Commentary - Psalm 10:1-6

Bird's-eye view

This psalm, like so many others, plunges us into the great spiritual turmoil that comes from living as a saint in a world gone mad. The psalmist is vexed by the prosperity and sheer insolence of those who have set themselves against the Lord of hosts. He begins with a lament, a form of holy complaint, questioning why God appears distant in times of trouble. But this is not faithless whining; it is the cry of a child who knows his Father is there, even when He seems hidden. The psalm then pivots to a sharp diagnosis of the wicked man's heart. We are given a tour of his internal operating system, a system running on pride, greed, and a damnable self-assurance. He is a practical atheist, one who lives as though God is not there, and as a result, he persecutes the righteous poor without fear. This section sets the stage for the psalmist's ultimate appeal for divine justice, a plea for God to arise and break the arms of the wicked.

The central conflict here is between the perspective of faith and the perspective of arrogant unbelief. The wicked man looks at his circumstances, sees his own success, and concludes he is untouchable. The man of God looks at the same circumstances and, though distressed, cries out to a God he knows is sovereign and just. This psalm teaches us how to pray in a world where sin is a horrible, strutting reality. It teaches us to bring our honest complaints to God, to accurately identify the nature of wickedness, and to rest in the certainty that God sees all and will, in His perfect time, bring all things to right.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 10 is often seen as a continuation of Psalm 9. In some Hebrew manuscripts, they are treated as a single psalm. Both deal with the theme of God's righteous judgment against the wicked nations and the deliverance of the afflicted. Psalm 9 is a song of praise for judgments already rendered, while Psalm 10 is a lament and a plea for judgment in the face of present oppression. Together, they form a complete picture: thanksgiving for past deliverance fuels our prayers for present and future intervention. The alphabetic acrostic that begins in Psalm 9 appears to continue, albeit with some irregularities, into Psalm 10, further linking the two.

This psalm is one of the rawest expressions of what it feels like to live in the "already, but not yet." Christ has conquered, yes, but the wicked still seem to prosper. This psalm gives the saints a script for how to navigate that tension. It is a prayer against the fat and sassy attitude of those who rebel against heaven, and it is a necessary part of the believer's arsenal. We are not Stoics; we are to feel the injustice of the world and bring it before our King.

Verse by Verse Commentary

Lamedh

1 Why do You stand afar off, O Yahweh? Why do You hide Yourself in times of distress?

The psalm opens with what we might call a sanctified complaint. This is not the grumbling of a faithless heart, but rather the cry of a son who knows where his Father's house is, and is pounding on the door. From the vantage point of the saints, struggling in the muck and mire of a fallen world, it often looks as though God is standing off at a distance, disengaged. The psalmist feels this acutely. The question "Why?" is not an accusation born of unbelief, but rather a plea born of covenant relationship. He knows God is his only help, which is precisely why God's apparent absence is so distressing. In "times of distress," when the wicked are on the move, the believer's expectation is that God will be near. When He seems to hide Himself, faith is tested, and that test drives the man of God to prayer, not to apostasy. This is the virtue of holy complaint: it drives us toward God, not away from Him.

2 In his lofty pride the wicked hotly pursues the afflicted; Let them be caught in the thoughts which they have devised.

Here we get a plain statement of the problem: the wicked, puffed up with arrogance, are hunting the poor. The word for "hotly pursues" paints a picture of a relentless, heated chase. This is not casual animosity; it is a driving persecution. And what is the fuel for this fire? "Lofty pride." The wicked man's conceit is the engine of his cruelty. He assaults the humble because he believes himself to be superior. The psalmist then offers up a pious wish, an imprecation that is perfectly just: "Let them be caught in the thoughts which they have devised." This is a prayer for poetic justice. Let their own clever schemes, their own malicious plots, become the very net that ensnares them. This is a central biblical principle of judgment. Haman is hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai. The enemies of Daniel are devoured by the lions they intended for him. The prayer is that God would make the punishment fit the crime, that their sin would boomerang back upon their own heads.

