Chapter commentary
Psalms Chapter 10
서론
Untitled
繁體中文
English original
The Septuagint translation joins this psalm with the ninth, and makes them but one; but the Hebrew makes it a distinct psalm, and the scope and style are certainly different. In this psalm, I. David complains of the wickedness of the wicked, describes the dreadful pitch of impiety at which they had arrived (to the great dishonour of God and the prejudice of his church and people), and notices the delay of God's appearing against them, Ps 10:1-11. II. He prays to God to appear against them for the relief of his people and comforts himself with hopes that he would do so in due time, Ps 10:12-18.
1-11
The Character of the Wicked; The Character of Persecutors
繁體中文
惡人的為人；逼迫者的為人
¹ 耶和華啊，你為甚麼站在遠處？為甚麼在患難的時候隱藏？ ² 惡人在驕傲中逼迫困苦人；願他們陷在自己所設的計謀裏。 ³ 因為惡人以心願自誇；貪財的背棄耶和華，並且輕慢他。 ⁴ 惡人面帶驕傲，不尋求神；他一切所想的，都以為沒有神。 ⁵ 他所行的，時常亨通；你的審判遠離他的眼目；至於他一切的敵人，他都向他們噴氣。 ⁶ 他心裏說：我必不動搖；我世世代代不遭災難。 ⁷ 他滿口是咒詛、詭詐、欺壓；他的舌底下是毒害與奸惡。 ⁸ 他在村莊埋伏等候；在隱密處殺害無辜的人；他的眼睛窺探無倚無靠的人。 ⁹ 他埋伏在暗處，如獅子蹲在洞中；他埋伏，要拉扯困苦人；他拉網，就把困苦人拉去。 ¹⁰ 他屈身俯伏，無倚無靠的人就倒在他爪牙之下。 ¹¹ 他心裏說：神竟忘記了；他掩面，永遠不看。
大衛在這些經文中顯出：
一、對神並他恩寵極大的愛慕；因為在患難之時，他最深切訴苦的，正是神收回了恩典的同在（詩十1）：*「你為甚麼站在遠處，」*如同對你名的羞辱、並對你百姓的傷害漠不關心？當注意：神的隱藏在任何時候都使他的百姓感到痛苦，尤其在患難之時。外面的拯救既遙遠、又向我們隱藏，我們便以為神站得遠遠的，因此我們缺少裏面的安慰；但這是我們自己的錯；是因為我們憑外貌判斷；我們因不信而與神相離甚遠，然後才抱怨神與我們相離甚遠。
二、對罪——那使時代成為危險的罪（提後三1）——極大的憤慨。他觀看那些悖逆的人便憂愁、便驚訝，並將他們的惡行報告於他在天上的父——不是出於虛榮，在神面前自誇不像這些稅吏（路十八11），更不是發洩任何個人的恩怨、嫌隙或私情；而是作為一個將那冒犯神、又冒犯一切敬虔人的事放在心上、並懇切渴望風氣改革的人。對惡人激烈而尖刻的謾罵，害多於益；我們若要論到他們的邪惡，就當在禱告中向神論說，因為惟獨他能使他們變好。這段關於惡人之惡的長篇陳述，在此以開頭第一句話作總括（詩十2）：*惡人在驕傲中逼迫困苦人，*其中控告他們兩件事——驕傲與逼迫，前者是後者的根源。驕傲的人要周圍一切的人都順從他們的心意、順從他們的宗教、說他們所說的、服從他們的統治、並聽從他們的指示；那些或超越他們、或不肯屈服於他們的人，他們便以根深蒂固的仇恨怨恨並憎惡。無論在國家或在教會中的暴政，其起源都在於驕傲。詩人既開始了這描述，隨即插入一個簡短的禱告——一個括號中的禱告——這於文意既是益處、而非損害：願他們陷在自己所設的計謀裏（詩十2）。願他們的計謀反被顛倒，願他們因此傾覆。這兩項控告的頭在此加以擴充。
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他們是驕傲的——非常驕傲，並對自己極其自負；因此他確實有理由希奇，神為何不速速起來抵擋他們，因為神恨惡驕傲，並抵擋驕傲的人。（1）這罪人驕傲地以自己的權能與成功自誇。他以心願自誇——自誇能隨心所欲（彷彿連神也不能管束他），又自誇凡他所願的都已得著、並已達成他的目的。以法蓮曾說：我果然成了富足，我為自己得了財富（何十二8）。「如今，主啊，容讓一個罪人如此妄自尊大、彷彿擁有神的主權與福樂，這於你的榮耀有益嗎？」（2）他驕傲地反對神的判斷——我們確知那判斷是照真理的；因為他背棄貪財的，就是耶和華所輕慢的。當看見神與人對人的看法何等不同：神輕慢貪財的世俗人——那些以瑪門為神、將之奉為偶像的人；他看他們為仇敵，不與他們相交。與世俗為友就是與神為敵。但驕傲的逼迫者卻稱頌他們、贊同他們的話（詩四十九13）。他們所稱許為有智慧的，神卻稱之為無知（路十二20）；他們所稱義為無辜的，神卻定為在他面前深有罪惡；他們所羨慕為有福——以今生為分的，神卻因此宣告他們實在可憐。你在生前已經受了你的福分。（3）他驕傲地撇棄對神的思想，並一切對他的倚靠與敬虔（詩十4）：惡人面帶驕傲——就是他心中那連面貌上也顯出來的驕傲（箴六17）——不尋求神，也不容讓關乎他的意念。他一切所想的，都以為沒有神——他一切的思想中沒有一個是有神的。他一切的思想都是：沒有神。當在此看見：〔一〕不敬與不信仰的本質，就是不尋求神、並不容他有分於我們的思想。其中沒有對他的尋求（伯三十五10；耶二6），沒有對他的渴慕，沒有與他的交通，只有一個秘密的願望——不要倚靠他、不要受他的恩。惡人不肯尋求神（就是說，不肯求告他）；他們活在無禱告之中，這就是活在無神之中。