Context No. 3867 of 4322 · Psalms

Psalms 10:1-18: in context

1Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise. 3For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns the LORD. 4The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God. 5His ways are prosperous at all times. He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them. 6He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.” 7His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. 8He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless. 9He 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. 10The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength. 11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.” 12Arise, LORD! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless. 13Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”? 14But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless. 15Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none. 16The LORD is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land. 17LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, 18to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

This psalm gives voice to a painful question we sometimes feel but hesitate to say: why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? The psalmist looks at the wicked prospering, oppressing the weak, boasting that God will never call them to account, saying in their hearts, God has forgotten; he has hidden his face; he will never see.

It seems, for a time, as though they are right, as though God does not see or does not care. But the psalm turns on a firm conviction: but you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands. God is not blind to the trouble and grief of the oppressed; he sees it, and he is the helper of the fatherless. The wicked man's confidence that God has forgotten is a fatal delusion; the LORD is King forever, and he hears the desire of the afflicted. There is comfort here for anyone crushed by injustice while heaven seems silent. God does see, even when he seems far off; he has not forgotten the oppressed, and in his time he will do justice for them.

When injustice seems to prosper and God seems far off, do I hold to the truth that he does see the affliction of the oppressed and has not forgotten, and that he will do justice in his time?

Sources

Psalm 10:11: "He says in his heart, God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it."
Psalm 10:14: "But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless."
Psalm 10:17: "LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear."