make money their God and idolize is; he looks upon them as his enemies, and will have no communion with them. The friendship of the world is enmity to God. But proud persecutors bless them, and approve their sayings, Ps. 49:13. They applaud those as wise whom God pronounces foolish (Lu. 12:20); they justify those as innocent whom God condemns as deeply guilty before him; and they admire those as happy, in having their portion in this life, whom God declares, upon that account, truly miserable. Thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things.
      • (3.) He proudly casts off the thoughts of God, and all dependence upon him and devotion to him (v. 4): The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, that pride of his heart which appears in his very countenance (Prov. 6:17), will not seek after God, nor entertain the thoughts of him. God is not in all his thoughts, not in any of them. All his thoughts are that there is not God. See here,
        • [1.] The nature of impiety and irreligion; it is not seeking after God and not having him in our thoughts. There is no enquiry made after him (Job 35:10, Jer. 2:6), no desire towards him, no communion with him, but a secret wish to have no dependence upon him and not to be beholden to him. Wicked people will not seek after God (that is, will not call upon him); they live without prayer, and that is living without God. They have many thoughts, many projects and devices, but no eye to God in any of them, no submission to his will nor aim at his glory.
        • [2.] The cause of this impiety and irreligion; and that is pride. Men will not seek after God because they think they have no need of him, their own hands are sufficient for them; they think it a thing below them to be religious, because religious people are few, and mean, and despised, and the restraints of religion will be a disparagement to them.
      • (4.) He proudly makes light of God's commandments and judgments (v. 5): His wings are always grievous; he is very daring and resolute in his sinful courses; he will have his way, though ever so tiresome to himself and vexatious to others; he travails with pain in his wicked courses, and yet his pride makes him wilful and obstinate in them. God's judgments (what he commands and what he threatens for the breach of his commands) are far above out of his sight; he is not sensible of his duty by the law of God nor of his danger by the wrath and curse of God. Tell him of God's authority over him, he turns it off with this, that he never saw God and therefore does not know that there is a God, he is in the height of heaven, and quae supra nos nihil ad nos-we have nothing to do with things above us. Tell him of God's judgments which will be executed upon those that go on still in their trespasses, and he will not be convinced that there is any reality in them; they are far above out of his sight, and therefore he thinks they are mere bugbears.
      • (5.) He proudly despises all his enemies, and looks upon them with the utmost disdain; he puffs at those whom God is preparing to be a scourge and ruin to him, as if he could baffle them all, and was able to make his part good with them. But, as it is impolitic to despise an enemy, so it is impious to despise any instrument of God's wrath.
      • (6.) He proudly sets trouble at defiance and is confident of the continuance of his own prosperity (v. 6): He hath said in his heart, and pleased himself with the thought, I shall not be moved, my goods are laid up for many years, and I shall never be in adversity; like Babylon, that said, I shall be a lady for ever, Isa. 47:7; Rev. 18:7. Those are nearest ruin who thus set it furthest from them.
    • 2. They are persecutors, cruel persecutors. For the gratifying of their pride and covetousness, and in opposition to God and religion, they are very oppressive to all within their reach. Observe, concerning these persecutors,
      • (1.) That they are very bitter and malicious (v. 7): His mouth is full of cursing. Those he cannot do a real mischief to, yet he will spit his venom at, and breathe out the slaughter which he cannot execute. Thus have God's faithful worshippers been anathematized and cursed, with bell, book, and candle. Where there is a heart full of malice there is commonly a mouth full of curses.
      • (2.) They are very false and treacherous. There is mischief designed, but it is hidden under the tongue, not to be discerned, for his mouth is full of deceit and vanity. He has learned of the devil to deceive, and so to destroy; with this his hatred is covered, Prov. 26:26. He cares not what lies he tells, not what oaths he breaks, nor what arts of dissimulation he uses, to compass his ends.
      • (3.) That they are very cunning and crafty in carrying on their designs. They have ways and means to concert what they intend, that they may the more effectually accomplish it. Like Esau, that cunning hunter, he sits in the lurking places, in the secret places, and his eyes are privily set to do mischief (v. 8), not because he is ashamed of what he does (if he blushed, there were some hopes he would repent), not because he is afraid of the wrath of God, for he imagines God will never call him to an account (v. 11), but because he is afraid lest the discovery of his designs should be the breaking of them. Perhaps it refers particularly to robbers and highwaymen, who lie in wait for honest travellers, to make a prey of them and what they have.
      • (4.) That they are very cruel and barbarous. Their malice is against the innocent, who never provoked them-against the poor, who cannot resist them and over whom it will be no glory to triumph. Those are perfectly lost to all honesty and honour against whose mischievous designs neither innocence nor poverty will be any man's security. Those that have power ought to protect the innocent and provide for the poor; yet these will be the destroyers of those whose guardians they ought to be. And what do they aim at? It is to catch the poor, and draw them into their net, that is, get them into their power, not to strip them only, but to murder them. They hunt for the precious life. It is God's poor people that they are persecuting, against whom they bear a mortal hatred for his sake whose they are and whose image they bear, and therefore they lie in wait to murder them: He lies in wait as a lion that thirsts after blood, and feeds with pleasure upon the prey. The devil, whose agent he is, is compared to a roaring lion that seeks not what, but whom, he may devour.
      • (5.) That they are base and hypocritical (v. 10): He crouches and humbles himself, as beasts of prey do, that they may get their prey within their reach. This intimates that the sordid spirits of persecutors and oppressors will stoop to any thing, though ever so mean, for the compassing of their wicked designs; witness the scandalous practices of Saul when he hunted David. It intimates, likewise, that they cover their malicious designs with the pretence of meekness and humility, and kindness to those they design the greatest mischief to; they seem to humble themselves to take cognizance of the poor, and concern themselves in their concernments, when it is in order to make them fall, to make a prey of them.
      • (6.) That they are very impious and atheistical, v. 11. They could not thus break through all the laws of justice and goodness towards man if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion, and risen up in rebellion against the light of its most sacred and self-evident principles: He hath said in his heart, God has forgotten. When his own conscience rebuked him with the consequences of it, and asked how he would answer it to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, he turned it off with this, God has forsaken the earth, Eze. 8:12; 9:9. This is a blasphemous reproach,
        • [1.] Upon God's omniscience and providence, as if he could not, or did not, see what men do in this lower world.
        • [2.] Upon his holiness and the rectitude of his nature, as if, though he did see, yet he did not dislike, but was willing to connive at, the most unnatural and inhuman villanies.
        • [3.] Upon his justice and the equity of his government, as if, though he did see and dislike the wickedness of the wicked, yet he would never reckon with them, nor punish them for it, either because he could not or durst not, or because he was not inclined to do so. Let those that suffer by proud oppressors hope that God will, in due time, appear for them; for those that are abusive to them are abusive to God Almighty too.

