Read Psalm 10 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Psa 10:1 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?
Psa 10:2 The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
Psa 10:3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
Psa 10:4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.
Psa 10:5 His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
Psa 10:6 He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.”
Psa 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
Psa 10:8 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.
Psa 10:9a He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; {n}
Psa 10:9b He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
Psa 10:10 So he crouches, he lies low, That the helpless may fall by his strength.
Psa 10:11 He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see.”
Psa 10:12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble.
Psa 10:13 Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, “You will not require an account.”
Psa 10:14a But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, To repay it by Your hand. {n}
Psa 10:14b The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
Psa 10:15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
Psa 10:16 The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.
Psa 10:17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,
Psa 10:18 To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. {p}
Psalm 10 chiastic structure
1A) Psa 10:1-10 Why do You not see the trouble created by the wicked against the innocent + helpless;
1B) Psa 10:11 He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see;”
CENTRAL AXIS) Psa 10:12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble;
2B) Psa 10:13 Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, “You will not require it;”
2A) Psa 10:14-18 The LORD sees trouble to repay it to the wicked/ do justice for the fatherless + oppressed;
1a) Psa 10:14 The LORD has seen trouble to repay it / You are the helper of the helpless + fatherless;
1b) Psa 10:15 Break the arm of the wicked + the evil/ Seek out his wickedness until You find none;
central axis) Psa 10:16a The LORD is King forever and ever;
2b) Psa 10:16b The nations have perished out of His land;
2a) Psa 10:17-18 {p} The LORD has heard the humble to do justice to the fatherless + oppressed/ to end oppression.
A lot of people ask the question posed in verse 1:
“Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?”
But the A pair reveals that in fact, in times of trouble, God takes note of the trouble, in order to repay trouble to the wicked who caused it, and to bring about justice for the fatherless and the oppressed. He has not forgotten the humble, because it is the meek who will inherit the earth.
What we see with our eyes today: the mighty and powerful grinding the faces of the poor into the dust, and the righteous and humble being oppressed by the wicked schemes of the wicked … these things are a temporary state of affairs in the history of the world. I do not envy the powerful politicians who ignore the established laws at the expense of the humble, in order to increase wealth and power to themselves. I look at their mansions and private jets, and pity them, really, because today they are living in their reward. In fact, I tremble for them, for I have seen in the pages of Scripture the depth of God’s wrath they are storing up for themselves. The longsuffering God is giving them a little window now to repent; but as the psalm reveals, most of the wicked use their window to deceive themselves into thinking that God will never require their wickedness of them, that they themselves will never see the adversity they inflict on others. But no matter how powerful they are, they can not escape their end, for it is the LORD who is King forever and ever, and the scepter of His kingdom is a scepter of righteousness, not injustice.
Just found this through a Google search for song nine and 10 chiasm.
I studied the old testament that Reformed Theological Seminary, particularly appreciating Dr. Bruce Rocky, Dr. Marjorie Todd, and Dr. Richard Pratt.
your work on here demonstrates a real care for the Hebrew poetry
I’m sorry, I made this comment using Siri on the girl. It butchered the three names I referenced . Should have been Dr. Bruce Waltke, Mark Futato, and Richard Pratt.
Thanks for sharing your work.
So nice to see you here Trent. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your kind and encouraging feedback. – Christine
Some readers read the first few lines and ignore the last few lines thereby missing the hope in the psalm in its concluding application. If the psalmist simply raised a rhetorical question without the concluding resolution, this lament would reflect a truly hopeless situation: God does stand far off and refuses to be involved in mankind. Consequently, the oppressed would be squashed. The psalmist raised two rhetorical questions for a specific reason – as an apologetic against false knowledge of God. The first line provides a picture of a false notion of God from a pagan perspective, but the psalmist resolves the rhetorical questions in the conclusion that reflects the “CENTRAL AXIS”: the redemption of the humble who cries out to Him. Humility echoes throughout this psalm in contrast with the proud and arrogant who reject God.
Thanks for dividing the psalm out into its natural chiastic structure, a structure many readers frequently miss, including myself. I knew it was there as the dominant structure but I did not follow it through to its focal point in v. 12. Would there not be an overall chiastic structure beginning with v. 1 as A and resolving with vs. 18 as A’? Just a thought.
Thank you for your kind comments and for stopping by Floyd. Please do come back again!