Psalm Chapter 10

Psalm 10: The God Who Sees the Lurking Places

This is a psalm about the world as it so often appears — a place where the wicked prosper and the poor are caught in nets they did not weave. The villain of this poem is drawn with terrible precision: he lurks in secret places, his eyes are set against the poor, he crouches like a lion in his den. And his theology is simple — God has forgotten, He hides His face, He will never see it. It is the oldest lie, and the most effective: not that God does not exist, but that He does not notice. The psalm lets this darkness have its full say before answering it, and when the answer comes it is devastating in its brevity. Thou hast seen it. Three words that dismantle the entire edifice of the oppressor's confidence. God is not absent. He is not distracted. He beholds mischief and spite, and He requits them with His hand. The psalm closes with a truth that reads like a foundation stone: the Lord is King for ever and ever. And His ear — the ear that the wicked assumed was stopped — is tuned precisely to the frequency of the humble.

00:00 Why Standest Thou Afar Off?
00:18 The Wicked in His Pride
00:36 Lurking in Secret Places
01:00 God Hath Forgotten, He Says
01:20 Arise, O Lord — Thou Hast Seen It
01:40 The King Who Hears the Humble