3 For the wicked boasts of his soul’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns Yahweh.

Now the psalmist takes us deeper, into the very heart of the wicked man. His actions are simply the fruit of his diseased soul. First, he "boasts of his soul's desire." He is not ashamed of his lusts; he parades them. What a righteous man would mortify, the wicked man magnifies. He glories in his shame. This is the essence of a reprobate mind, to not only do evil things but to approve of those who do them. Second, the "greedy man curses and spurns Yahweh." The translation here can be tricky. Some render the phrase as "blesses the greedy," meaning the wicked man praises and encourages covetousness in others. But either way, the point is the same. His entire value system is inverted. He blesses what God curses and curses what God blesses. His covetousness is not just a character flaw; it is a theological statement. In his grasping for more, he is fundamentally spurning Yahweh, the giver of all good things. He has made an idol of his appetite, and in bowing to it, he despises the true God.

4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

The rebellion of the wicked is total, manifesting both externally and internally. "In the haughtiness of his countenance" tells us that his pride is written all over his face. He carries himself with a sneer. His posture, his expression, his very presence exudes a contempt for God. This outward arrogance is the result of an inward corruption: he "does not seek Him." He feels no need for God. He is self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-satisfied. The second clause gives us the root of it all. "All his thoughts are, 'There is no God.'" This is not necessarily a formal, philosophical atheism. He might pay lip service to some deity somewhere. But in his practical, day-to-day thinking, God is utterly absent. God is not a factor in his business plans, his family life, or his private pleasures. For all intents and purposes, he is a functional atheist. God is not in any of his calculations, which is the very definition of a fool.

5 His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

This is the part that so often vexes the saints. The wicked man's ways "prosper." He seems to get away with it all. His businesses flourish, his schemes succeed, his influence grows. From a worldly perspective, everything he touches turns to gold. Why? Because God's "judgments are on high, out of his sight." He is spiritually blind and cannot see the moral order of the universe. The divine standards by which he will one day be judged are as remote to him as the stars. He lives on a flat earth, spiritually speaking. He has no fear of God before his eyes. And because he does not fear God, he certainly does not fear men. "As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them." He puffs at them, dismissing them with contemptuous scorn. He sees the afflicted, the poor, the righteous, as nothing more than gnats to be swatted away. His earthly success has made him feel invincible.

6 He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken; From generation to generation I will not be in adversity.”

Here is the pinnacle of his delusion. He internalizes his temporary prosperity and extrapolates it into a permanent state of being. He says "in his heart," in his deepest convictions, "I will not be shaken." He believes he is bulletproof. This is the great lie of godless materialism. If you have enough money, enough power, enough influence, you can insulate yourself from the troubles that plague lesser mortals. He extends this fantasy into the future: "From generation to generation I will not be in adversity." He is not just building a comfortable life; he is attempting to build a dynasty of invulnerability. He thinks he has secured his legacy against all possible misfortune. But he has built his house on the sand. He has forgotten God, the one who raises up and casts down, and in so doing, he has guaranteed the very shaking he believes he has escaped.

Application

The first application for us is to learn the art of holy complaint. When we see injustice, when we see the wicked prospering and the righteous afflicted, we are not to grit our teeth in stoic silence. We are to bring it to God. Pouring out our hearts to God about the state of the world is an act of faith, because it assumes He is the one who can and will do something about it. Do not let the apparent silence of God drive you to despair; let it drive you to your knees.

Second, we must have a clear-eyed understanding of wickedness. The world wants to psychologize sin, to reduce it to trauma or societal factors. But the Bible shows us it is fundamentally theological. The wicked man's problem is his pride and his practical atheism. He lives as though God does not exist. We must see this for what it is, not just a different lifestyle choice, but a rebellion against the Creator of the cosmos. Understanding this helps us to not be surprised or dismayed by the depths of human depravity.

Finally, we must combat the wicked man's delusion in our own hearts. The temptation to believe we are "bulletproof," that our 401(k), our reputation, or our own cleverness can keep us from being shaken, is a subtle and constant one. This psalm reminds us that true security is found not in our circumstances, but in the character of our God. The wicked man says, "I will not be shaken." The righteous man, in contrast, says, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer." Our hope is not in avoiding adversity, but in knowing the One who holds us fast through it.