In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of the oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the injurious.

Psa 10:12-18

David here, upon the foregoing representation of the inhumanity and impiety of the oppressors, grounds an address to God, wherein observe,

  • I. What he prays for.
    • 1. That God would himself appear (v. 12): "Arise, O Lord! O God! lift up thy hand, manifest thy presence and providence in the affairs of this lower world. Arise, O Lord! to the confusion of those who say that thou hidest thy face. Manifest thy power, exert it for the maintaining of thy own cause, lift up thy hand to give a fatal blow to these oppressors; let thy everlasting arm be made bare.'
    • 2. That he would appear for his people: "Forget not the humble, the afflicted, that are poor, that are made poorer, and are poor in spirit. Their oppressors, in their presumption, say that thou hast forgotten them; and they, in their despair, are ready to say the same. Lord, make it to appear that they are both mistaken.'
    • 3. That he would appear against their persecutors, v. 15.
      • (1.) That he would disable them from doing any mischief: Break thou the arm of the wicked, take away his power, that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared, Job 34:30. We read of oppressors whose dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged (Dan. 7:12), that they might have time to repent.
      • (2.) That he would deal with them for the mischief they had done: "Seek out his wickedness; let that be all brought to light which he thought should for ever lie undiscovered; let that be all brought to account which he thought should for ever go unpunished; bring it out till thou find none, that is, till none of his evil deeds remain unreckoned for, none of his evil designs undefeated, and none of his partisans undestroyed.'
  • II. What he pleads for the encouraging of his own faith in these petitions.
    • 1. He pleads the great affronts which these proud oppressors put upon God himself: "Lord, it is thy own cause that we beg thou wouldst appear in; the enemies have made it so, and therefore it is not for thy glory to let them go unpunished' (v. 13): Wherefore do the wicked contemn God? He does so; for he says, "Thou wilt not require it; thou wilt never call us to an account for what we do,' than which they could not put a greater indignity upon the righteous God. The psalmist here speaks with astonishment,
      • (1.) At the wickedness of the wicked: "Why do they speak so impiously, why so absurdly?' It is a great trouble to good men to think what contempt is cast upon the holy God by the sin of sinners, upon his precepts, his promises, his threatenings, his favours, his judgments; all are despised and made light of. Wherefore do the wicked thus contemn God? It is because they do not know him.
      • (2.) At the patience and forbearance of God towards them: "Why are they suffered thus to contemn God? Why does he not immediately vindicate himself and take vengeance on them?' It is because the day of reckoning is yet to come, when the measure of their iniquity is full.
    • 2. He pleads the notice God took of the impiety and iniquity of these oppressors (v. 14): "Do the persecutors encourage themselves with a groundless fancy that thou wilt never see it? Let the persecuted encourage themselves with a well-grounded faith, not only that thou hast seen it, but that thou doest behold it, even all the mischief that is done by the hands, and all the spite and malice that lurk in the hearts, of these oppressors; it is all known to thee, and observed by thee; nay, not only thou hast seen it and dost behold it, but thou wilt requite it, wilt recompense it into their bosoms, by thy just and avenging hand.'
    • 3. He pleads the dependence which the oppressed had upon him: "The poor commits himself unto thee, each of them does so, I among the rest. They rely on thee as their patron and protector, they refer themselves to thee as their Judge, in whose determination they acquiesce and at whose disposal they are willing to be. They leave themselves with thee' (so some read it), "not prescribing, but subscribing, to thy wisdom and will. They thus give thee honour as much as their oppressors dishonour thee. They are thy willing subjects, and put themselves under thy protection; therefore protect them.'
    • 4. He pleads the relation in which God is pleased to stand to us,
