Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 10:10

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 10:10. He croucheth — Of the scoffing, mocking, insulting, and insidious conduct of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the fourth and sixth chapters of Nehemiah give abundant proof; and possibly the allusion is to them. The lion squats down and gathers himself together, that he may make the greater spring.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 9-10 God fights for the oppressed

In Psalms 9:0 and 10 we meet another kind of Hebrew verse, the acrostic. (Other acrostics are Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145.) In an acrostic the first word of each verse (or stanza) begins with a different letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet, moving in order, so to speak, ‘from A to Z’. The acrostic in this case moves unbroken through Psalms 9:0 and 10, indicating that originally they probably formed one psalm. The absence of a heading to Psalms 10:0 supports this view. The two psalms appear to belong to the days of David’s kingship.

David begins with an expression of praise to God (9:1-2) because of a notable victory that God has given Israel over its enemies (3-6). This victory illustrates God’s perfect justice in upholding what is right (7-8) and his unfailing love in caring for those who trust in him (9-10). David therefore calls on the whole congregation to join him in this hymn of praise (11-12).
As he recalls the enemy attacks, the grateful psalmist recalls also how he prayed desperately in the crisis and promised to offer public praise to God on his successful return to Jerusalem (13-14). Knowing that God is righteous in all his judgments, the psalmist is assured that God will punish the wicked and care for the faithful (15-18). He asks God to act decisively against those who defy him, and to show them that they are merely mortal beings (19-20).
At times it seems to the psalmist that God stands idly by while the ungodly do as they please. Self-seeking people use their power, influence and wealth to oppress the poor and trample on the rights of others (10:1-2). Because God does not act in judgment against him immediately, the unjust think that God is not concerned. They think there will be no judgment (3-6). Greed, lying, cruelty and deceit are the characteristics of such people (7-9). The more easily they crush people, the more confident they become that they have escaped God’s punishment (10-11).
But God is not indifferent to the arrogance of the oppressors; nor is he indifferent to the sufferings of the oppressed. Silently, he has been taking notice of everything. God has a particular concern for those who are defenceless and easily exploited (12-14). The arrogant can never triumph over God. Those who advance themselves by oppressing others will meet with certain punishment, but those who trust in God will be delivered (15-18).

Longing for judgment

Ideas commonly associated with God’s judgment are those of condemnation and punishment. Judgment is not usually something to look forward to. Yet the psalmists often long for God’s judgment and rejoice in anticipation of the day when it will come (Psalms 67:4; Psalms 96:12-13).

The reason for this longing for judgment is that, for the psalmists, God’s judgment means the administration of justice in the everyday affairs of life. The godly were oppressed and downtrodden. Corruption, bribery and injustice meant they had no way of obtaining justice, no way of gaining a hearing, no way of getting a judgment of their case (Psalms 10:1-6; Psalms 82:1-4). They knew they were in the right. That was why they longed for the day when God would act in judgment, righting the wrongs, declaring them to be right, and sentencing their oppressors to punishment (Psalms 7:6-8; Psalms 9:8,Psalms 9:12; Psalms 10:12,Psalms 10:17-18; Psalms 35:23-24).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert; He lieth in wait to catch the poor: He doth catch the poor, when he draweth in his net. He croucheth, he boweth down, And the helpless fall by his strong ones. He saith in his heart, God hath forgotten, He hideth his face, he will never see it."

The use of wild animals and the devices of hunters which appears here as descriptive of the conduct of the wicked, "May possibly be figurative descriptions of the various forms of oppressions and iniquity such rascals used."H. C. Leupold, Psalms (Baker Book House, 1959), p. 122.

"The helpless fall by his strong ones." The wicked man mentioned here, "Is represented as the head or leader of a band of robbers or outlaws, engaged under him in committing robbery upon the unprotected."Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 93.

"God hath forgotten." This is the attitude of the practical atheist described above. His actions are taken without regard to any possibility of God's existence or of his executing his wrath and vengeance upon such ungodly conduct.

