Psalms 10:1

_WHY STANDEST THOU AFAR OFF, O LORD? WHY HIDEST THOU THYSELF IN TIMES OF TROUBLE?_ This Psalm differs from those which precede and follow, in having no superscription. The design of the author was that the two Psalms Psalms 9:1; Psalms 10:1 should form two parts of one whole, with one common superscription. So Psalms 1:1 and Psalms 2:1; Psalms 42:1 and Psalms 43:1 are related. That both alike come from David, appears from their mutual resemblance. This psalm is designed for 'God

1._Lord, why standest thou afar off? _We here see how the prophet, seeking a remedy for his calamities, which were apparently past hope, directly addresses himself to God at the very commencement. And the rule which we should observe, when we are in trouble and sorrow, is this: We should seek comfort and solace in the providence of God; for amidst our agitations, vexations, and cares, we ought to be fully persuaded that it is his peculiar office to give relief to the wretched and afflicted. It is in an improper sense, and by anthropathy, (191) that the Psalmist speaks of God as standing afar off. Nothing can be hid from his eyes; but as God permits us to speak to him as we do to one another, these forms of expression do not contain any thing absurd, provided we understand them as applied to God, not in a strict sense, but only figuratively, according to the judgment which mere sense form...

1-11 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. Passionate words against bad men do more hurt than good; if we speak of their badness, let it be to the Lord in prayer; he can make them better. The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. 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 objects and devices, but think not of the Lord in any of them; they have no submission to his will, nor aim for his glory. The cause of this is pride. Men think it below them to be religious. They could not break all the laws of justice and goodness toward man, if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion....

PSALM X _The psalmist complains to God of the oppressions which the poor_ _suffer from the wicked man, whom he describes as the hater of_ _the poor_, 1, 2; _proud_, 3; _one who will not seek God_, 4; _and is regardless of his judgments_, 5; _self-confident_, 6; _blasphemous and deceitful_, 7; _strives by subtlety and treachery to destroy the poor_, 8-10; _and supposes that God is regardless of his conduct_, 11. The psalmist calls earnestly on God to preserve t

WHY STANDEST THOU AFAR OFF, O LORD? - That is, What is the reason why thou doest this? The thought upon which this is based is that God might be expected to interpose in a time of trouble, and that His aid might then be looked for. Yet, in this case, He seemed to be an indifferent spectator of the sorrows and afflictions of the wronged and oppressed. This filled the mind of the writer with surprise, and he could not account for it, especially in view of the character of the person or persons who had wronged the author of the psalm. “To stand afar off” in such circumstances, is an attitude of indifference and unconcern - as when others do not come near us if we are sick, or are bereaved, or are in circumstances of poverty and want. That man should do this would have produced no surprise in the mind of the writer; that God should do it was something that filled him with wonder. WHY HIDEST...

EXPOSITION This psalm is to some extent connected with the preceding one, but not very closely. It has turns of expression which are identical, and not common elsewhere; _e.g. _"in times of trouble" (Psalms 10:1; comp. Psalms 9:9), and much similarity in the thoughts (comp. Psalms 10:2, "Let them be taken," etc; with Psalms 9:15, "In the net which they hid is their foot taken;" Psalms 9:12, "Forget not the humble," with Psalms 9:12, "He forgetteth not the cry of the h

WHY STANDEST THOU AFAR OFF, O LORD?.... This psalm begins with a complaint which proceeds on two general heads; the one is with respect to God, his distance from his people, and desertion of them in times of trouble, in this verse; and the other is with respect to the wicked in some following ones. God by his infinite essence and power is everywhere, and is never far off from any of his creatures; and though his glorious presence is in heaven, which, with respect to us on earth, is a land afar off, yet this hinders not but that there is often great nearness between God and his people; and when he stands afar off from them in their apprehensions, it is when he withdraws his gracious presence from them, and defers help and assistance to them, and does not immediately and directly come and visit them: this they cannot bear, they complain; they wonder that, seeing they are the objects of his...

Psalms 10 _ 1. The cry of Jehovah and what causeth it (Psalms 10:1)_ 2. That wicked one (Psalms 10:3) 3. Prayer for divine Intervention: Faith's Vision (Psalms 10:12) Psalms 10:1. Here is a renewed cry to Jehovah and why? Because the wicked in his pride persecutes the poor. The wicked is that coming man of sin. Psalms 10:3. That persecutor of the saints of God is now prophetically revealed in his arrogant pride, defiance of God and oppression of th

9 AND 10. YAHWEH THE REFUGE OF HIS PEOPLE. These two Pss., divided in MT, were originally one, This is proved by the fact that they are one in LXX. and Vulg., by the absence of title over Psalms 10, and, conclusively, by the evidence that 9 and 10 form one acrostic poem. It was arranged in strophes of four lines each, the first letter of each strophe being one of the letters of the Heb. alphabet in regular succession. This system is carried out in the whole of Psalms 9-2 in Psalms 10. So far we have the first twelve letters of the alphabet, the only omission being that of the fourth letter, which, however, can be supplied by an easy and convincing emendation. Then from Psalms 10:3 to Psalms 10:11 the acrostic character disappears and can be recovered only by precarious emendation. It reappears in...

WHY... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis_. App-6. TIMES OF TROUBLE. the great time of tribulation. Compare Psalms 9:9....