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A prayer for help[a]

10 Must you stand so far away, Lord?
    Why do you hide when there is trouble?
Wicked people are cruel to poor people.
They use their evil ideas
    to take hold of weak people.
Not only do wicked people boast
    because they get the things that they want.
They also praise robbers,
    and they curse the Lord.
Wicked people are too proud to worry about God.
    They think, ‘God will not give me any trouble.’
Often the wicked person seems to have success.
    He does not respect your commands, God.
    He laughs at all his enemies.
He says to himself, ‘There will be no trouble for me.
    Nothing bad will ever happen to me or to my children.’
Plenty of lies come from his mouth,
    and he curses people.
The bad words that he speaks are very cruel,
    and they hurt people.
He hides near the villages,
    so that he can jump out and catch people.
He watches in secret to find a weak person that he can kill.
    He murders people who have done nothing wrong.
Quietly, he hides like a lion among some bushes.
    He waits there to catch a poor, weak person.
Like a hunter, he catches poor people in his net.
10 He stamps on the people that he catches,
    and he knocks them down to the ground.
The weak person falls down,
    because the wicked person is too strong.
11 The wicked person says to himself,
‘God will give me no trouble!
    He does not even see what I do.’
12 Rise up, Lord!
Do something, God,
    and knock down the wicked person!
Do not forget to help weak people.
13 Why do wicked people insult God?
They say to themselves,
    ‘God will not give me any trouble.’
14 Surely, God, you see what is happening.
You see how wicked people bring pain and trouble.
    You decide what to do about it.
The weak person trusts that you will help him.
You take care of children who have no father.
15 Take hold of the arm of the wicked, evil man!
    Break it and take away his strength!
Punish him for the bad things that he has done,
    so that he has to stop.
16 The Lord will rule as king for ever!
The nations who do not serve him
    will not remain in his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the prayers
    of people who are suffering.
When they ask you to help them,
    you make them feel strong.
18 You stand beside those who have no father,
    and those who are poor and weak.
As a result, they will no longer be afraid.
    No human on the earth can frighten them.

Footnotes

  1. 10:1 Psalm 10 continues on from Psalm 9. It continues with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but not all the letters are there.

A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil

10 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
The wicked in his pride [a]persecutes the poor;
(A)Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

For the wicked (B)boasts of his heart’s desire;
[b]He (C)blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
[c]God is in none of his (D)thoughts.

His ways [d]are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
(E)He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
(F)I shall never be in adversity.”
(G)His mouth is full of cursing and (H)deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.

He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 So [e]he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his [f]strength.
11 He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”

12 Arise, O Lord!
O God, (I)lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the (J)humble.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.

14 But You have (K)seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless (L)commits[g] himself to You;
(M)You are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

16 (N)The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To [h]do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may [i]oppress no more.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 10:2 hotly pursues
  2. Psalm 10:3 Or The greedy man curses and spurns the Lord
  3. Psalm 10:4 Or All his thoughts are, “There is no God”
  4. Psalm 10:5 Lit. are strong
  5. Psalm 10:10 Or he is crushed, is bowed
  6. Psalm 10:10 Or mighty ones
  7. Psalm 10:14 Lit. leaves, entrusts
  8. Psalm 10:18 vindicate
  9. Psalm 10:18 terrify

Why Do You Hide Yourself?

10 Why, O Lord, do you stand (A)far away?
    Why (B)do you hide yourself in (C)times of trouble?

In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them (D)be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
For the wicked (E)boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain (F)curses[a] and (G)renounces the Lord.
In the pride of his face[b] the wicked does not (H)seek him;[c]
    all his thoughts are, (I)“There is no God.”
His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, (J)out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he (K)puffs at them.
He (L)says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I (M)shall not meet adversity.”
(N)His mouth is filled with cursing and (O)deceit and (P)oppression;
    (Q)under his tongue are (R)mischief and (S)iniquity.
He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in (T)hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
    he lurks in ambush like (U)a lion in his (V)thicket;
he (W)lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his (X)net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has (Y)hidden his face, he (Z)will never see it.”

12 (AA)Arise, O Lord; O God, (AB)lift up your hand;
    (AC)forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked (AD)renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not (AE)call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you (AF)note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless (AG)commits himself;
    you have been (AH)the helper of the fatherless.
15 (AI)Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    (AJ)call his wickedness to account till you find none.

16 (AK)The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the (AL)nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will (AM)strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to (AN)do justice to the fatherless and (AO)the oppressed,
    so that (AP)man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 10:3 Or and he blesses the one greedy for gain
  2. Psalm 10:4 Or of his anger
  3. Psalm 10:4 Or the wicked says, “He will not call to account”