Psalm 10:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

NIV: Why, LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

NASB: Why do You stand far away, Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

CSB: Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide in times of trouble?

NLT: O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?

KJV: Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

NKJV: Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?

David asks questions that many believers ask when troubles strike them. Where is God? Why isn't He intervening, right here and right now? It is easy to praise the Lord when life goes along smoothly but not so easy to praise Him when troubles strike. This is where faith enters our relationship with the Lord: looking back on what we know of God to reassure us when we're unsure or unsettled (Hebrews 12:1).

Asaph, another psalmist, felt conflict and doubt in a similar way. In Psalm 73 he confesses that he almost lost his faith (Psalm 73:22) because the wicked were prospering and were trouble free. By contrast, he felt constantly harassed despite striving to lead a godly life (Psalm 73:13–14). Elijah must have felt the Lord had abandoned him, despite the faith he had shown at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20–40). He had championed the Lord's cause against a host of false prophets, but when Jezebel put a contract on his life, he fled to the desert, where he seems to question the Lord's absence and unfairness (1 Kings 19:10).

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 5/5/2024 5:17:35 AM