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10. Psalm 10

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

    2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
   who are caught in the schemes he devises.

3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
   he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
   in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

5 His ways are always prosperous;
   your laws are rejected by See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from him;
   he sneers at all his enemies.

6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
   He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

    7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
   trouble and evil are under his tongue.

8 He lies in wait near the villages;
   from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
   
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
   he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.

10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
   they fall under his strength.

11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;
   he covers his face and never sees.”

    12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
   Do not forget the helpless.

13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
   Why does he say to himself,
   “He won’t call me to account”?

14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
   you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
   you are the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
   call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
   that would not otherwise be found out.

    16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
   the nations will perish from his land.

17 You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted;
   you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
   so that mere earthly mortals
   will never again strike terror.


In the next verse, he sets forth their cruelty in a light still more aggravated, by another comparison, saying, that they thirst for their prey like lions in their dens Now, it is a step higher in wickedness to equal in cruelty wild beasts than to make havoc after the manner of robbers. It is worthy of remark, that he always joins deceits and snares with violence, in order the better to show how miserable the children of God would be, unless they were succoured by help from heaven. There is also added another similitude, which expresses more clearly how craft in catching victims is mingled with cruelty. They catch them, says he but it is by drawing them into their net By these words he means, that they not only rush upon them with open force and violence, but that, at the same time also, they spread their nets in order to deceive.


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