Psalm 10 · a question people ask
"Break the arm of the wicked" (10:15). How can a prayer ask for that?
The verse speaks to God and asks God to act: "Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none" (10:15). It comes after the psalm's picture of the wicked, who "murders the innocent" (10:8) and catches the helpless "when he draws him in his net" (10:9), and it names nothing that the psalmist will do himself. The next verse says, "The LORD is King forever and ever!" (10:16), and the psalm ends with the LORD's own judging: "to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more" (10:18). Psalm 10 is not the only psalm that prays against the wicked, and Christians read these prayers in more than one way. The chapter on Psalm 109 sets out the main readings, each resting on its verses, and chooses none. These notes don't choose either.
The verses
“He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless. He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.”
“Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none. The LORD is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land. LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.”
“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. God of my praise, don’t remain silent, for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. In return for my love, they are my adversaries; but I am in prayer. They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.”