When at last, the Final Judgment is begun, there shall not be left a single infidel in all the world. Evil men at that time shall cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and to hide them from the wrath of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:14).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He croucheth - Margin, “breaketh himself.” Coverdale, “Then smiteth he, then oppresseth he.” Prof. Alexander, “And bruised he will sink.” Horsley, “And the overpowered man submits.” Luther, “He slays, and thrusts down, and presses to the earth the poor with power.” This variety of interpretation arises from some ambiguity in regard to the meaning of the original. The word rendered “croucheth” - ודכה, in the Kethib (the text) - is in the Qeri’ (margin), ידכה, “and crushed, he sinks down.” There is some uncertainty about the form in which the word is used, but it is certain that it does not mean, as in our translation, “he croucheth.” The word דכה dâkâh, properly means to be broken in pieces, to be crushed; and this idea runs through all the forms in which the word occurs. The true idea, it seems to me, is that this does not refer to the wicked man, but to his victim or victims, represented here by a word in the collective singular; and the meaning is that such a victim, crushed and broken down, sinks under the power of the persecutor and oppressor. “And the crushed one sinks down.”

And humbleth himself - The word used here - ישׁח yāśoch - from שׁוּח śûch - means to sink down; to settle down. Here it means to sink down as one does who is overcome or oppressed, or who is smitten to the earth. The idea is, that he is crushed or smitten by the wicked, and sinks to the ground.

That the poor may fall - Rather, as in the original, “and the poor fall;” that is, they do fall. The idea is, that they do in fact fall by the arm of the persecutor and oppressor who treads them down.

By his strong ones - Margin, “Or, into his strong parts.” The text here best expresses the sense. The reference is to the strong ones - the followers and abettors of the “wicked” here referred to - his train of followers. The allusion seems to be to this wicked man represented as the head or leader of a band of robbers or outlaws - strong, athletic men engaged under him in committing robbery on the unprotected. See Psalms 10:8-9. Under these strong men the poor and the unprotected fall, and are crushed to the earth. The meaning of the whole verse, therefore, may be thus expressed: “And the crushed one sinks down, and the poor fall under his mighty ones.” The word rendered “poor” is in the plural, while the verb “fall” is in the singular; but this construction is not uncommon when the verb precedes. Nordheimer, Hebrew Grammar, Section 759, i., a. The word rendered “poor” means the wretched or the afflicted, and refers here to those who were unprotected - the victims of oppression and robbery.

The following account of the condition of Palestine at the present time will illustrate the passage here, and show how true the statements of the psalmist are to nature. It occurs in “The land and the Book,” by W. M. Thomson, D. D., Missionary in Syria. He is speaking of the sandy beach, or the sand hills, in the neighborhood of Mount Carmel, and says, respecting these “sandy downs, with feathery reeds, running far inland, the chosen retreat of wild boars and wild Arabs,” “The Arab robber larks like a wolf among these sand heaps, and often springs out suddenly upon the solitary traveler, robs him in a trice, and then plunges again into the wilderness of sand hills and reedy downs, where pursuit is fruitless. Our friends are careful not to allow us to straggle about or lag behind, and yet it seems absurd to fear a surprise here - Khaifa before, and Acre in the rear, and travelers in sight on both sides. Robberies, however, do often occur, just where we now are. Strange country! and it has always been so.” And then quoting the passage before us Psalms 10:8-10, he adds, “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 travelers. You observe that all these people we meet or pass are armed; nor would they venture to go from Acre to Khaifa without their musket, although the cannon of the castles seem to command every foot of the way.” Vol. i., pp. 487, 488.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

