ChristadelphianBooksOnline
George Booker
Psalms Studies - Book 1

Psalm 10

1. Title

Except for Psalms 1 and 2, this is the only “orphan” psalm in Book 1. But, as explained regarding Psalm 9, either 9 and 10 are one psalm or “A Psalm of David” (9) really belongs primarily to 10.

2. Connections with Psalm 9

For the connections with Psalm 9, see notes there, Par. 1. The verbal links are numerous:

	Psalm 9	Psalm 10
the wicked/lawless one	5,16	2,4,13,15
times of trouble	9	1
forgot/forgotten	12,17,18	11,12
Humble	12,18	12,17
Oppressed	9	18
mortal man	19,20	18
not alway/never	18	11
for ever and ever	5	16
Arise, O Lord	19	12
heathen/nations	5,15, 17,19,20	16
make inquisition/seek	12	4

3. Structure

1.	God, please intervene!
2-11.	The wicked.
12-15.	God, please intervene!
16-18.	God has intervened.

The Companion Bible breaks down vv. 2-11, about the wicked, thus:

2-5.	His acts.
6.	His thoughts.
7-10.	His acts.
11.	His thoughts.

“These verses are a picture gallery of the troublers of David....from the swaggering Goliaths, through the jealous, treacherous Sauls, the false, betraying Ahithophels, the foul-mouthed Shimeis, down to the churlish Nabals and the base and murderous Doegs” (N.P. Holt).

4. Historical setting

The phraseology fits remarkably well the time of Saul’s pursuit of David. It also covers the disreputable incident of Doeg the Edomite and the slaying of the priests of Nob (1 Sam. 21-23).

1.	Why standest thou afar off?....why hidest thou thyself? A very hurt reproach against God, such as would inevitably spring to the mind of David when he heard about the slaughter of the priests of Nob (1 Sam. 22:18), or when the relentless pursuit by Saul inclined David to despair. Compare Psa. 13:1 and, of course, 22:1,2.
2.	The poor (singular) is David himself. RV: In the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued (literally: set on fire). Could this be an allusion to Saul’s men systematically burning the scrub on the hill-side, so as to flush out their prey?
	Taken in the devices that they have imagined: 1 Sam. 23:27.
3.	The wicked boasteth. This verb is as in *Hallelu*-jah. His song of praise is about himself! He is a “self-made” man and he is worshipping his “creator”!
	He blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. In 1 Sam. 22 every detail about Doeg describes a man fawning over the king for personal advantage.
4.	God is not in all his thoughts. Not in his thinking at all! This was the root of all the trouble in Saul’s life. He believed in God, but not as a Being who was in control of his life. Note the withering emphasis on this in vv. 6,11,13, and the emphatic corrective in v. 15. Psalms 14/53 and 52 should certainly be studied with this psalm. See notes there.
6.	He hath said in his heart. This “atheism” is his innermost thinking. A blithe assumption that he will not be called to account for his evil purposes and ways.
	I shall not be moved. The “noble” art of self-deceit: cp. 30:6; 1 Sam. 15:13.
	Never in adversity. RV: to all generations. Saul was set on founding a great dynasty. This was the root of his incurable hostility to David. See 1 Sam. 20:30,31.
7.	Cursing....deceit....fraud....mischief....vanity. What a catalogue of evil. All these were true either of Saul or of Doeg.
	Under his tongue, i.e. at times hypocritically hidden: e.g. 1 Sam. 24:16-22. “Poison” emanating from the mouth is indisputably “serpent” symbolism.
8-10.	Surely this describes the massacre of the priests (1 Sam. 22:18; also 23:9,21-23). “He doth murder the innocent.”
10.	Humbleth himself. 1 Sam. 24:22; 26:25 both suggest that David had strong misgivings about the lasting sincerity of Saul’s change of heart.
12.	Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. What a contrast between David’s unquenchable consciousness of the power and presence of God and the “atheism” of his enemy. Note the alternation regarding this in vv. 11,13 and 12,14.
14.	The fatherless: David, deprived of his father-in-law (1 Sam. 22:14)? Or David, deprived of help and counsel from Samuel (1 Sam. 25:1)?
15.	Break thou the arm of the wicked and evil man. Twice (1 Sam. 24;26) David has it in his power to be rid of Saul once and for all. But how admirable is the emphasis in 1 Sam. 24:6; 26:9-11: “The Lord forbid that I should do this....”
16-18.	Added in later days when Saul was dead and David was established as the Lord’s anointed. The Lord is king; and the Gentiles (such as Doeg) are perished....to judge the fatherless and the oppressed (David’s correction of the extremes of Saul’s reign), that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (There is also the possibility that as in some other instances, these verses were added in the Hezekiah period. There is considerable fitness about all the details.)

5. Messianic fulfillment

This is attested by:

a.	Paul’s quotation of v. 7 in Rom. 3:14 — not with reference to human wickedness generally, but to the supreme wickedness of combined Jewish and Gentile rejection (cp. Saul and Doeg) of the Lord’s Anointed (cp. Acts 4:24-28).
b.	The echo of v. 16a in at least two Messianic prophecies: Obad. 21; Rev. 11:15.