他們有許多思想，許多計畫與謀略，卻在其中沒有一個向著神的眼目，沒有一個順服他的旨意、以他的榮耀為目的。〔二〕這不敬與不信仰的根源，就是驕傲。人不肯尋求神，因為他們以為自己不需要他，自己的手已經夠用；他們以為敬虔是卑微的事，因為敬虔的人稀少、卑微、被人輕看，而宗教的約束對他們是一種貶損。（4）他驕傲地輕看神的誡命與審判（詩十5）：他所行的，時常亨通；他在罪的道上非常放膽而堅決；他偏要行他的路，無論對自己何等疲乏、對別人何等煩擾；他在邪惡的路上辛苦勞碌，他的驕傲卻使他固執頑梗。神的審判（他所命令的、以及他因違背命令所要施行的威嚇）遠離他的眼目；他既不因神的律法而察覺自己的本分，也不因神的忿怒與咒詛而察覺自己的危險。向他題說神對他的權柄，他便如此推託：他從未見過神，所以不知道有神，他在天之高處，而quæ supra nos nihil ad nos——在我們以上的事，與我們無干。向他題說神對那些仍在其過犯中前行之人所要施行的審判，他卻不肯信其中有任何真實；那些是遠離他的眼目的，所以他以為不過是嚇人的稻草人。（5）他驕傲地藐視他一切的仇敵，以極度的輕蔑看他們；他向那些神所預備要成為他的鞭笞與毀滅的人噴氣，彷彿他能挫敗他們一切，並能與他們抗衡。但輕看仇敵既是不智，輕看神忿怒的任何器皿更是不敬。（6）他驕傲地向患難挑戰，並對自己繁榮的持續滿有把握（詩十6）：他心裏說——並以此念自娛——我必不動搖，我的財物為多年積存，我世世代代不遭災難；正如巴比倫所說：我必永為主母（賽四十七7；啟十八7）。那些如此將毀滅推得最遠的人，離毀滅最近。
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他們是逼迫者——殘忍的逼迫者。為滿足他們的驕傲與貪婪，並為反對神與信仰，他們對一切夠得著的人都極其壓迫。當留意這些逼迫者：（1）他們極其苦毒與惡意（詩十7）：他滿口是咒詛。那些他不能實際加害的人，他也要向他們吐出毒氣，並吐出他所不能執行的殺戮。神的忠心敬拜者正是如此被逐出教會、被咒詛——用鐘、書與蠟燭。心裏滿了惡意的人，口裏通常也滿了咒詛。（2）他們極其虛假與詭詐。禍患已經設計好了，卻藏在舌下，不能辨認，因為他滿口是詭詐與虛無。他從魔鬼那裏學了欺騙，藉以毀滅；他的恨意如此被遮蓋（箴二十六26）。他不顧說多少謊、背多少誓、用多少假冒的手段來達到他的目的。（3）他們在推行計謀上極其狡猾與詭詐。他們有種種途徑與方法來協調他們所打算的，好更有效地成就。正如以掃那個狡猾的獵人，他坐在埋伏之處，在隱密處，他的眼目暗暗窺探要行惡（詩十8）——不是因為他對所作的感到羞恥（他若臉紅，還有悔改的希望），也不是因為他懼怕神的忿怒，因為他以為神永不會向他追討（詩十11），而是因為他怕計謀被發現便被破壞。這也許特別指強盜與攔路賊而言，他們埋伏等候誠實的旅客，要掠奪他們與他們所有的。（4）他們極其殘忍與野蠻。他們的惡意向著那些從未惹過他們的無辜人——向著那些不能抵抗他們的困苦人，而勝過他們也毫無榮耀可言。那些連無辜與貧窮都不能成為人的保障、不能抵擋其惡謀的人，已經完全喪失了一切廉恥與尊嚴。有權能的人當保護無辜、供應窮人；然而這些人卻要毀滅那些他們本當作其監護人的人。他們所圖謀的是甚麼呢？是要拉扯困苦人，並將他們拉入網中，就是使他們落入他們的權下，不僅要剝奪他們，更要謀害他們。他們獵取寶貴的性命。他們所逼迫的，正是神的貧寒百姓——他們因屬乎神、並帶著神的形像，便向之懷有不共戴天之仇，因此埋伏要謀害他們：他埋伏如獅子——渴慕鮮血、並以獵物為食中之樂。那作他主人的魔鬼，被比作那尋索的不是「甚麼」、而是「誰」可吞吃的吼叫的獅子。（5）他們卑鄙而假冒為善（詩十10）：他屈身俯伏，正如猛獸所作，為要使獵物進入牠們的範圍。這表明逼迫者與壓迫者卑鄙的心靈，為達成其邪惡的計謀，肯俯就任何卑微的事；掃羅追獵大衛時那可恥的作為便是明證。這也表明他們以溫柔謙卑、並對他們所圖謀最大禍患的人的恩慈為幌子，來遮蓋他們惡毒的計謀；他們似乎俯就來看顧窮人、關心他們的事，其實是為要使他們傾倒、將他們作為掠物。（6）他們極其不敬與無神（詩十11）。他們若非先擺脫了一切宗教的知覺、並對其最神聖而自明的原則之亮光起來反叛，便不能如此踐踏對人的一切公義與良善的律法：*他心裏說：神忘記了。*當他自己的良心以這事的後果責備他、並追問他在天上地下公義的審判官面前將如何交賬之時，他便如此推託：神已經離棄了這地（結八12，九9）。這是褻瀆的毀謗：〔一〕針對神的全知與護理，彷彿他不能、或不看見人在這下面世界所作的。〔二〕針對神的聖潔與他本性的正直，彷彿他雖然看見，卻不厭惡，反倒樂意放任那最不自然、最不人道的惡行。〔三〕針對神的公義與他治理的公平，彷彿他雖然看見並厭惡惡人的邪惡，卻永不與他們算賬、也不為此刑罰他們——或因為他不能、不敢，或因為他不願如此行。願那些受驕傲壓迫者苦待的人，盼望神到了時候必為他們興起；因為那些苦待他們的，也是苦待全能之神。
English original
The Character of the Wicked; The Character of Persecutors
¹ Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
² The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
³ For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
⁴ The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
⁵ His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
⁶ He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