He again repeats all this in the tenth verse, giving a beautiful and graphic description of the very mien or gesture of such wicked men, just as if he set before our eyes a picture of them. They crouch low, says he, and cast themselves down, ⁽²²⁰⁾ that they may not, by their cruelty, frighten away their victims to a distance; for they would fain catch in their entanglements those whom they cannot hurt without coming close to them. We see how he joins these two things together, first snares or gins, and then sudden violence, as soon as the prey has fallen into their hands. For, by the second clause, he means, that whenever they see the simple to be fully in their power, they rush upon them by surprise with a savage violence, just as if a lion should furiously rise from his couch to tear in pieces his prey. ⁽²²¹⁾ The obvious meaning of the Psalmist is, that the ungodly are to be dreaded on all sides, because they dissemble their cruelty, till they find those caught in their toils whom they wish to devour. There is some obscurity in the words, to which we shall briefly advert. In the clause which we have rendered an army of the afflicted, the Hebrew word חלכאים, chelcaim, an army, in the opinion of some, is a word of four letters. ⁽²²²⁾ Those, however, think more accurately who hold it to be compound, and equivalent to two words. ⁽²²³⁾ Although, therefore, the verb נפל, naphal, is in the singular number, yet the prophet, doubtless, uses חל כאים, chel caim, collectively, to denote a great company of people who are afflicted by every one of these lions. I have rendered עצומימ,atsumim, his strengths, as if it were a substantive; because the prophet, doubtless, by this term, intends the talons and teeth of the lion, in which the strength of that beast chiefly consists. As, however, the word is properly an adjective in the plural number, signifying strong, without having any substantive with which it agrees, we may reasonably suppose that, by the talons and teeth of the lion, he means to express metaphorically a powerful body of soldiers. In short, the meaning is this: These wicked men hide their strength, by feigned humility and crafty courteous demeanour, and yet they will always have in readiness an armed band of satellites, or claws and teeth, as soon as an opportunity of doing mischief is presented to them.

(220) The allusion is to the practice of the lion, who, when he intends to seize upon his prey, crouches, or lies down, and gathers himself together, both to conceal himself, and that he may make the greater spring upon his prey when it comes within his reach, (Job 38:39.)

(221) “Comme si un lion sortant de son giste se levoit furieusement pour mettre sa proye par pieces.” —Fr. “As if a lion issuing from his den, furiously raised himself to spring upon his prey, and to tear it to pieces.” “When the lion” says Buffon “leaps up on his prey, he gives a spring of ten or fifteen feet, falls on, seizes it with his fore-paws, tears it with his claws, and afterwards devours it with his teeth.”

(222) Being the plural of, חלכה, chelcah, which occurs three times in this psalm, namely, here and in the eighth and fourteenth verses, where it is rendered poor.

(223) Namely, חל כאים chel caim. Those who adopt this reading observe, that according to the other view, the verb נפל, naphal, translated may fall, which is singular, is joined with a plural noun, חלכאים chelcaim, but that, by dividing this last word into two, we get a singular nominative to the verb. Hammond, however, who adopts the first opinion, observes, “That it is an elegance, both in the Hebrew and Arabic, to use the verb singular with the nominative plural, especially when the verb is placed first, as here it is;” and, therefore, he denies the validity of that objection against the ordinary rendering.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 10:1-18

Why do you stand a far off, O LORD? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? ( Psalms 10:1 )

Have you ever prayed that? "Lord, why aren't You doing something about it? Why do You seem to hide Yourself when I am in trouble?"

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasts his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous, whom the LORD abhors. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffs at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing, deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and emptiness. He sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privately set against the poor. He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lies in wait to catch the poor: he does catch the poor, when he has drawn him into his net. He crouches, and humbles himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hides his face; he will never see it ( Psalms 10:2-11 ).

And so he describes the wicked in his deeds. The idea, the consciousness is that God has forgotten. He hides his face. He doesn't see. There is a mistake that people oftentimes make, and that is, they mistake the patience of God for blindness. Because God hasn't already smitten them, hasn't already destroyed them, they begin to get a comfortable feeling like, "Well, God doesn't know," or, "God doesn't see." It is always a dangerous position to be in.

