Psalm 10:12 Komentář

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 (Psa 10:1-11). 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 (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 (Psa 10:12): "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, Psa 10:15. (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" (Psa 10:13): 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 (Psa 10:14): "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, Psa 10:16. 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 (Psa 10:14), 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 (Psa 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 (Psa 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 (Psa 10:16): "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 (Psa 10:17): "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, Psa 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 (Pro 16:1) and take that as a leading favour. (2.) What he will do in answer to prayer, Psa 10:18. [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.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 10 This psalm in the Septuagint version, and those that follow it, is a part and continuation of the preceding psalm, and makes but one with it; hence in these versions the number of the following psalms differ from others, and what is the eleventh with others is the tenth with them, and so on to the hundred fourteenth and one hundred fifteenth, which also are put into one; but in order to make up the whole number of one hundred and fifty, the hundred sixteenth and the hundred forty seventh are both divided into two; and indeed the subject of this psalm is much the same with the former. Antichrist and antichristian times are very manifestly described; the impiety, blasphemy, and atheism of the man of sin; his pride, haughtiness, boasting of himself, and presumption of security; his persecution of the poor, and murder of innocents, are plainly pointed at; nor does the character of the man of the earth agree to well to any as to him: his times are times of trouble; but at the end of them the kingdom of Christ will appear in great glory, when the Gentiles, the antichristian nations, will perish out of his land, Psa 10:1.

Arise, O Lord,.... See Psa 3:7; O God, lift up thine hand; either on the behalf of his people, to help and deliver them; his hand may be said to be let down when their enemies prevail, and to be lifted up or exalted when it does valiantly, and works salvation for them; so when Moses's hands were let down Amalek prevailed, and when his hands were lifted up Israel prevailed, Exo 17:11; or against their enemies, to strike them, to inflict punishment upon them, as God's hand is said to be stretched out against the Egyptians, and to lie upon them, when he sent his plagues among them, Exo 7:4; and a dreadful thing it is to fall both into and under the hand of the living God, and to feel the weight of the lighting down of his arm with indignation. The Targum understands it as a gesture of swearing; see Gen 14:22; and paraphrases it, "confirm the oath of thine hand"; either sworn in wrath against his enemies, or in love to his people; either of which is sure and certain, and according to the immutable counsel of his will; forget not the humble; the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, the Lamb of God, by which character the saints are distinguished from the antichristian party, Rev 14:4; these are such who are made so by the Spirit of God, who in conversion brings down the pride and haughtiness of man, that Christ and his grace may be alone exalted; these have the meanest thoughts of themselves, and the best of others; their motto is, "less than the least of all saints, and the chief of sinners;'' they envy not the gifts and graces of others, and ascribe all they have and are to the free grace of God; they are not easily provoked, they patiently bear injuries, and quietly submit to the adverse dispensations of Providence: the word in the original text is read "humble", but written "afflicted": both characters generally meet together in the people of God; See Gill on Psa 9:12; this prayer for the humble is a prayer of faith; for though the humble may seem to be forgotten by God, they are not, they are precious in his sight; he dwells among them, he gives more grace unto them, he comforts them when disconsolate, he feeds them when they are hungry, he teaches and guides them when they want direction, he lifts them up when they are cast down, and beautifies them with salvation.

Through these words he asks that whenever the forbearance and kindness of God are being set in motion, and he is stirred to judgment against the wicked, in which judgment the uplifted hand of God, he will judge each one. With the figure of the lifted hand he indicates the power of divine judgment that seems to rest on and humble one until he sets in place justice against the wicked. When, however, he begins to exercise his power, giving to each one according to his merit, then he is said to be exalted. Wherefore you will not be forgetful of your poor who are poor in spirit, knowing that everything is under your hand and it is granted that none flee beyond it.… Do not yourselves seek revenge, O beloved, but give space to your wrath. “Vengeance is from me, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Of which the Psalmist now speaks: "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted": that is, let Your power be made manifest. Now he had said above, "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail, let the heathen be judged in Your sight:" that is, in secret, where God alone sees. This comes to pass when the ungodly have arrived at what seems great happiness to men: over whom is placed a lawgiver, such as they had deserved to have, of whom it is said, "Place a lawgiver over them, O Lord, let the heathen know that they are men." But now after that hidden punishment and vengeance it is said, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted;" not of course in secret, but now in glory most manifest. "That You forget not the poor unto the end;" that is, as the ungodly think, who say, "God has forgotten, He turns away His face, that He should not see unto the end." Now they deny that God sees unto the end, who say that He cares not for things human and earthly, for the earth is as it were the end of things; in that it is the last element, in which men labour in most orderly sort, but they cannot see the order of their labours, which specially belongs to the hidden things of the Son. The Church then labouring in such times, like a ship in great waves and tempests, awakes the Lord as if He were sleeping, that He should command the winds, and calm should be restored. He says therefore, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted, that You forget not the poor unto the end."