1.	Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? Were there occasions during the Lord’s ministry when his Father seemed to hide Himself in times of trouble?
2.	Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. John 11:48-50 is an outstanding illustration: They did not “let him alone”. Instead, “one man died for the people”, and the Romans did come and take away their place (i.e. temple) and their nation!
3.	The covetous = Judas?
4.	God is not in all his thoughts, and vv. 11,13. How terribly true of those “holy” men of the temple!
7.	Under his tongue. Consider the hypocrisy in Luke 20:20.
8.	Lurking places....secret places....murder. Compare Psa. 17:11,12.
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. The Pharisees’ plots against Jesus (John 5:16,18; Mark 3:6; Luke 11:54; John 7:19-21,25; 8:59; Luke 13:31; John 10:31,39; 11:8,16, 44-54; Luke 20:14-26; Matt. 26:3-5,16). Especially is this a picture of the atmosphere of intrigue and hostility in the last week of the Lord’s ministry, when it was necessary for him to leave the holy city each day as the sun set (Luke 21:37).
10.	Humbleth himself. A deceitful, ingratiating humility — such as intended to trick Jesus into wrong answers to their crafty questions. This is the false “humility” of a crouching lion ready to pounce on its prey (v. 9).
14.	Thou hast seen it....to requite it. Retribution for the rejection of Christ came inevitably in A.D. 70. As God used the Philistines against Saul, so also He used the legions of Rome against His rebellion people (Matt. 22:7).
16.	On any reading, there is a chronological gap in the psalm here. When the Messiah receives his kingdom, Jehovah is King for ever and ever. And the Gentiles, who up to the very last have sought to assert their authority over it, are perished out of it (Zech. 14:21). Then the humble (v. 17) will find their heart’s desire; v. 18 provides a lovely cameo of the blessedness of the kingdom.
18.	The man of the earth uses the word for frail mortal man (enosh) and alludes back to Gen. 2:7. There is also a lovely play on words: earth *(eretz), oppress (aratz).*

6. Other details

1.	Why hidest thou thyself, so as not to see the need of Thy servant (Isa. 1:15; Job 23:9)?
3.	For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth (or, praiseth) the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. Both words are those normally used for praising and blessing God! Here, then, is his true “god”: his own evil scheming. Contrast with 44:8.
	His heart’s desire. Contrast Rom. 10:1.
	And blesseth the covetous. The wicked man loves those in whom he sees his own reflection. The wicked man honors others according to the amount of their possessions (Psa. 49:6,18). He not only commits sin, but takes pleasure in others who do the same (Rom. 1:32).
4.	Pride of his countenance. An unusual phrase. Literally, “height of nostril”, signifying a turned-up nose, or haughtiness.
	Seek after God. The AV italic words are necessary for the sense: note Psa. 9:10; 14:2.
	God is not in all his thoughts. See AV margin. He “believes” in God, but in practice he is atheist. He can manage without God, and he believes he can evade God’s scrutiny of his life. For the same idea, see vv. 5b,6,11,13; 14:2; 53:1a; 2 Pet. 3:4; Isa. 26:11a; and contrast vv. 14,15; 11:4; 33:13-19; 34:15,16.
5.	Thy judgments are far about out of his sight. An eloquent statement of the vast chasm between God’s thoughts and man’s (Isa. 55:8,9). Natural man is so short-sighted that he cannot see the marvellous workings of God in nature or in grace (2 Cor. 4:4). Neither can he see the Divine storm clouds hanging over him, because his eyes are directed downward toward his grubbing in the earth. Since God does not immediately visit every sin with punishment, natural men do not understand that such punishment — even though long in coming — is inevitable (Eccl. 8:11; 2 Pet. 3:3-5,8,10).
6.	Said in his heart. And in vv. 11,13 also.
	I shall not be moved. Even David was liable to this subtle disease of “atheism”. This is the real “peace and safety” cry (1 Thes. 5:3; see Booker, Waiting for His Son, pp. 111-114).
	I shall never be in adversity. “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:15-21).
7.	Cursing....deceit....fraud....mischief....vanity. Five terrible words. Contrast, in the rest of the psalm: poor, innocent, fatherless, humble, oppressed.
8-10.	“And a thousand rascals, the living originals of this picture, are this day crouching and lying in wait all over the country to catch poor helpless travellers” (Thomson, The Land and the Book).
10.	His strong ones, such as Doeg the Edomite. Compare margin: into his strong parts, i.e. so that the poor might fall prey to his strong “teeth” and “claws”.
11.	He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. In deceiving others, he has deceived himself: Gal. 6:7.
12.	Arise, O Lord. The old “wilderness” cry, the call to battle of the Lord of hosts (Psa. 9:19; 82:8; 132:8; Num. 10:35).
14.	The helper of the fatherless. “For in thee the fatherless find mercy” (Hos. 14:3). See vv. 17,18; 9:12,18.
15.	Seek out his wickedness until thou find none. What an awesome undertaking!
18.	The man of the earth. Compare the “god of the earth” (Rev. 11:4). He is “from beneath” (John 8:23), and “earthly, sensual, and demonic” (John 3:31; James 3:15).