David says,

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand: forget not the humble. Wherefore does the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. Thou hast seen it; for you behold mischief and spite, to requite it in thy hand: the poor commits himself to thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out the wickedness till you find none. The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, that will cause your ear to hear: to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, and the man of the earth may no more oppress ( Psalms 10:12-18 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Description of the wicked 10:1-11

The emphasis in this part of the psalm is the problem of theodicy, the justice of God in the face of the prosperity of wicked Israelites. Like the Book of Job, the psalm does not resolve the problem but refocuses on God (Psalms 10:14).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 10

This psalm is a prayer for immediate help in affliction. It contains a powerful description of the wicked who oppose God and attack His people. The focus of the previous psalm was on the judgment to come, but in this one it is on the present.

"The problem in Psalms 9 is the enemy invading from without, while the problem in Psalms 10 is the enemy corrupting and destroying from within." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 106.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Using the figures of a predatory animal, like a lion, and a hunter, like a fisherman, David described how the wicked cunningly pursue and ensnare the righteous in their traps. The fact that God does not punish them more quickly encourages them to continue their destructive work.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He croucheth [and] humbleth himself,.... As the lion before he leaps and seizes on his prey, and as the fowler creepeth upon the ground to draw the bird into his net and catch it; so the antichristian beast has two horns like a lamb; though he has the mouth of a lion, and speaks like a dragon, he would be thought to be like the Lamb of God, meek, and lowly, and humble, and therefore calls himself "servus servorum", "the servant of servants"; but his end is,

that the poor may fall by his strong ones; the word for "poor" is here used, as before observed on Psalms 10:8, in the plural number, and is read by the Masorites as two words, though it is written as one, and is by them and other Jewish writers h interpreted a multitude, company, or army of poor ones, whose strength is worn out; these weak and feeble ones antichrist causes to fall by his strong ones; either by his strong decrees, cruel edicts, and severe punishments, as by sword, by flame, by captivity and by spoils, Daniel 11:33; or by the kings of the earth and their armies, their mighty men of war, their soldiers, whom he instigates and influences to persecute their subjects, who will not receive his mark in their right hands or foreheads, Revelation 13:15. It is very observable, that those persecuted by antichrist are so often in this prophetic psalm called "poor"; and it is also remarkable, that there were a set of men in the darkest times of Popery, and who were persecuted by the Papists, called the "poor" men of Lyons: the whole verse may be rendered and paraphrased thus, "he tears in pieces", that is, the poor, whom he catches in his net; "he boweth himself", as the lion does, as before observed; "that he may fall", or rush upon; with his strong ones, his mighty armies, "upon the multitude of the poor".

h Jarchi, Kimchi, & Ben Melech in loc.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?   2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.   3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.   4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.   5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.   6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.   7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.   8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.   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.   10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.   11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

      David, in these verses, discovers,

      I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing his gracious presence (Psalms 10:1; Psalms 10:1): "Why standest thou afar off, as one unconcerned in the indignities done to thy name and the injuries done to the people?" Note, God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people at any time, but especially in times of trouble. Outward deliverance is afar off and is hidden from us, and then we think God is afar off and we therefore want inward comfort; but that is our own fault; it is because we judge by outward appearance; we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then we complain that God stands afar off from us.

      II. A very great indignation against sin, the sins that made the times perilous, 2 Timothy 3:1. he beholds the transgressors and is grieved, is amazed, and brings to his heavenly Father their evil report, not in a way of vain-glory, boasting before God that he was not as these publicans (Luke 18:11), much less venting any personal resentments, piques, or passions, of his own; but as one that laid to he art that which is offensive to God and all good men, and earnestly desired a reformation of manners. passionate and satirical invectives against bad men do more hurt than good; if we will speak of their badness, let it be to God in prayer, for he alone can make them better. This long representation of the wickedness of the wicked is here summed up in the first words of it (Psalms 10:2; Psalms 10:2), The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor, where two things are laid to their charge, pride and persecution, the former the cause of the latter. Proud men will have all about them to be of their mind, of their religion, to say as they say, to submit to their dominion, and acquiesce in their dictates; and those that either eclipse them or will not yield to them they malign and hate with an inveterate hatred. Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin to pride. The psalmist, having begun this description, presently inserts a short prayer, a prayer in a parenthesis, which is an advantage and no prejudice to the sense: Let them be taken, as proud people often are, in the devices that they have imagined,Psalms 10:2; Psalms 10:2. Let their counsels be turned headlong, and let them fall headlong by them. These two heads of the charge are here enlarged upon.

