Embrace the Word for Monday, January 19, 2026
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Psalm 10 is a lament. A very abrupt lament. A lament is a prayer offered to God in the midst of deep pain and sorrow. Unlike mere complaining, which is voiced at or against God out of unbelief, a lament is rooted in dependence upon the Lord, that is, nevertheless, struggling to square up what is acknowledged to be true about the Lord in light of the situation before them. Psalm 10 begins with shocking questions to the Lord that reveal David’s struggle: "Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (10:1). David is reflecting how he feels in the midst of his crisis. He feels as if the Lord has distanced Himself from him, even hidden Himself from him. We should hear the agony in every word that David expressed.
As I noted in our previous reflection, there are many points of connection between Psalm 9 and Psalm 10. There is no superscription for Psalm 10, and that alone suggests that there is a relationship between Psalm 9 and 10. However, it seems best to take the two Psalms as separate but somewhat inseparable. Psalm 9 completes a unit begun in Psalm 3, while Psalm 10 begins a unit that will end with Psalm 14. The relationship between Psalm 10 and Psalm 14 is seen in the common language of “says in his heart” (10:6,11,13: 14:1), and “there is no God” (10:4; 14:1). So, Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 are each their own Psalm, but they have themes and structural arrangements that bind the two units together.
The tone in response to the situation is very different in Psalm 10 from that of Psalm 9. For instance, Psalm 9 declares: “The LORD is…a stronghold in times of trouble” (9:9); while Psalm 10 asks: “Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (10:1). Here in Psalm 10, it does not feel as though the Lord is a stronghold in the midst of trouble; it actually feels as though the Lord hides out when troubles come. The God praised as a stronghold, in whom His people can shelter in times of trouble, now appears to be distancing Himself from His people, gone into hiding, just at the very time when He is most needed. Laments are honest. And the language that the Lord provides for us in the Psalms of lament give us those same “honest words” to express to the Lord in our prayers. Just to be clear, the Lord does not distance Himself from us in our need; nor does he ever go into hiding when troubles come our way. But the lament that David expresses says much about the mercurial nature of our trust in the Lord. As the mercury rises and falls in a thermometer, in response to the temperature, so too does the experience of our reliance upon the Lord.
And yet, even our mutable faith looks to the immutable God: “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised” (10:2). David’s lament is a faith-filled lament—he prays to the Lord. The “why” expresses the wrestling of his faith, but the prayer for the wicked to be caught in their own schemes expresses what David knows to be true about God. Sometimes the interpretative perception of how we see God operating does not correspond to what God has said in His Word. But in the midst of the confusion, faith expresses itself by turning to the Lord. Faith is often tested and perplexed, but by the grace of God, it goes on pleading. And what David pleads is for the wicked to suffer the consequences of their own plots. David has prayed this prayer of justice frequently (see 5:10; 7:15-16; and 9:15-16).
David provides an extensive description of the wicked. David orients us to the wicked’s pride as well as their plans. Concerning their pride, David starts by saying, “For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul” (10:3a). This is a fascinating statement. Whereas the righteous boast in the Lord worshipping the God alone; the wicked boast in whatever their souls crave and whatever that craving is for, that is what is worshipped. Everyone boasts in or worships in someone or something: God or a host of idols. Wickedness, at its heart is a worship problem. And out of this worship disorder, the wicked live distorted lives: “and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD” (10:3b). The wording of this part of verse 3 is hard to decipher, but a better rendering might read (as the ESV footnote offers), “and he blesses the one greedy for gain and renounces the Lord.” The wicked have a distorted way of estimating what is most important in life. The wicked commend those who engage in greedy practice, and they spurn the Lord. The wicked blesses what God curses.
David adds, “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’” (10:4). The wicked have an arrogant look about them, having no interest in seeking God, for they confess that there is no God to seek. The wicked feels confident and secure, both for the moment and for the longterm future: “He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity” (10:6). The wicked say and believe that they have nothing to worry about, but such a perspective without any God-honoring considerations displays not only their blinding pride, but also their foolish, ignorant failure to understand the way the Lord made the world to work, such as: the wicked will suffer the consequences of their own plots.
The wicked are arrogant in their pride. Thus, they are aggressive in their plots: "He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might” (10:8-10). The wicked plot their evil in secret schemes and sudden attacks. In a word, what David describes is a thug. These thugs are premeditative perpetrators on those who are in no position to resist and defend themselves. What the wicked cannot obtain by scheming extortion, they acquire through murderous violence. The wicked arrogantly excuses away the thought of any adverse consequence for their plots: “He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it” (10:11). Living in such a world inhabited as it is by the wicked, leaves no uncertainty as to why we ask why—why we struggle—why our faith is mercurial. David not only accurately describes the wicked, he also fittingly describes the misery of living in the world presently characterized by them.
David’s abrupt lament erupts into prayer: “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted” (10:12). The first response of the righteous to the wicked is to go straight to God. David’s words here are words that he commonly uses (see 3:7; 7:6; 9:19). It is as though David comes before the Lord, who is seated on His throne in heaven, and calls upon the Lord to rise up and confront the wicked. David calls on the Lord to lift up His hand, that is, to act promptly on behalf of the afflicted. David prayer continues: “Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none” (10:13-15). David’s prayer addresses some of the very errors that the wicked expressed. The wicked renounce God, dispute His existence, and say that He will not hold them accountable. But David is confident that God should not be dishonored, that He does exist, and that He does see and will hold the wicked accountable. When David asks of the Lord, “break the arm of the wicked” (10:15), he is asking the Lord to stop the wicked from using their strength and ability to perpetrate any further oppression, extortion, and murder.
The wicked operate very differently than the righteous. The wicked plot evil to get what they want at the expense of others. On the other hand, the righteous prays to the Lord to defend them from affliction that the wicked inflict on them. The wicked are pridefully arrogant; the righteous are humbly dependent. Such humility properly recognizes God: “The LORD is king forever and ever” (10:16a). Humility recognizes that God is King and always will be. Such humility appropriately brings confidence: “the nations perish from his land” (10:16b; see Psalm 2:1-3 concerning nations and Psalm 1:6 concerning perish). Humility is confident that God will do all that He says. Such humility seeks the Lord in prayer: “O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear” (10:17). Humility seeks the Lord out of an assurance that the Lord will not only listen, but answer with a supply of strength. Such humility entrusts to the Lord what only the Lord can do: “to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (10:18). Humility is satisfied to wait on the Lord to act.
As we reflect on Psalm 10, the extensive description of the wicked is very relevant to us. First, the pride and plots of the wicked are not only still with us, but they actually have their spotlight on us: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you…If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (see John 15:18-20a). Psalm 10 directs us to be different from the wicked, not plotting evil, but seeking the Lord.
But a second reflection on Psalm 10 comes from an entirely different angle. The real difference between the righteous and the wicked is the grace of Christ. Apart from the grace of Christ, we would fit the bill for the description of the wicked. Paul echos Psalm 10 when he says of all men: “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness” (See Romans 3:14 quoting Psalm 10:7a). Christ will one day deliver us from the presence of the wicked; but He has already delivered us from the desire of looking like the wicked.
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, January 19, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, January 21, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 11.