⁸ He 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.
⁹ He 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.
¹⁰ He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
¹¹ He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
David, in these verses, discovers,
I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing his gracious presence (Ps 10:1): "Why standest thou afar off, as one unconcerned in the indignities done to thy name and the injuries done to the people?" Note, God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people at any time, but especially in times of trouble. Outward deliverance is afar off and is hidden from us, and then we think God is afar off and we therefore want inward comfort; but that is our own fault; it is because we judge by outward appearance; we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then we complain that God stands afar off from us.
II. A very great indignation against sin, the sins that made the times perilous, 2Ti 3:1. he beholds the transgressors and is grieved, is amazed, and brings to his heavenly Father their evil report, not in a way of vain-glory, boasting before God that he was not as these publicans (Lu 18:11), much less venting any personal resentments, piques, or passions, of his own; but as one that laid to he art that which is offensive to God and all good men, and earnestly desired a reformation of manners. Passionate and satirical invectives against bad men do more hurt than good; if we will speak of their badness, let it be to God in prayer, for he alone can make them better. This long representation of the wickedness of the wicked is here summed up in the first words of it (Ps 10:2), The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor, where two things are laid to their charge, pride and persecution, the former the cause of the latter. Proud men will have all about them to be of their mind, of their religion, to say as they say, to submit to their dominion, and acquiesce in their dictates; and those that either eclipse them or will not yield to them they malign and hate with an inveterate hatred. Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin to pride. The psalmist, having begun this description, presently inserts a short prayer, a prayer in a parenthesis, which is an advantage and no prejudice to the sense: Let them be taken, as proud people often are, in the devices that they have imagined, Ps 10:2. Let their counsels be turned headlong, and let them fall headlong by them. These two heads of the charge are here enlarged upon.
