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Psalm 10

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Why, O L ord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—

let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart,

those greedy for gain curse and renounce the L ord.

In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”;

all their thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Their ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, out of their sight;

as for their foes, they scoff at them.

They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved;

throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.”

Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.

They sit in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places they murder the innocent.

Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert;

they lurk that they may seize the poor;

they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.

They stoop, they crouch,

and the helpless fall by their might.

They think in their heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

Rise up, O L ord; O God, lift up your hand;

do not forget the oppressed.

Why do the wicked renounce God,

and say in their hearts, “You will not call us to account”?

But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief,

that you may take it into your hands;

the helpless commit themselves to you;

you have been the helper of the orphan.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers;

seek out their wickedness until you find none.

The L ord is king forever and ever;

the nations shall perish from his land.

O L ord, you will hear the desire of the meek;

you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear

to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed,

so that those from earth may strike terror no more.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

8. He will sit in the ensnaring places of the villages. ²¹⁷²¹⁷     Horsley renders the eighth verse thus:
   “He sitteth in ambush* in the villages in secret places;
He murdereth the innocent;
his eyes are ever watching for the helpless.”
   And he has the following note: ”Symmachus and St Jerome certainly read thus ישכ מארב בחצרים, and they both render, ה, as a participle. ‘He sitteth prowling about the farm-houses.’ This I take to be the true reading and the true rendering. The image is that of a beast of prey of the lesser order, a fox or a wolf, lying upon the watch about the farm-yard in the evening.”
   *Or, “he sitteth prowling about the farmyard.” I have purposely avoided changing the verbs of the future tense into another tense, because they imply a continued act, and also because this Hebrew idiom has extended even to other languages. David, therefore, describes what ungodly men are accustomed to do. And, in the first place, he compares them to highwaymen, who lie in wait at the narrow parts of roads, and choose for themselves hiding-places from which they may fall upon travelers when off their guard. He says also, that their eyes are bent or leering, ²¹⁸²¹⁸     Bishop Mant reads “peering eyes.” Concerning the word, says he, “which I have rendered peering, Parkhurst says that it is applied to winking or half closing the eyes in order to see more distinctly. The Septuagint and Vulgate translations, which mean look at, behold, give the general sense, but not the beautiful image expressed in the Hebrew.” by a similitude borrowed from the practice of dart-shooters, who take their aim with leering, or half shut eyes, in order to hit the mark the surer. Nor does he here speak of the common sort of highwaymen who are in the woods; ²¹⁹²¹⁹     “Qui sont parmi les bois.” — Fr but he directs his language against those great robbers who hide their wickedness under titles of honor, and pomp, and splendor. The word חצרים, chatserim, therefore, which we have rendered villages, is by some translated palaces; as if David had said, they have converted their royal mansions into places of robbery, where they may cut the throats of their unhappy victims. But granting the word to have this allusion, I consider that it refers principally to the practice of robbers, to which there is a reference in the whole verse, and I explain it thus: Like as robbers lie in wait at the egresses of villages, so these persons lay their snares wherever they are.

²¹⁷ Horsley renders the eighth verse thus: “He sitteth in ambush* in the villages in secret places; He murdereth the innocent; his eyes are ever watching for the helpless.” And he has the following note: ”Symmachus and St Jerome certainly read thus ישכ מארב בחצרים, and they both render, ה, as a participle. ‘He sitteth prowling about the farm-houses.’ This I take to be the true reading and the true rendering. The image is that of a beast of prey of the lesser order, a fox or a wolf, lying upon the watch about the farm-yard in the evening.” *Or, “he sitteth prowling about the farmyard.”

²¹⁸ Bishop Mant reads “peering eyes.” Concerning the word, says he, “which I have rendered peering, Parkhurst says that it is applied to winking or half closing the eyes in order to see more distinctly. The Septuagint and Vulgate translations, which mean look at, behold, give the general sense, but not the beautiful image expressed in the Hebrew.”

²¹⁹ “Qui sont parmi les bois.” — Fr