PSALM 10 - God's Judgment on Man's Wickedness (Psalm 10:1-18)

Psalm 10 continues Ps 9. It’s a Lament by David at the prosperity of the wicked, but by the end he comes to a place of confidence, that God will judge righteously. He starts by questioning His apparent inactivity in times of trouble (9:9), in not moving against the wicked. Then v2-12 give a long description of the proud wicked, who mistreat the poor & weak, considered unimportant by comparison. So, he prays they'll reap what they sow (v2). They're filled with self & what they want, boasting they can do as they please, and bragging about their own sins, blessing those like them, and renouncing (rejecting) God (v3). The essence of sin is pride (independence from God). He doesn’t feel any need of God nor seeks Him. God is in none of his thoughts. His proud heart manifests in lofty looks (v4). But he can’t not think of God (v11,13). Then David protests to God that his prosperity confirms him in his pride & disregard of His Word, with His judgments seemingly far away (v5). His rejection of God leads to him to devalue the rights & importance of others, even dehumanising them, as their dignity & value is based on them being God’s image. The 2 main aspects of God's Law are (1) love God & (2) love people. (1) Man's alienation from God causes him to (2) commit evil against those in God's image. So, he treats his opponents with contempt & boasts things will always go his way, his wealth giving him a false sense of security (v6). But God has other plans for him. His evil manifests thru his mouth in cursing (swearing & speaking evil of others), deceit (lies), and oppression (scheming evil things) - v7 (quoted in Rom 3:14). He is violent against the weak & helpless, operating in secret (v8-10). Foolishly, he imagines God does not see his evil deeds (v11). So, he feels free to live as though there's no God, doing as he pleases. No wonder David wanted God to deal with these sinners! So, he asks God to take action to confound them, and rescue the humble, who call on Him for help & deliverance (v12). It points out the great difference between believers, who draw close to God and desire Him to remember them (v1), and sinners who wants the opposite (v11). Then in v13, he asks 'Why do the wicked renounce God?' The answer is: "He says in his heart: ‘You will not require an account.” He delays His judgment, to give him a chance to repent (2Pet 3:9), but he misinterprets this long-suffering as apathy, thinking He'll forget his sin and not judge him, and so hardens his heart, and so stores up greater judgment in due time (Ecc 8:11, Rom 2:3-6). Having started with perplexity from feeling God as far off (v1), he now comes to a place of calm confidence, knowing He does see their works & the suffering they cause, and will judge them. Also, He will help the helpless, who entrusts himself to Him (v14). When we pray, we go from anxiety to confidence, as we rise up higher and see God’s perspective (Isa 40:31). Then He prays for God to help the weak, and bring the wicked to repentance by breaking his power, and seeking out his wickedness, bringing it to the light, until he repents (v15). He concludes by declaring his confidence in God's Kingdom (v16a), and looks to the future when the prayers of the just for justice will be completely fulfilled when Christ establishes His Kingdom on earth and removes all the wicked (v16b). Joshua, who led Israel into the land and removed God's enemies, is a type of Jesus, who'll take possession of the earth and reign as King, in response to the prayers of the humble (v17), for then He will defend, fully vindicate and deliver His oppressed people, and put a final end to the wicked (the man of the earth) and their reign of terror (v18, Rev 3:10, 6:10, 8:13, 11:10, 12:12, 13:8, 12,14, 14:6,17:2,8). He describes God's work of grace in our hearts by His Spirit when we pray: "You prepare their hearts" (v17). He inspires & directs our heart to pray His will. Then He responds and part of His answer is to strengthen our hearts, giving us His peace (assurance) that He’s heard us, imparting confidence to us that He is with us, empowering us to know and walk in His will and stand strong in His strength in the presence of evil. Thus, when we pray, He imparts more grace to our heart, enabling us to trust Him and empowering us to stand strong and be faithful in trials, knowing He'll vindicate and deliver us from all evil. In this way, He completes our spiritual heart preparation, that began by inspiring us to pray. That’s what God did for David in this inspired prayer, as we see him come from despair to confident faith in God's reign over all (v14-18). Prayer is effectual by God’s grace. To desire to pray is His gift, a sign of His Presence with us. Then, when we’ve released our prayer, He strengthens our heart with His peace, giving us His assurance of His full control, and completes His preparation of our heart to walk in His will.