1. They are proud, very proud, and extremely conceited of themselves; justly therefore did he wonder that God did not speedily appear against them, for he hates pride, and resists the proud. (1.) The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. He boasts of his heart's desire, boasts that he can do what he pleases (as if God himself could not control him) and that he has all he wished for and has carried his point. Ephraim said, I have become rich, I have found me out substance, Hos 12:8. "Now, Lord, is it for thy glory to suffer a sinful man thus to pretend to the sovereignty and felicity of a God?" (2.) He proudly contradicts the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth; for he blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors. See how God and men differ in their sentiments of persons: God abhors covetous worldlings, who make money their God and idolize it; he looks upon them as his enemies, and will have no communion with them. The friendship of the world is enmity to God. But proud persecutors bless them, and approve their sayings, Ps 49:13. They applaud those as wise whom God pronounces foolish (Lu 12:20); they justify those as innocent whom God condemns as deeply guilty before him; and they admire those as happy, in having their portion in this life, whom God declares, upon that account, truly miserable. Thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things. (3.) He proudly casts off the thoughts of God, and all dependence upon him and devotion to him (Ps 10:4): The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, that pride of his heart which appears in his very countenance (Pr 6:17), will not seek after God, nor entertain the thoughts of him. God is not in all his thoughts, not in any of them. All his thoughts are that there is not God. See here, [1.] The nature of impiety and irreligion; it is not seeking after God and not having him in our thoughts. There is no enquiry made after him (Job 35:10, Jer 2:6), no desire towards him, no communion with him, but a secret wish to have no dependence upon him and not to be beholden to him. 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 projects and devices, but no eye to God in any of them, no submission to his will nor aim at his glory. [2.] The cause of this impiety and irreligion; and that is pride. Men will not seek after God because they think they have no need of him, their own hands are sufficient for them; they think it a thing below them to be religious, because religious people are few, and mean, and despised, and the restraints of religion will be a disparagement to them. (4.) He proudly makes light of God's commandments and judgments (Ps 10:5): His wings are always grievous; he is very daring and resolute in his sinful courses; he will have his way, though ever so tiresome to himself and vexatious to others; he travails with pain in his wicked courses, and yet his pride makes him wilful and obstinate in them. God's judgments (what he commands and what he threatens for the breach of his commands) are far above out of his sight; he is not sensible of his duty by the law of God nor of his danger by the wrath and curse of God. Tell him of God's authority over him, he turns it off with this, that he never saw God and therefore does not know that there is a God, he is in the height of heaven, and quæ supra nos nihil ad nos—we have nothing to do with things above us. Tell him of God's judgments which will be executed upon those that go on still in their trespasses, and he will not be convinced that there is any reality in them; they are far above out of his sight, and therefore he thinks they are mere bugbears. (5.) He proudly despises all his enemies, and looks upon them with the utmost disdain; he puffs at those whom God is preparing to be a scourge and ruin to him, as if he could baffle them all, and was able to make his part good with them. But, as it is impolitic to despise an enemy, so it is impious to despise any instrument of God's wrath. (6.) He proudly sets trouble at defiance and is confident of the continuance of his own prosperity (Ps 10:6): He hath said in his heart, and pleased himself with the thought, I shall not be moved, my goods are laid up for many years, and I shall never be in adversity; like Babylon, that said, I shall be a lady for ever, Isa 47:7, Re 18:7. Those are nearest ruin who thus set it furthest from them.