      • (1.) As a great God. He is King for ever and ever, v. 16. And it is the office of a king to administer justice for the restraint and terror of evil-doers and the protection and praise of those that do well. To whom should the injured subjects appeal but to the sovereign? Help, my Lord, O King! Avenge me of my adversary. "Lord, let all that pay homage and tribute to thee as their King have the benefit of thy government and find thee their refuge. Thou art an everlasting King, which no earthly prince is, and therefore canst and wilt, by an eternal judgment, dispense rewards and punishments in an everlasting state, when time shall be no more; and to that judgment the poor refer themselves.'
      • (2.) As a good God. He is the helper of the fatherless (v. 14), of those who have no one else to help them and have many to injure them. He has appointed kings to defend the poor and fatherless (Ps. 82:3), and therefore much more will he do so himself; for he has taken it among the titles of his honour to be a Father to the fatherless (Ps. 68:5), a helper of the helpless.
    • 5. He pleads the experience which God's church and people had had of God's readiness to appear for them.
      • (1.) He had dispersed and extirpated their enemies (v. 16): "The heathen have perished out of his land; the remainders of the Canaanites, the seven devoted nations, which have long been as thorns in the eyes and goads in the sides of Israel, are now, at length, utterly rooted out; and this is an encouragement to us to hope that God will, in like manner, break the arm of the oppressive Israelites, who were, in some respects, worse than heathens.'
      • (2.) He had heard and answered their prayers (v. 17): "Lord, thou hast many a time heard the desire of the humble, and never saidst to a distressed suppliant, Seek in vain. Why may not we hope for the continuance and repetition of the wonders, the favours, which our father told us of?'
    • 6. He pleads their expectations from God pursuant to their experience of him: "Thou hast heard, therefore thou will cause thy ear to hear, as, Ps. 6:9. Thou art the same, and thy power, and promise, and relation to thy people are the same, and the work and workings of grace are the same in them; why therefore may we not hope that he who has been will still be, will ever be, a God hearing prayers?' But observe,
      • (1.) In what method God hears prayer. He first prepares the heart of his people and then gives them an answer of peace; nor may we expect his gracious answer, but in this way; so that God's working upon us is the best earnest of his working for us. He prepares the heart for prayer by kindling holy desires, and strengthening our most holy faith, fixing the thoughts and raising the affections, and then he graciously accepts the prayer; he prepares the heart for the mercy itself that is wanting and prayed for, makes us fit to receive it and use it well, and then gives it in to us. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord, and we must seek unto him for it (Prov. 16:1) and take that as a leading favour.
      • (2.) What he will do in answer to prayer, v. 18.
        • [1.] He will plead the cause of the persecuted, will judge the fatherless and oppressed, will judge for them, clear up their innocency, restore their comforts, and recompense them for all the loss and damage they have sustained.
        • [2.] He will put an end to the fury of the persecutors. Hitherto they shall come, but no further; here shall the proud waves of their malice be stayed; an effectual course shall be taken that the man of the earth may no more oppress. See how light the psalmist now makes of the power of that proud persecutor whom he had been describing in this psalm, and how slightly he speaks of him now that he had been considering God's sovereignty.
          • First, He is but a man of the earth, a man out of the earth (so the word is), sprung out of the earth, and therefore mean, and weak, and hastening to the earth again. Why then should we be afraid of the fury of the oppressor when he is but man that shall die, a son of man that shall be as grass? Isa. 51:12. He that protects us is the Lord of heaven; he that persecutes us is but a man of the earth.
          • Secondly, God has him in a chain, and can easily restrain the remainder of his wrath, so that he cannot do what he would. When God speaks the word Satan shall by his instruments no more deceive (Rev. 20:3), no more oppress.

In singing these verses we must commit religion's just but injured cause to God, as those that are heartily concerned for its honour and interests, believing that he will, in due time, plead it with jealousy.