Psalm 10
1Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
2The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
4The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
7His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8He 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.
9He 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.
10He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
12Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
13Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
14Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
17LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
18To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
Psalm 11
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.
1In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
2For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
3If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
4The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
5The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
6Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Chapter 10
The psalmist starts out by questioning God's position in times of trouble. During times of tribulation, when I felt that God was ignoring and wasn't helping me out, that was because I ignored Him and didn't even consider that He could help me out. Matthew Henry puts it this way, "God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people, especially in times of trouble. We stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then complain that God stands afar off from us." I think that kind of mirrors what I've experienced when I ignored God. I ended up honoring the fact that God could help me through trials by submitting to and obeying Him. I guess when we ignore God to help us out is when we need Him the most. Verse 2 talks about how the wicked treat the poor, or the oppressed. If the wicked are to harm me, they'll get a taste of their medicine, which is what is implied by, "let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." In other words, God's gonna make sure the wicked'll get what they deserve if they harm me. I'm thankful to Him that I don't have to take care of the wicked because I don't think I'd enjoy it. Verses 3-5 talk about God's judgement and how He feels about enemies. I don't have much to say about those verses, but "blesseth the covetous" in verse 3 seems to imply a sense of lust on the part of the wicked. Verses 6-9 are a contrast of the of the wicked and the poor.. If I were one of the poor -- or oppressed -- I wouldn't doubt that God would protect me from the wicked. I guess that every day, there's a chance of me dealing with oppression from others who don't like me because I'm a Christian. In verses 10-11, the wicked are described as harming the poor and they think that they can from God for harming the poor since the wicked will not seek after God. (v. 4). I'm not sure if I've dealt with anyone in the past that thought like the wicked did, but it's not like they were able to hide from God regardless. God doesn't forget the opporessed (v. 12), which is comforting because God will still be with me even if my enemies give me a rough time. Verses 13 deals with the fact that the wicked don't think they will be held accountable for their actions. However, God does notice (v. 14). Those that have hurt me in the past -- whether emotionally, physically, or what have you -- were noted by God, which is implied by, "Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand." I feel that verses 15-16 speak for themselves, but I wanna reflect on the last two verses. God knows what I desire (v. 17) and He will show me justice by seeing that others won't harm me any longer (v. 18).
Chapter 11
This psalm starts out by stating that one should not flee for safety if he or she trusts in the Lord. God is my refuge and if I flee from Him, I'm not gonna have a sense of safety and I deal with life and its unfortunate circumstances. Even though the wicked may harm me and my foundation, or my relationship with God, I know God watches over me to make sure my foundation isn't destroyed (vv. 3-4). God tests both the righteous and the wicked and He favors only one group (v. 5). With that in mind, since I do not cause harm to others, I know that God loves me and I will not perish. I don't have anything to say about verse 6, but what I do wanna say about verse 7 is that one day I am glad that I will see His face. In the Complaion Bible, E.W. Bullinger translates, "His countenace doth behold the upright" as "An upright one shall gaze upon His face."
Sources used:
"Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible: Psalms 10." http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-con/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=010
Bullinger, E.W. The Companion Bible.
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