2. They are persecutors, cruel persecutors. For the gratifying of their pride and covetousness, and in opposition to God and religion, they are very oppressive to all within their reach. Observe, concerning these persecutors, (1.) That they are very bitter and malicious (Ps 10:7): His mouth is full of cursing. Those he cannot do a real mischief to, yet he will spit his venom at, and breathe out the slaughter which he cannot execute. Thus have God's faithful worshippers been anathematized and cursed, with bell, book, and candle. Where there is a heart full of malice there is commonly a mouth full of curses. (2.) They are very false and treacherous. There is mischief designed, but it is hidden under the tongue, not to be discerned, for his mouth is full of deceit and vanity. He has learned of the devil to deceive, and so to destroy; with this his hatred is covered, Pr 26:26. He cares not what lies he tells, not what oaths he breaks, nor what arts of dissimulation he uses, to compass his ends. (3.) That they are very cunning and crafty in carrying on their designs. They have ways and means to concert what they intend, that they may the more effectually accomplish it. Like Esau, that cunning hunter, he sits in the lurking places, in the secret places, and his eyes are privily set to do mischief (Ps 10:8), not because he is ashamed of what he does (if he blushed, there were some hopes he would repent), not because he is afraid of the wrath of God, for he imagines God will never call him to an account (Ps 10:11), but because he is afraid lest the discovery of his designs should be the breaking of them. Perhaps it refers particularly to robbers and highwaymen, who lie in wait for honest travellers, to make a prey of them and what they have. (4.) That they are very cruel and barbarous. Their malice is against the innocent, who never provoked them—against the poor, who cannot resist them and over whom it will be no glory to triumph. Those are perfectly lost to all honesty and honour against whose mischievous designs neither innocence nor poverty will be any man's security. Those that have power ought to protect the innocent and provide for the poor; yet these will be the destroyers of those whose guardians they ought to be. And what do they aim at? It is to catch the poor, and draw them into their net, that is, get them into their power, not to strip them only, but to murder them. They hunt for the precious life. It is God's poor people that they are persecuting, against whom they bear a mortal hatred for his sake whose they are and whose image they bear, and therefore they lie in wait to murder them: He lies in wait as a lion that thirsts after blood, and feeds with pleasure upon the prey. The devil, whose agent he is, is compared to a roaring lion that seeks not what, but whom, he may devour. (5.) That they are base and hypocritical (Ps 10:10): He crouches and humbles himself, as beasts of prey do, that they may get their prey within their reach. This intimates that the sordid spirits of persecutors and oppressors will stoop to any thing, though ever so mean, for the compassing of their wicked designs; witness the scandalous practices of Saul when he hunted David. It intimates, likewise, that they cover their malicious designs with the pretence of meekness and humility, and kindness to those they design the greatest mischief to; they seem to humble themselves to take cognizance of the poor, and concern themselves in their concernments, when it is in order to make them fall, to make a prey of them. (6.) That they are very impious and atheistical, Ps 10:11. They could not thus break through all the laws of justice and goodness towards man if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion, and risen up in rebellion against the light of its most sacred and self-evident