Psalms

The Psalter is Israel’s hymnbook: lament, praise, thanksgiving, royal psalms, and wisdom. It trains the heart to speak to God in trouble and in joy, and it points ahead to the Messiah.

Author: David and others
Date: c. 1400–400 BC
Theme: Prayers and songs for every season of the life of faith.
Key verses: Psalm 23; Psalm 51; Psalm 119:105
American Standard Version

Psalms 10

1Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? 2In the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued; Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived. 3For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, And the covetous renounceth, [yea], contemneth Jehovah. 4The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, [saith], He will not require [it]. All his thoughts are, There is no God. 5His ways are firm at all times; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them. 6He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; To all generations I shall not be in adversity. 7His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression: Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. 8He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages; In the secret places doth he murder the innocent; His eyes are privily set against the helpless. 9He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert; He lieth in wait to catch the poor: He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net. 10He croucheth, he boweth down, And the helpless fall by his strong ones. 11He saith in his heart: God hath forgotten; He hideth his face, he will never see it. 12Arise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand: Forget not the poor. 13Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God, And say in his heart, Thou wilt not require [it]? 14Thou hast seen [it]; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: The helpless committeth [himself] unto thee; Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless. 15Break thou the arm of the wicked; And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none. 16Jehovah is King for ever and ever: The nations are perished out of his land. 17Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek: Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear; 18To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.

American Standard Version (1901). Copyright expired. Public domain.