"Arise." Above, the Psalmist diligently pursued the order of human iniquity; here, as if driven by zeal and crying out, he implores assistance against this wickedness. And first, he implores assistance. Second, he introduces prayers and their being heard. Third, he foretells his being heard. The second, at "do not forget." The third, at "break." And he asks for one thing and presupposes another: he asks that God arise, "Arise." The Lord seems to sleep when he allows the good to be afflicted; he arises when he delivers. Is. 52: "Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion." He presupposes divine power: "Let your hand be exalted," in power; and he speaks in the likeness of an angry striker, when he wishes to strike the enemy and raises his hand. Sir. 36: "Lift up your hand over the foreign nations, that they may see your power." Is. 26: "Let your hand be exalted so that they may not see. Let them see," etc. "And let them be confounded who are zealous against the people." He sets forth the reasons: "do not forget." And note that because this Psalm was made against sinners persecuting the just, he always sets forth on one side the malice of sinners and on the other the affliction of the just. He therefore first sets forth the reasons. Second, he shows them to be effective, "see, because," etc. And he sets forth two reasons: one on the part of the just, and another on the part of the wicked, at "why has the wicked one provoked?" He says therefore, "and let it be exalted," because otherwise what the wicked say will seem true, that you have forgotten the poor. Is. 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet I will not forget you." Ps. 136: "Let my tongue cleave to my palate, if I do not remember you." Another reason on the part of the wicked, who sin more grievously if they are not punished: Eccl. 8: "And because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil," etc. And therefore he says, "why?"; as if to say: because of this, the wicked provoke God by sinning, because they do not believe they will be called to account through punishments. Job 22: "He walks about the poles of heaven, and does not consider our matters"; and "you say, what does God know; and as if through darkness he judges." Ezek. 9: "God has forsaken the earth."

The Psalmist mourns God's apparent indifference to his troubles, which are aggravated by the successful malice, blasphemy, pride, deceit, and profanity of the wicked. On the just and discriminating providence of God he relies for the destruction of their false security, and the defense of the needy. (Psa. 10:1-18) These are, of course, figurative terms (compare Psa 7:6; Psa 13:1, &c.). hidest--Supply "thine eyes" or "face."

(Compare Psa 9:19; Psa 3:7). the humble--(Compare Psa 10:17, and Margin.) lift up thine hand--exert thy power.

The six strophes, in which the consecutive letters from מ to צ are wanting, are completed, and now the acrostic strophes begin again with ק. In contrast to those who have no God, or only a lifeless idol, the psalmist calls upon his God, the living God, to destroy the appearance that He is not an omniscient Being, by arising to action. We have more than one name of God used here; אל is a vocative just as in Psa 16:1; Psa 83:2; Psa 139:17, Psa 139:23. He is to lift up His hand in order to help and to punish (נשׂא יד, whence comes the imperat. נשׂא = שׂא, cf. נסה Psa 4:7, like שׁלח יד Psa 138:7 and נטה יד Exo 7:5 elsewhere). Forget not is equivalent to: fulfil the לא שׁכח of Psa 9:13, put to shame the שׁכח אל of the ungodly, Psa 10:11! Our translation follows the Kerמ ענוים. That which is complained of in Psa 10:3, Psa 10:4 is put in the form of a question to God in Psa 10:13 : wherefore (על־מה, instead of which we find על־מה in Num 22:32; Jer 9:11, because the following words begin with letters of a different class) does it come to pass, i.e., is it permitted to come to pass? On the perf. in this interrogative clause vid., Psa 11:3. מדּוּע inquires the cause, למּה the aim, and על־מה the motive, or in general the reason: on what ground, since God's holiness can suffer no injury to His honour? On לא תדרשׁ with כּי, the oratio directa instead of obliqua, vid., on Ps 9:21.