principles: He hath said in his heart, God has forgotten. When his own conscience rebuked him with the consequences of it, and asked how he would answer it to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, he turned it off with this, God has forsaken the earth, Eze 8:12,9:9. This is a blasphemous reproach, [1.] Upon God's omniscience and providence, as if he could not, or did not, see what men do in this lower world. [2.] Upon his holiness and the rectitude of his nature, as if, though he did see, yet he did not dislike, but was willing to connive at, the most unnatural and inhuman villanies. [3.] Upon his justice and the equity of his government, as if, though he did see and dislike the wickedness of the wicked, yet he would never reckon with them, nor punish them for it, either because he could not or durst not, or because he was not inclined to do so. Let those that suffer by proud oppressors hope that God will, in due time, appear for them; for those that are abusive to them are abusive to God Almighty too.
In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of the oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the injurious.
12-18
Prayer against Persecutors
繁體中文
反對逼迫者的禱告
¹² 耶和華啊，求你起來！神啊，求你舉手：不要忘記困苦人。 ¹³ 惡人為何輕慢神？他心裏說：你必不追究。 ¹⁴ 其實你已經觀看；因為奸惡毒害，你都看見了；要以手施行報應。無倚無靠的人把自己交託你；你向來是幫助孤兒的。 ¹⁵ 願你打斷惡人的膀臂和壞人；願你追究他的惡，直到淨盡。 ¹⁶ 耶和華永永遠遠為王；外邦人從他的地中已經滅絕了。 ¹⁷ 耶和華啊，謙卑人的心願，你早已聽見；你必預備他們的心，也必側耳聽他們的祈求， ¹⁸ 好為孤兒和受欺壓的人伸冤，使地上的人不再威嚇他們。
大衛在此根據前文對壓迫者之殘忍不仁和不虔不敬的描述，向神發出呼求；其中請注意：
一、他所求的是甚麼。 1. 求神親自出頭（詩10:12）：耶和華啊，求你起來！神啊，求你舉手——彰顯你的同在和護理在這下方世界的事務中。*耶和華啊，求你起來！*使那些說你掩面不顧的人羞愧。彰顯你的權能，運用它來維護你自己的事業；舉起你的手，給這些壓迫者致命的一擊；願你永遠的膀臂露出。 2. 求他為他的百姓出頭：不要忘記困苦人——那些受苦的人、貧窮的人、被弄得更貧窮的人、以及靈裏貧窮的人。他們的壓迫者在他們的狂妄中說你已經忘記了他們；他們在自己絕望之中也快要說同樣的話。主啊，求你顯明他們雙方都錯了。 3. 求他向他們的逼迫者顯為仇敵（詩10:15）。 （1）求他使他們無力再行惡：願你打斷惡人的膀臂——除掉他的權勢，使不虔敬的人不能作王，免得百姓被網羅（伯34:30）。我們讀到有些壓迫者，他們的權柄被奪去，性命卻仍存留（但7:12），好叫他們有時間悔改。 （2）求他為他們所行的惡與他們算帳：願你追究他的惡；願他以為永遠不會被發現的事全被帶到光中；願他以為永遠不會受罰的事全被帶到帳上；將它追究出來，直到淨盡——就是說，直到他的惡行沒有一件未被清算、他的惡謀沒有一件未被挫敗、他的黨羽沒有一個未被消滅。
二、他為鼓勵自己對這些祈求的信心而提出的理由。
1. 他以這些驕傲的壓迫者向神自己所施的極大冒犯為理由：「主啊，我們所求你出頭之事，正是你自己的事業；仇敵已經使它成為如此，所以任憑他們不受刑罰，並不是你的榮耀」（詩10:13）：*惡人為何輕慢神？*他確是如此；因為他說：「你必不追究；我們所作所為，你永不會要我們交帳。」他們對公義的神所能加的最大侮辱，莫過於此。詩人在此以驚奇說話： （1）驚奇惡人的惡：「他們為何說這樣不虔的話、這樣荒謬的話？」想到罪人因著罪向聖潔的神所施的藐視，便是善人的大憂愁——向他的誡命、他的應許、他的威嚇、他的恩惠、他的審判；一切都受藐視、被輕看。*惡人為何這樣輕慢神？*是因為他們不認識他。 （2）驚奇神對他們的忍耐和寬容：「為何容許他們這樣輕慢神？為何他不立刻為自己伸冤、向他們報復？」因為算帳的日子尚未來到——當他們罪孽的量杯滿溢之時。
2. 他以神對這些壓迫者的不虔和不義所給予的關注為理由（詩10:14）：「逼迫的人是否以毫無根據的幻想鼓勵自己，以為你永不會看見呢？願受逼迫的人以根據充足的信心鼓勵自己——不僅你已經看見了，更是你正在觀看——就是這些壓迫者手所行的一切惡事、又心中潛伏的一切惡意和毒恨；這一切都為你所知、為你所察看；不僅如此，你已看見、正在觀看，更是你必報應——必以你公義報復的手將之歸到他們懷中。」
3. 他以受壓迫者對神的倚靠為理由：無倚無靠的人把自己交託你——他們每一個都是如此，我也在其中。他們以你為他們的保護者和護衛者，倚靠你；他們將自己交給你作他們的審判官——他們順服你的定奪，又情願受你的安排。他們將自己留給你（有人如此譯），「不指示，而是順服你的智慧和旨意。他們如此向你獻上敬意，正如他們的壓迫者向你行褻瀆。他們是你樂意的臣民，又將自己置於你的保護之下；所以求你保護他們。」
4. 他以神樂意與我們所立的關係為理由。 （1）作為大能的神。他永永遠遠為王（詩10:16）。而君王的職責，正是施行公義，以約束和威嚇作惡的人，又保護和稱讚那行善的人。受傷害的臣民若不向君王申訴，還能向誰申訴呢？主我王啊，求你幫助我！為我向我的對頭報仇。「主啊，願一切向你這君王進貢朝貢的人，都得著你治理的益處，又發現你是他們的避難所。你是永遠的王——這是地上君王所不是的——所以你能、也必藉著永遠的審判，在永遠的境界中施行賞罰——那時時間不再有了；受苦的人正是將自己交託那審判。」 （2）作為良善的神。他是孤兒的幫助者（詩10:14）——就是那些沒有別人幫助、卻有許多人要傷害他們的人。他已派定君王保護貧寒人和孤兒（詩82:3），所以他必更加親自如此行；因為他已將「作孤兒的父」（詩68:5）列在他榮耀的稱號之中——他是無助之人的幫助者。
5. 他以神的教會和百姓過去所經歷的神及時為他們出頭的經驗為理由。 （1）他曾分散和除滅他們的仇敵（詩10:16）：外邦人從他的地中已經滅絕了——那些迦南人的餘民，那七個當滅之國，長久以來如以色列眼中的刺、肋下的荊棘，如今終於全然被拔出；這便鼓勵我們盼望，神必照樣打斷那壓迫人的以色列人之膀臂——他們在某些方面比外邦人更壞。 （2）他曾聽允他們的禱告（詩10:17）：主啊，你曾多次聽見謙卑人的心願，從未對困苦的懇求者說：*尋求也是徒然。*我們為何不能盼望我們列祖所告訴我們的那些奇事、那些恩惠得以延續和重演呢？
6. 他以他們照著對神的經歷而對神所有的盼望為理由：你已經聽見，所以你必側耳聽（如詩6:9）。你是永不改變的，你的權能、應許、你與你百姓的關係也是永不改變的，恩典在他們裏面的工作和運行也是永不改變的；所以我們為何不能盼望那曾經是、如今仍是、永遠是的神，繼續作那聽人禱告的神呢？但請注意， （1）神聽禱告的方法。他先預備他百姓的心，然後賜他們平安的答覆；我們不可指望他別樣賜下恩惠的答覆；所以神在我們身上所作的工，乃是他為我們作工的最佳憑據。他藉著點燃聖潔的願望、堅固我們至聖的信心、固定心思、提升情感，預備人心來禱告，然後他便恩慈地悅納這禱告；他又為著那缺乏而祈求的憐憫本身預備人心，使我們合宜領受它、又善用它，然後才將它賜給我們。人心的預備是從耶和華而來的，我們當向他尋求（箴16:1），又當以之為帶頭的恩惠。 （2）他聽禱告之後所要作的事（詩10:18）。 [1] 他必為受逼迫的人辯屈，必為孤兒和受欺壓的人施行審判——為他們審判，澄清他們的無辜，恢復他們的安慰，又為他們所受的一切損失和傷害補償他們。 [2] 他必終止逼迫者的狂暴。他們只能到此為止，不能再進一步；他們惡意的狂傲浪濤必在此被擋住；必採取有效的措施，使地上的人不再威嚇。請看詩人如今把他在本詩中所描述的那驕傲逼迫者的勢力看得何等輕，又在他既已思想神的主權之後何等輕描淡寫地論到他。 第一，他不過是地上的人——出自地的人（原文如此），從地而生，所以卑微、軟弱、又快歸於地。那我們為何還懼怕壓迫者的烈怒呢？他不過是必死的人、如草一般的世人（賽51:12）。保護我們的是天上的主；逼迫我們的不過是地上的人。 第二，神有鎖鏈鎖住他，又能輕易限制他餘剩的怒氣，使他不能作他所要作的。神一發話，撒但便不能藉其工具再迷惑（啟20:3），不能再壓迫。
我們唱詩10:12-18之時，當將信仰那公義卻受傷害的事業交託給神——如同那些真心關心其榮耀和利益的人——又深信他必在當時候以妒忌之心為之辯護。
English original
Prayer against Persecutors
¹² Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
¹³ Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
¹⁴ Thou 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.
¹⁵ Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
¹⁶ The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
¹⁷ LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
¹⁸ To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
David here, upon the foregoing representation of the inhumanity and impiety of the oppressors, grounds an address to God, wherein observe,
I. What he prays for. 1. That God would himself appear (Ps 10:12): "Arise, O Lord! O God! lift up thy hand, manifest thy presence and providence in the affairs of this lower world. Arise, O Lord! to the confusion of those who say that thou hidest thy face. Manifest thy power, exert it for the maintaining of thy own cause, lift up thy hand to give a fatal blow to these oppressors; let thy everlasting arm be made bare." 2. That he would appear for his people: "Forget not the humble, the afflicted, that are poor, that are made poorer, and are poor in spirit. Their oppressors, in their presumption, say that thou hast forgotten them; and they, in their despair, are ready to say the same. Lord, make it to appear that they are both mistaken." 3. That he would appear against their persecutors, Ps 10:15. (1.) That he would disable them from doing any mischief: Break thou the arm of the wicked, take away his power, that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared, Job 34:30. We read of oppressors whose dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged (Da 7:12), that they might have time to repent. (2.) That he would deal with them for the mischief they had done: "Seek out his wickedness; let that be all brought to light which he thought should for ever lie undiscovered; let that be all brought to account which he thought should for ever go unpunished; bring it out till thou find none, that is, till none of his evil deeds remain unreckoned for, none of his evil designs undefeated, and none of his partisans undestroyed."
II. What he pleads for the encouraging of his own faith in these petitions.
1. He pleads the great affronts which these proud oppressors put upon God himself: "Lord, it is thy own cause that we beg thou wouldst appear in; the enemies have made it so, and therefore it is not for thy glory to let them go unpunished" (Ps 10:13): Wherefore do the wicked contemn God? He does so; for he says, "Thou wilt not require it; thou wilt never call us to an account for what we do," than which they could not put a greater indignity upon the righteous God. The psalmist here speaks with astonishment, (1.) At the wickedness of the wicked: "Why do they speak so impiously, why so absurdly?" It is a great trouble to good men to think what contempt is cast upon the holy God by the sin of sinners, upon his precepts, his promises, his threatenings, his favours, his judgments; all are despised and made light of. Wherefore do the wicked thus contemn God? It is because they do not know him. (2.) At the patience and forbearance of God towards them: "Why are they suffered thus to contemn God? Why does he not immediately vindicate himself and take vengeance on them?" It is because the day of reckoning is yet to come, when the measure of their iniquity is full.
2. He pleads the notice God took of the impiety and iniquity of these oppressors (Ps 10:14): "Do the persecutors encourage themselves with a groundless fancy that thou wilt never see it? Let the persecuted encourage themselves with a well-grounded faith, not only that thou hast seen it, but that thou doest behold it, even all the mischief that is done by the hands, and all the spite and malice that lurk in the hearts, of these oppressors; it is all known to thee, and observed by thee; nay, not only thou hast seen it and dost behold it, but thou wilt requite it, wilt recompense it into their bosoms, by thy just and avenging hand."
