Psalm 10:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.

NIV: His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.

NASB: Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers; And unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.

CSB: So he is oppressed and beaten down; helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.

NLT: Their helpless victims are crushed; they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.

KJV: He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

NKJV: So he crouches, he lies low, That the helpless may fall by his strength.

Just as a vicious lion pounces on his victim and crushes its bones until it collapses and dies, even so the wicked person overpowers his helpless victim and kills him (Psalm 10:9). Use of force against those who are weak and helpless is a hallmark of wickedness and evil (Psalm 10:2–3).

Because he feared the growing population of the Hebrew slaves, the powerful pharaoh of Egypt summoned the full force of his empire to kill the helpless male Hebrew babies. He commanded the midwives: "When you serve as a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live" (Exodus 1:16). Centuries later, in an effort to kill Baby Jesus, King Herod "sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men" (Matthew 2:16).

Psalm 10:1–11 asks why God seems to ignore the character and deeds of wicked people. The wicked are described as haughty oppressors of the poor and helpless. They are arrogant, greedy, insulters of God. They don't believe He exists, so they feel free to take advantage of poor and helpless victims.

This song opens with a common question humanity asks in hard times: "where are you, God?" There follows a description of wicked people and their deeds and motives. Evil people feel free to be depraved and arrogant, assuming there is no God to judge them. Like predators, these wicked people ambush helpless people. Despite their wrong assumptions, God keeps His promises. He will judge the wicked and defend His people. Helpless people can trust God to make matters right. Someday, He will rid the earth of all sin and suffering. His justice will prevail, and His people will never again experience persecution.

According to some scholars, Psalms 9 and 10 might have been composed together, possibly even as one psalm. No title is affixed to Psalm 10, and it seems to continue the acrostic pattern of Psalm 9, starting each section with a successive letter from the Hebrew alphabet. The Septuagint and the Vulgate place the two psalms as one. However, the mood shifts from one psalm to the other. Psalm 9 focuses on judgment to come; Psalm 10 focuses on the presence of widespread injustice. Whether literally composed together, or separately, they deal with related issues using profoundly different tones.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 12/4/2024 4:21:05 AM