A prayer for God s deliverance from those who scheme and terrorize in arrogant confidence that God will do nothing to stop them.
Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-2
st. 2 = vv. 3-4
st. 3 =vv. 5-6
st. 4 = vv. 7-8
st. 5 =vv. 9-11
st. 6 = vv. 12-13
st. 7 = v. 14
st. 8 = vv. 15-16
st. 9 =vv. 17-18
Psalm 10 is thought to have been originally the conclusion to Psalm 9 (to which it is joined in the Septuagint); together the two form an acrostic poem in which the stanzas begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Here we find a classic description of the arrogance (st. 1-3) and malice that spout from the tongue of the wicked (st. 4-5; in the Psalms the tongue is often the most destructive weapon). We join the psalmist, who cries plaintively for God to delay no longer in delivering the weak from the wicked(st. 1, 6)-in fact, as the eternal King, to break the power of the wicked and call their sin to account (st. 8). Yet the psalm conveys a confident note of assurance: because of God's sure defense of those who look to him, the wicked, for all their defiance, will be compelled to acknowledge their mere humanity (st. 7, 9). The Psalter Hymnal versification is from The Book of Psalms for Singing (1973).
Liturgical Use:
Times when the church, as either the victim or the guilty party, reflects on social injustice.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook