서론
無題
简体中文
英語原文
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
简体中文
恶人的性情；逼迫者的性情
¹ 耶和华啊，你为什么站在远处？在患难的时候，为什么隐藏？
² 恶人在骄横中，把困苦人追得火急；愿他们陷在自己所设的计谋里。
³ 因为恶人以心愿自夸；贪财的背弃耶和华，并且轻慢他。
⁴ 恶人面带骄傲，不寻求耶和华；他心里一切所想的，都以为没有神。
⁵ 他所行的常常稳固；你的审判常在他的远处；他对一切的仇敌都嗤笑。
⁶ 他心里说，我必不被动摇；我世世代代不遭灾难。
⁷ 他满口是咒骂、诡诈、欺压；舌底是毒害、奸恶。
⁸ 他在村庄埋伏等候；在隐密处杀害无辜的人；他的眼睛窥探无倚无靠的人。
⁹ 他埋伏在暗处，如狮子蹲在洞中；他埋伏要掳掠困苦人；他拉网，就把困苦人掳去。
¹⁰ 他屈身蹲伏，无倚无靠的人就倒在他爪牙之下。
¹¹ 他心里说，神已经忘记了；他掩面，永不观看。
大卫在这些经文中表明：
一、他对神及神恩面的极深切爱慕；因为在患难之时，他最深切所哀叹的，是神收回了他恩典的同在（诗10:1）：「你为什么站在远处，好像对加于你名上的羞辱和加于你百姓的伤害毫不关心一样？」请注意，神收回他的同在，在任何时候对他的百姓都是极其伤痛的，尤其在患难之时。外在的拯救尚在远处、向我们隐藏，于是我们以为神在远处——因此我们缺乏内在的安慰；但那是我们自己的错；因为我们凭外貌判断；我们因不信而远离神，然后又抱怨神远离我们。
二、他对罪的极大愤慨——正是这些罪使时代险恶（提后3:1）。他看见违背律法的人就忧愁、就惊奇，并将他们的恶行报告于天父——不是出于虚浮的荣耀，在神面前自夸「不像这些税吏」（路18:11），更不是宣泄任何个人的怨恨、嫌隙或情绪；而是作为一个把那得罪神和一切敬虔之人的事铭记在心，并恳切期望改良风化的人。对恶人激烈的、尖刻的谩骂害多益少；若我们要谈论他们的恶，当在祷告中向神说，因为唯独他能使他们改过。这长长的关于恶人之恶的陈述，可归纳于其起首的话中（诗10:2）：「恶人在骄横中把困苦人追得火急」——这里指控他们两件事：骄傲与逼迫，前者是后者的根源。骄傲的人要周围所有的人都与他们同心、同他们的信仰、说他们所说的话、顺服他们的权柄、附和他们的指示；凡使他们黯然失色或不肯屈服于他们的，他们就怀着根深蒂固的仇恨厌恶。无论国家中的暴政，还是教会中的暴政，都源于骄傲。诗人在开始这描述之后，随即插入一句简短的祷告——括弧中的祷告——既不失原意，反加增其力量：「愿他们陷在自己所设的计谋里」（诗10:2）。愿他们的计谋反被倾覆，愿他们因之自己倾覆。这两个指控在此被详尽展开。
-
他们骄傲——极其骄傲，极其自负；因此他正当地惊奇神为何不速速起来抵挡他们，因为神恨恶骄傲，并阻挡骄傲的人。〔1〕这罪人骄傲地夸耀自己的能力和成就。他「以心愿自夸」，夸口自己能随心所欲（仿佛神也不能约束他），又夸口自己心愿皆遂、目的已达。以法莲曾说：「我果然成了富足，我为自己得了财物」（何12:8）。「主啊，容让一个罪人如此僭称神的主权和福乐，这岂能荣耀你吗？」〔2〕他骄傲地违背神的判断——我们确知神的判断是照真理的；因为他「称那贪财的为福；耶和华所憎恶的，他倒称他为主」。请看神与人在对人的评价上何等不同：神憎恶贪恋世俗、以钱财为神、奉之为偶像的人；他视他们为仇敌，不与他们相交。「与世俗为友就是与神为敌。」但骄傲的逼迫者却祝福他们，赞同他们的话（诗49:13）。他们所称为智慧的，神称之为无知（路12:20）；他们所称为无辜的，神在他面前定为深有罪责；他们所羡慕的——以今生为分受之物——视为有福的，神却因那缘故宣告他们实在可怜。「你生前享过福」（路16:25）。〔3〕他骄傲地抛弃对神的思想，以及对他一切的倚靠和敬虔（诗10:4）：「恶人面带骄傲」——那心中的骄傲甚至显于面色（箴6:17）——「不寻求神，也不思念他」。「他一切所想的，都以为没有神」，即在他的任何一个思想里都没有神。「他一切所想，都以为没有神。」请看，[1] 不敬与无信仰的本质，就是「不寻求神」「不将神放在心上」。无人寻求他（伯35:10；耶2:6），对他无渴望，与他无相交，倒暗中希望不倚靠他、不欠他恩。恶人不愿寻求神（即不愿求告他）；他们活着不祷告，就是活着没有神。他们有许多思想、许多计谋图谋，却无一念及神——既不顺服他的旨意，也不以他的荣耀为目的。[2] 不敬与无信仰的原因，就是骄傲。人不愿寻求神，因为他们以为自己不需要他，自己的手够用了；他们认为宗教是有失身份的事，因为信教的人少、卑微、被人藐视，宗教的约束会使他们蒙羞。〔4〕他骄傲地轻看神的诫命与审判（诗10:5）：「他所行的常常稳固」；他在犯罪的道路上极其大胆、坚决；他非要走自己的路不可——无论这条路对自己何等劳苦、对别人何等烦扰；他在恶行中如生产之痛，然而他的骄傲使他在其中固执顽硬。神的审判（他所命令的，以及他因人违命而威吓的）「常在他的远处」；他既不因神的律法而感悟自己的本分，也不因神的震怒和咒诅而感悟自己的危险。你向他提到神对他的权柄，他以这话推诿：他从未见过神，因此不知有神；神「在天顶之上」，而「高于我们的事与我们无干」。你向他提到神将要对那些仍犯罪之人所施行的审判，他不信其中有何实在；它们「在他的远处」，所以他以为不过是吓人的稻草人。〔5〕他骄傲地藐视一切仇敌，以极度的轻蔑看他们；他对那些神所预备要作他鞭笞和毁灭之器的人嗤之以鼻，仿佛他能挫败他们一切，能与之抗衡。但轻视仇敌既是不智，轻视神怒气的任何器皿也是不敬。〔6〕他骄傲地向患难夸口，自信自己的繁华必长存（诗10:6）：「他心里说」——并以这念头自娱——「我必不动摇」，我的财物够多年用，「我世世代代不遭灾难」；如巴比伦所说：「我必永远为主母」（赛47:7；启18:7）。那些如此把毁灭推得最远的人，离毁灭最近。
-
他们是逼迫者——残忍的逼迫者。为满足他们的骄傲与贪婪，又因反对神和宗教，他们对一切够得上的人都极其欺压。请注意，关于这些逼迫者：〔1〕他们极其苦毒恶毒（诗10:7）：「他满口是咒骂。」对那些他不能实际加害的人，他仍要吐出毒液，发出他所不能执行的屠杀之言。神的敬拜者就是这样被咒诅、被开除教籍。心里充满恶毒的人，口里常充满咒诅。〔2〕他们极其虚假背信。其中包藏祸心，却藏在舌下，不能被人察觉，因为「他满口是诡诈、欺压」。他从魔鬼学了欺骗以便毁灭；他的仇恨由此遮盖（箴26:26）。他不顾撒谎、不顾背约、不顾使用何等伪装的手段以达到目的。〔3〕他们在推进自己的图谋上极其狡猾诡诈。他们有各种途径方法去协调所筹谋的事，以便更有效地成就。如那善于打猎的以扫，「他埋伏在暗处」，「在隐密处」，「他的眼睛暗暗窥探」要行恶（诗10:8）——不是因为他为所做的羞愧（他若脸红，就还有悔改的希望），也不是因为他怕神的忿怒（他想象神永不会追究他，诗10:11），而是因为他怕图谋一旦暴露就会失败。或许这话特指强盗和路劫，他们埋伏等候诚实的旅客，要掠取他们和他们所有的。〔4〕他们极其残忍野蛮。他们的恶毒指向「无辜的人」——从未得罪他们的人；指向「困苦人」——不能抵抗他们，胜之也不光彩的人。凡无辜和贫穷都不能成为人对之安全的保障，那些人就完全失去了诚实和正直。有权的人当保护无辜、供养穷乏；然而这些人却要毁灭他们所当守护的人。他们的目的是什么？是要「抓困苦人」「拉他们入网」，即把他们置于权下——不仅为剥夺他们，更为「杀害他们」。他们猎取宝贵的性命。他们所逼迫的正是神的困苦百姓——他们因属乎神、带着神的形像而对他怀着致命的仇恨，因此他们埋伏要杀害他们：「他如狮子蹲伏」，渴慕血肉，并以猎物为美食。他所事奉的魔鬼，被比作吼叫的狮子，所寻求的不是吞吃什么，而是吞吃谁。〔5〕他们卑鄙虚伪（诗10:10）：「他屈身蹲伏」，如猛兽为使猎物进入其范围而作。这暗示逼迫者和欺压者卑鄙的心灵，为达成恶谋肯屈就任何事——无论何等卑劣；扫罗追猎大卫时的丑行可为明证。这也暗示他们以温柔谦卑、对他们所要大大加害之人表示善意作为遮掩；他们看似谦卑地去关注穷人、关心他们的事，其实是为使他们跌倒，要掳掠他们。〔6〕他们极其不敬、近乎无神论（诗10:11）。他们若非先摆脱一切宗教感，并起来反叛其最神圣、最自明的真理之光，就不可能如此违背对人的公正和良善的一切律法：「他心里说，神已经忘记了。」当他的良心以之为后果谴责他，问他将如何向天地之公义的审判者交账时，他以这话推诿：「神已经离弃这地了」（结8:12，9:9）。这是亵渎的毁谤，[1] 针对神的全知与护理——仿佛他不能或没有看见人在这个低层世界中所行的；[2] 针对神的圣洁与本性之正——仿佛他虽看见，却并不厌恶，反愿意姑息最不人道、最残忍的恶行；[3] 针对神的公义与治理之公平——仿佛他虽看见并厌恶恶人的恶，却永不追讨、永不刑罚——或因他不能、不敢，或因他无意如此行。让受骄傲欺压之苦的人，盼望神到了时候必为他们显现；因为那苦待他们的，也是苦待全能神的。
唱诵这篇诗、将它作为祷告时，我们当以圣洁的愤慨深感恶人之恶，以怜悯同情受压之人的苦情，并敬虔地为神的荣耀和尊贵发热心，坚信他到了时候必为受屈者伸冤，并追讨那加屈之人的罪。
英語原文
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
简体中文
反对逼迫者的祷告
¹² 耶和华啊，求你起来！神啊，求你举手，不要忘记困苦人！
¹³ 恶人为何轻慢神，心里说：你必不追究呢？
¹⁴ 其实你已经观看；因为奸恶毒害，你都看见了，为要以手施行报应。无倚无靠的人把自己交托你；你向来是帮助孤儿的。
¹⁵ 愿你打断恶人的膀臂和坏人的膀臂；愿你们追究他的恶，直到净尽。
¹⁶ 耶和华永永远远为王；外邦人从他的地已经灭绝了。
¹⁷ 耶和华啊，谦卑人的心愿，你已听见；你必预备他们的心，也必侧耳听他们的祈求，
¹⁸ 为要给孤儿和受欺压的人伸冤，使地上的人不再威吓他们。
大卫既在前文陈述了压迫者的不仁与不敬，便以此为根据向神呼吁；其中当留意：
一、他祈求什么。1. 求神亲自显现（诗十12）：「耶和华啊，求你起来！神啊，求你举手」——彰显你在这下界事务中的同在与护理。「耶和华啊，求你起来」——叫那些说你掩面不顾的人抱愧。彰显你的大能，为维护你自己的事业而施展，举手给这些压迫者致命一击，使你永远的膀臂露出。2. 求神为他百姓显现：「不要忘记困苦人——受苦的人」，那些是贫穷的、被弄得更贫穷的、心里贫穷的。他们的压迫者在狂傲中说你已经忘了他们；他们在绝望中也几乎要说同样的话。主啊，求你使他们两方都看错。3. 求神向他们的逼迫者显现（诗十15）。（1）求神使他们无力为恶：「愿你打断恶人的膀臂」，夺去他的权势，「免得假冒为善的人掌权，免得百姓被网罗缠住」（伯三十四30）。我们读到有压迫者，他们的统治权被夺去，性命却仍存留（但七12），让他们有悔改的时机。（2）求神为他们所行的恶追究他们：「愿你追究他的恶」，把他自以为永藏不露的都带到光中，把他自以为永不受罚的都带到账上，「直到净尽」，即直到他的一切恶行都受报、一切恶谋都失败、一切党羽都灭亡。
二、他为鼓励自己在这些恳求中的信心所提出的理由。
-
他以这些骄傲的压迫者向神自己所加的大侮辱为理由：「主啊，我们求你显现的，原是你自己的事业；仇敌已使它成为你的事业，所以任凭他们不受罚，并非你的荣耀」（诗十13）：「恶人为何轻慢神？」他确是如此；因他说：「你必不追究」——你永不会因我们所行的来追讨我们；这话对公义的神是莫大的侮辱。诗人在此带着惊讶发言：（1）惊讶于恶人的恶：「他们为何这样不敬，又这样荒谬地说呢？」想到罪人的罪向圣洁的神所投的轻蔑——他的诫命、应许、威吓、恩惠、审判都被藐视轻忽——是敬虔人极大的痛苦。「恶人为何这样轻慢神？」因为他们不认识他。（2）惊讶于神对他们的忍耐与宽容：「为何容他们这样轻慢神？为何不立即为自己伸冤、向他们报复？」因为追讨的日子尚未来到，他们的罪孽之量尚未满盈。
-
他以神对这些压迫者的不敬与不义所留意的为理由（诗十14）：「逼迫者既以无根据的幻想自励，以为你永不看见；那么受逼迫者也当以有根有据的信心自励，不仅你已看见，而且你正在鉴察——这一切借他们手所作的恶，以及他们心中所怀的一切恶毒与怨恨，你都鉴察、都留意；不仅如此，你已看见、正鉴察，你也必报应，必借你公义报应的手将之归到他们怀里。」
-
他以受压迫者对他的倚靠为理由：「无倚无靠的人把自己交托你」——他们每一个人都如此，我也是其中之一。他们倚靠你为他们的保护者与避难所，他们把自己交给你为审判他们的主——他们顺服你的判决，也甘愿受你的处置。「他们将自己交托给你」（有人如此读），「并不出主意，只是赞同你的智慧与旨意」。他们这样给你尊荣，正如他们的压迫者羞辱你一样。他们是你的良民，将自己置于你的保护之下；所以求你保护他们。
-
他以神乐意向我们所立的关係为理由：（1）作为大能的神。他「永永远远为王」（诗十16）。而君王的职分就是施行公义，约束威吓作恶者，保护称扬行善者。受伤的臣民除了向君王申诉，还能向谁呢？「我主我王啊，救我！为我向仇敌报仇。」「主啊，凡向你纳贡称臣的，都求你使他们得享你治理的恩益，并以你为他们的避难所。你是永远的王，世上君王不是；所以你能、也必借永远的审判在永远的状态中——当时间不再有时——施赏赐与刑罚；穷人正是将自己交托于这审判。」（2）作为良善的神。他是「孤儿的帮助」（诗十14）——帮助那些别无帮助者，却有许多要害他们的人。他已立君王「为贫寒人和孤儿伸冤」（诗八十二3），他自己更必如此行；因他已把「作孤儿的父」（诗六十八5）、「无助者的帮助」列入他尊荣的称号之中。
-
他以神的教会和百姓所经历神乐意为他们兴起的为理由。（1）他曾分散铲除他们的仇敌（诗十16）：「外邦人从他的地已经灭绝了」——迦南余剩之民、那七个当灭之国，长久如「眼中的刺、肋下的荆棘」刺扰以色列，如今终被连根拔除；这鼓励我们盼望神也必照样打断欺压之以色列人的膀臂——他们在某些方面比外邦人更坏。（2）他曾垂听并应允他们的祷告（诗十17）：「主啊，你常常垂听谦卑人的心愿」，从未对困苦的求告者说「徒然寻求」。我们为何不能盼望那些我们列祖告诉我们的奇事、恩惠，得以继续重复呢？
-
他以他们因经历神而对他所存的期待为理由：「你已垂听，所以你必使你的耳朵听见」，如诗六9 所言。你是一样，你的大能、应许、与你百姓的关系都一样，他们里面恩典之工与运行也都一样；所以，我们为何不能盼望那曾是的，仍将是，永远是——听祷告的神呢？但请留意：（1）神听祷告的方法。他先预备他百姓的心，然后赐他们平安的回答；除了这途径，我们不能盼望他恩惠的回答；所以神在我们身上动工，是他为我们动工的最佳凭据。他借点燃圣洁的愿望、坚固我们至圣的信心、凝聚心思、提升情感，预备祷告的心，然后恩惠地悦纳祷告；他借预备我们心所缺、所求之恩典本身——使我们配受又善用——然后将之赐给我们。心的预备是从主来的，我们当向他寻求（箴十六1），并以之为首要恩惠。（2）他听祷告后要行什么（诗十18）。〔1〕他必为受逼迫者申冤，必为孤儿和受欺压者伸冤，必为他们判案，澄清他们的无辜，恢复他们的安慰，并补还他们所受的一切损失损害。〔2〕他必止息逼迫者的狂暴。他们到此为止，不得再进；他们恶意的狂傲浪头必在此被挡住；必采取有效的措施，「使地上的人不再威吓」。请看诗人现在如何轻看他在本诗中所描写的那骄傲逼迫者的权势，又如何因已思想神的主权而轻描淡写地论到他。第一，他不过是「地上的人」，是「从地出来」的人（原文如此），从地而生，所以卑微、软弱、又快归回于地。那么我们何必怕那「必死的人」、那「如草一样的人」的怒气呢？（赛五十一12）。保护我们的是天上的主；逼迫我们的不过是地上的人。第二，神把他放在锁链中，轻易就能约束他余剩的忿怒，使他不能随心所欲。神一发话，撒但就借他的器皿不再迷惑（启二十3），不再压迫。
我们唱诗十12-18 时，当把宗教那受屈却正当的事业交托给神——作为真心关切其尊荣与利益的人，深信他必在所定之时以妒忌之心为之申冤。
英語原文
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.
七十士译本将本篇与第九篇相合,并为一篇;但希伯来文视之为独立的诗篇,其宗旨与风格确有不同。在本诗中:一、大卫抱怨恶人的恶,描述他们已达到的可怖的不敬虔地步(大大羞辱神、损害他的教会与百姓),并注意到神迟迟不向他们显现施罚(诗10:1-11);二、他求神向他们显现以解救他的百姓,并以他必适时如此行的盼望自慰(诗10:12-18)。