      1. They are proud, very proud, and extremely conceited of themselves; justly therefore did he wonder that God did not speedily appear against them, for he hates pride, and resists the proud. (1.) The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. He boasts of his heart's desire, boasts that he can do what he pleases (as if God himself could not control him) and that he has all he wished for and has carried his point. Ephraim said, I have become rich, I have found me out substance,Hosea 12:8. "Now, Lord, is it for thy glory to suffer a sinful man thus to pretend to the sovereignty and felicity of a God?" (2.) He proudly contradicts the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth; for he blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors. See how God and men differ in their sentiments of persons: God abhors covetous worldlings, who make money their God and idolize is; he looks upon them as his enemies, and will have no communion with them. The friendship of the world is enmity to God. But proud persecutors bless them, and approve their sayings, Psalms 49:13. They applaud those as wise whom God pronounces foolish (Luke 12:20); they justify those as innocent whom God condemns as deeply guilty before him; and they admire those as happy, in having their portion in this life, whom God declares, upon that account, truly miserable. Thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things. (3.) He proudly casts off the thoughts of God, and all dependence upon him and devotion to him (Psalms 10:4; Psalms 10:4): The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, that pride of his heart which appears in his very countenance (Proverbs 6:17), will not seek after God, nor entertain the thoughts of him. God is not in all his thoughts, not in any of them. All his thoughts are that there is not God. See here, [1.] The nature of impiety and irreligion; it is not seeking after God and not having him in our thoughts. There is no enquiry made after him (Job 35:10; Jeremiah 2:6), no desire towards him, no communion with him, but a secret wish to have no dependence upon him and not to be beholden to him. Wicked people will not seek after God (that is, will not call upon him); they live without prayer, and that is living without God. They have many thoughts, many projects and devices, but no eye to God in any of them, no submission to his will nor aim at his glory. [2.] The cause of this impiety and irreligion; and that is pride. Men will not seek after God because they think they have no need of him, their own hands are sufficient for them; they think it a thing below them to be religious, because religious people are few, and mean, and despised, and the restraints of religion will be a disparagement to them. (4.) He proudly makes light of God's commandments and judgments (Psalms 10:5; Psalms 10:5): His wings are always grievous; he is very daring and resolute in his sinful courses; he will have his way, though ever so tiresome to himself and vexatious to others; he travails with pain in his wicked courses, and yet his pride makes him wilful and obstinate in them. God's judgments (what he commands and what he threatens for the breach of his commands) are far above out of his sight; he is not sensible of his duty by the law of God nor of his danger by the wrath and curse of God. Tell him of God's authority over him, he turns it off with this, that he never saw God and therefore does not know that there is a God, he is in the height of heaven, and quæ supra nos nihil ad nos--we have nothing to do with things above us. Tell him of God's judgments which will be executed upon those that go on still in their trespasses, and he will not be convinced that there is any reality in them; they are far above out of his sight, and therefore he thinks they are mere bugbears. (5.) He proudly despises all his enemies, and looks upon them with the utmost disdain; he puffs at those whom God is preparing to be a scourge and ruin to him, as if he could baffle them all, and was able to make his part good with them. But, as it is impolitic to despise an enemy, so it is impious to despise any instrument of God's wrath. (6.) He proudly sets trouble at defiance and is confident of the continuance of his own prosperity (Psalms 10:6; Psalms 10:6): He hath said in his heart, and pleased himself with the thought, I shall not be moved, my goods are laid up for many years, and I shall never be in adversity; like Babylon, that said, I shall be a lady for ever,Isaiah 47:7; Revelation 18:7. Those are nearest ruin who thus set it furthest from them.