3. He pleads the dependence which the oppressed had upon him: "The poor commits himself unto thee, each of them does so, I among the rest. They rely on thee as their patron and protector, they refer themselves to thee as their Judge, in whose determination they acquiesce and at whose disposal they are willing to be. They leave themselves with thee" (so some read it), "not prescribing, but subscribing, to thy wisdom and will. They thus give thee honour as much as their oppressors dishonour thee. They are thy willing subjects, and put themselves under thy protection; therefore protect them."
4. He pleads the relation in which God is pleased to stand to us, (1.) As a great God. He is King for ever and ever, Ps 10:16. And it is the office of a king to administer justice for the restraint and terror of evil-doers and the protection and praise of those that do well. To whom should the injured subjects appeal but to the sovereign? Help, my Lord, O King! Avenge me of my adversary. "Lord, let all that pay homage and tribute to thee as their King have the benefit of thy government and find thee their refuge. Thou art an everlasting King, which no earthly prince is, and therefore canst and wilt, by an eternal judgment, dispense rewards and punishments in an everlasting state, when time shall be no more; and to that judgment the poor refer themselves." (2.) As a good God. He is the helper of the fatherless (Ps 10:14), of those who have no one else to help them and have many to injure them. He has appointed kings to defend the poor and fatherless (Ps 82:3), and therefore much more will he do so himself; for he has taken it among the titles of his honour to be a Father to the fatherless (Ps 68:5), a helper of the helpless.
5. He pleads the experience which God's church and people had had of God's readiness to appear for them. (1.) He had dispersed and extirpated their enemies (Ps 10:16): "The heathen have perished out of his land; the remainders of the Canaanites, the seven devoted nations, which have long been as thorns in the eyes and goads in the sides of Israel, are now, at length, utterly rooted out; and this is an encouragement to us to hope that God will, in like manner, break the arm of the oppressive Israelites, who were, in some respects, worse than heathens." (2.) He had heard and answered their prayers (Ps 10:17): "Lord, thou hast many a time heard the desire of the humble, and never saidst to a distressed suppliant, Seek in vain. Why may not we hope for the continuance and repetition of the wonders, the favours, which our father told us of?"
6. He pleads their expectations from God pursuant to their experience of him: "Thou hast heard, therefore thou will cause thy ear to hear, as, Ps 6:9. Thou art the same, and thy power, and promise, and relation to thy people are the same, and the work and workings of grace are the same in them; why therefore may we not hope that he who has been will still be, will ever be, a God hearing prayers?" But observe, (1.) In what method God hears prayer. He first prepares the heart of his people and then gives them an answer of peace; nor may we expect his gracious answer, but in this way; so that God's working upon us is the best earnest of his working for us. He prepares the heart for prayer by kindling holy desires, and strengthening our most holy faith, fixing the thoughts and raising the affections, and then he graciously accepts the prayer; he prepares the heart for the mercy itself that is wanting and prayed for, makes us fit to receive it and use it well, and then gives it in to us. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord, and we must seek unto him for it (Pr 16:1) and take that as a leading favour. (2.) What he will do in answer to prayer, Ps 10:18. [1.] He will plead the cause of the persecuted, will judge the fatherless and oppressed, will judge for them, clear up their innocency, restore their comforts, and recompense them for all the loss and damage they have sustained. [2.] He will put an end to the fury of the persecutors. Hitherto they shall come, but no further; here shall the proud waves of their malice be stayed; an effectual course shall be taken that the man of the earth may no more oppress. See how light the psalmist now makes of the power of that proud persecutor whom he had been describing in this psalm, and how slightly he speaks of him now that he had been considering God's sovereignty. First, He is but a man of the earth, a man out of the earth (so the word is), sprung out of the earth, and therefore mean, and weak, and hastening to the earth again. Why then should we be afraid of the fury of the oppressor when he is but man that shall die, a son of man that shall be as grass? Isa 51:12. He that protects us is the Lord of heaven; he that persecutes us is but a man of the earth. Secondly, God has him in a chain, and can easily restrain the remainder of his wrath, so that he cannot do what he would. When God speaks the word Satan shall by his instruments no more deceive (Re 20:3), no more oppress.
In singing Ps 10:12-18 we must commit religion's just but injured cause to God, as those that are heartily concerned for its honour and interests, believing that he will, in due time, plead it with jealousy.
《七十士譯本》將本篇與第九篇合併，視為一篇；但希伯來文聖經將其視為獨立的一篇，其主旨與風格也確有不同。在本篇中：一、大衛訴說惡人的邪惡，描述他們的不虔已達何等可怖的地步（這大大羞辱了神，也害了祂的教會與百姓），並留意到神遲遲未出面抵擋他們（詩 10:1-11）。二、他求神出面抵擋他們以解救祂的百姓，並以神必在適當時候如此行的盼望自慰（詩 10:12-18）。