Psalm 10
As stated in my comments on Psalm 9, I concur with the OPC/URC proposal to use “Halifax” with both Psalms 9 and 10, on the grounds that 1) Psalms 9 and 10 together form an alphabetic acrostic (slightly irregular in form, but clear nonetheless), 2) besides Psalms 1-2, Psalm 10 is the only Psalm in Book 1 of the Psalter that doesn’t have a title, and 3) the Septuagint treats Psalms 9-10 as a single song.
Text: Sing Psalms, 2003 (CMD)
1 O LORD, why do you stand remote and stay so far away?
Why do you hide yourself from us when trouble comes our way?
2 The wicked in his arrogance hunts down the weak and poor,
who in the snares that he has set are caught and held secure.
3 About the cravings of his heart he speaks with boastful word;
he praises people filled with greed while he reviles the LORD.
4 The wicked does not seek the LORD because he is so proud,
and in his inmost thoughts there is no room at all for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous; he strikes a haughty pose.
He keeps his distance from your laws; he sneers at all his foes.
6 He reassures himself and says, “No threat will topple me;
I will be happy evermore; from trouble I’ll be free.”
7 The wicked’s mouth is always full of curses, threats, and lies;
and from his tongue iniquities continually arise.
8 He lies in wait near villages his victims’ blood to spill;
he lurks in secret ambushes the innocent to kill.
9 Like lions crouching secretly he waits for helpless prey.
He pounces on the weak and poor; his net drags them away.
10 His victims by his strength are crushed; his prey collapse and fall.
11 He thinks, “God does not notice it; he does not see at all.”
12 Arise, LORD God, lift up your hand; do not forget the poor.
13 Why does the wicked say of God, “My conduct he’ll ignore”?
14 But you, O God, do see such wrong and you will bring redress.
The victim puts his trust in you; you help the fatherless.
15 LORD, break the wicked person’s pow’r and call him to account
for all the evil which he thought would never be found out.
16 The LORD will ever reign as king; his throne will always stand.
The heathen nations of the world will perish from his land.
17 O LORD, the needy ones’ desire you answer from on high;
you give encouragement to them and listen to their cry.
18 For you defend the fatherless and those who are oppressed,
so that from fear of mortal man the helpless may have rest.
Tune: Halifax (George F. Handel, 1748; harm. Austin Lovelace, b. 1919)
Commentary
Psalm 10 has no title (see introduction).
Psalm 10 responds to Psalm 9 very closely. (Psalm 9:1-12 takes the form of a communal thanksgiving as Israel gives praise to God for maintaining the just cause of David. But then in verses 13-18, the tone begins to change towards a plea for help. In 9:19-20, the Psalmist is now calling on God to arise and judge the nations). And then Psalm 10 continues with the communal lament, asking God why he allows the wicked to prosper in 10:1-11, and then repeating the plea for God to arise and “break the arm of the wicked” in 10:12-15, before concluding with an affirmation of confidence that the LORD will hear and act — “so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.”
Structure:
If Psalms 9-10 were originally a single song, does this mean that they should be interpreted (and sung) together? Or should we take the Hebrew division of the Psalm as an inspired division and thus read them and sing them separately? I like the approach taken here — by putting both Psalms to the same tune, but retaining the Hebrew numbering, it becomes possible to sing/read them together, while also permitting them to be sung/read separately.
Sing Psalms does very well with the structure of Psalm 10. The stanza breaks are all quite conducive to singing with understanding.
Translation Notes:
A key word in Psalms 9-10 is aniyim “the afflicted” (9:12, 13, 18; 10:2, 9, 17). The ESV renders this alternately as “the afflicted” (9:12, 10:17) and “the poor” (9:18, 10:2, 9). Some may find this puzzling — since the ESV is not constrained by metrical considerations! — but once again we are dealing with a word whose semantic range varies in a wider range than the English word “afflicted.” It would be very odd to translate 10:2, “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted,” because it is only on account of the wicked’s pursuit that they have become afflicted! Rather, the reason why they are vulnerable to the wicked’s pursuit is because they are poor. On the other hand, if you translate it consistently as “poor” then you wind up with a misleading translation in verse 17 — “O LORD, you hear the desire of the poor” might sound to English ears as though God is heeding the cries of the materially destitute.
Part of the problem is that we have come to think of “poverty” in terms of material lack. We think of the poor as those who “lack stuff.” But that is not the biblical description of the aniyim. The poor — the afflicted — are those who lack the resources to protect themselves against the depredations of the powerful. Material possessions can be helpful in this respect — since land and resources can go a long way to stave off trouble — but the poor are those who are vulnerable. When you start to think of poverty in terms of access to power, it is much easier to understand the biblical teaching regarding God’s “preferential option” for the poor.
For this reason we have not tried to attain consistency in our translation of aniyim — but have followed the excellent “weak and poor” of Sing Psalms in verses 2 and 9 — or “needy” in verse 17.
Another key word in Psalm 10 is darash — “to seek” or “to call to account.” In verse 4, the wicked does not seek God (or, “The wicked says, ‘He will not call to account'” — see ESV footnote). The same phrase is used more clearly in verse 13. But then in verse 15, the Psalmist asks God to “call his wickedness to account till you find none.” And since wicked (rasha’) looks and sounds a lot like darash, there are some really fun plays on words in this Psalm.
Of course, the problem is that wordplays are nearly impossible to translate. I don’t know if the Sing Psalms translators did this intentionally, but they provide some similar English wordplays to make up for it. For instance, in verse 7, they say: “The wicked’s mouth is always full of curses, threats, and lies…” and in verse 8, later in the same stanza, they say, “He lies in wait.” The two meanings of the word “lies” provide an English wordplay that help makes up for the impossibility of translating Hebrew wordplays!
Tune Notes:
I will simply repeat my comments on Halifax from Psalm 9:
Since Psalms 9 and 10 blend together notes of triumph and lament, Halifax is one of the few tunes that can carry the whole Psalm. Austin Lovelace’s harmonization of Handel’s tune provides a strong but dark tone. While in a minor key, it moves back and forth to the relative major, allowing for a variety of brightness and darkness in the tune — mirroring the Psalmist’s trust in the Lord, even as he pours out his pleas and petitions.
Halifax is used in the BPS with Psalm 89, in the BPW with Psalms 55 and 89, and in the Trinity Psalter with Psalm 140.
Conclusion
Psalms 9-10 work well together liturgically. Psalm 9 works well as a song of praise as we come into the presence of the living God, followed by Psalm 10, as we lament our afflictions and troubles and call upon the LORD to do justice. I think that sometimes we focus so much on the confession of sin that we lose sight that many afflictions are not due to our sin, but to the assault of our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
I have not been able to find any recordings of Halifax.
I have not yet preached on Psalm 10.
— Peter J. Wallace