      2. They are persecutors, cruel persecutors. For the gratifying of their pride and covetousness, and in opposition to God and religion, they are very oppressive to all within their reach. Observe, concerning these persecutors, (1.) That they are very bitter and malicious (Psalms 10:7; Psalms 10:7): His mouth is full of cursing. Those he cannot do a real mischief to, yet he will spit his venom at, and breathe out the slaughter which he cannot execute. Thus have God's faithful worshippers been anathematized and cursed, with bell, book, and candle. Where there is a heart full of malice there is commonly a mouth full of curses. (2.) They are very false and treacherous. There is mischief designed, but it is hidden under the tongue, not to be discerned, for his mouth is full of deceit and vanity. He has learned of the devil to deceive, and so to destroy; with this his hatred is covered, Proverbs 26:26. He cares not what lies he tells, not what oaths he breaks, nor what arts of dissimulation he uses, to compass his ends. (3.) That they are very cunning and crafty in carrying on their designs. They have ways and means to concert what they intend, that they may the more effectually accomplish it. Like Esau, that cunning hunter, he sits in the lurking places, in the secret places, and his eyes are privily set to do mischief (Psalms 10:8; Psalms 10:8), not because he is ashamed of what he does (if he blushed, there were some hopes he would repent), not because he is afraid of the wrath of God, for he imagines God will never call him to an account (Psalms 10:11; Psalms 10:11), but because he is afraid lest the discovery of his designs should be the breaking of them. Perhaps it refers particularly to robbers and highwaymen, who lie in wait for honest travellers, to make a prey of them and what they have. (4.) That they are very cruel and barbarous. Their malice is against the innocent, who never provoked them--against the poor, who cannot resist them and over whom it will be no glory to triumph. Those are perfectly lost to all honesty and honour against whose mischievous designs neither innocence nor poverty will be any man's security. Those that have power ought to protect the innocent and provide for the poor; yet these will be the destroyers of those whose guardians they ought to be. And what do they aim at? It is to catch the poor, and draw them into their net, that is, get them into their power, not to strip them only, but to murder them. They hunt for the precious life. It is God's poor people that they are persecuting, against whom they bear a mortal hatred for his sake whose they are and whose image they bear, and therefore they lie in wait to murder them: He lies in wait as a lion that thirsts after blood, and feeds with pleasure upon the prey. The devil, whose agent he is, is compared to a roaring lion that seeks not what, but whom, he may devour. (5.) That they are base and hypocritical (Psalms 10:10; Psalms 10:10): He crouches and humbles himself, as beasts of prey do, that they may get their prey within their reach. This intimates that the sordid spirits of persecutors and oppressors will stoop to any thing, though ever so mean, for the compassing of their wicked designs; witness the scandalous practices of Saul when he hunted David. It intimates, likewise, that they cover their malicious designs with the pretence of meekness and humility, and kindness to those they design the greatest mischief to; they seem to humble themselves to take cognizance of the poor, and concern themselves in their concernments, when it is in order to make them fall, to make a prey of them. (6.) That they are very impious and atheistical, Psalms 10:11; Psalms 10:11. They could not thus break through all the laws of justice and goodness towards man if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion, and risen up in rebellion against the light of its most sacred and self-evident principles: He hath said in his heart, God has forgotten. When his own conscience rebuked him with the consequences of it, and asked how he would answer it to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, he turned it off with this, God has forsaken the earth,Ezekiel 8:12; Ezekiel 9:9. This is a blasphemous reproach, [1.] Upon God's omniscience and providence, as if he could not, or did not, see what men do in this lower world. [2.] Upon his holiness and the rectitude of his nature, as if, though he did see, yet he did not dislike, but was willing to connive at, the most unnatural and inhuman villanies. [3.] Upon his justice and the equity of his government, as if, though he did see and dislike the wickedness of the wicked, yet he would never reckon with them, nor punish them for it, either because he could not or durst not, or because he was not inclined to do so. Let those that suffer by proud oppressors hope that God will, in due time, appear for them; for those that are abusive to them are abusive to God Almighty too.

      In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of the oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the injurious.