Somebody Else’s Mail (23)

Several pieces of internal evidence prompt Bible scholars to link Psalms 9 and 10. The most obvious is an irregular acrostic pattern that begins in Psalm 9 (alef through kaf) and which Psalm 10 completes (lamed through tav), though EW Bullinger asserts seven letters are missing. A second clue is the lack of superscription on Psalm 10, and a third is the fact that in the Septuagint they form a single psalm.

Despite these indications, reading the two psalms back to back also raises more than a few questions.

A Few Questions

For example, if the two psalms are so connected:

• Why the abrupt shift of subject in 10:1?
• Why are the two psalms thematically distinct? (Psalm 9 is about the final, collective judgment of the nations, while Psalm 10 concerns evil men at the local level in the present tense, and ponders why God allows them to oppress the poor, helpless and fatherless.)
• Why are they stylistically distinct? (Psalm 9 is ten sets of couplets, while Psalm 10 is eighteen more free-form verses with at least three shifts in subject.)
• Why are they tonally distinct? (Psalm 9 is full of praise and confidence, while Psalm 10 concludes confidently but primarily concerns the evil character of the oppressor and the questions of the observer.)

In the end, despite their historical association, the differences in the psalms are significant. It’s understandable why they might be performed or sung independently. Nevertheless, it’s evident both were composed purposefully and employed Hebrew conventions far more significant to their original readers than are apparent to us with the passage of time via translation. The absence of certain letters surely signifies something, but great scholarly minds have failed to come up with any satisfactory answers. Those who need to know will figure it out.

In the absence of any better ideas, I’m going to consider Psalm 10 as a separate movement in a two-part suite.

Psalm 10:1 — Why?

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”

Historical Setting

If Psalm 9 gives us the praise of Israel’s godly remnant in a future day when the Lord judges their enemies, Psalm 10 seems to step backward in history, to “times of trouble” in which God appears far off from a nation in need of his justice and salvation. If we are still in the arc of Israel’s storyline across human history, as seems possible if the psalms are connected, then we are back in the great tribulation (the “time of Jacob’s trouble”), just after the beast of Revelation has broken the covenant he will make with Israel.

Alternatively, perhaps the psalmist is examining wickedness more generally across time. In Romans, Paul will use verse 7 as one in a long list of OT quotations that demonstrate both Jews and Gentiles are alike under sin. It is not immediately obvious whether the wicked of verses 2 through 11 are Jews or Gentiles, but that does not materially affect Paul’s argument in Romans.

When God Disappears

Verse 1 echoes an OT tradition of dialoguing with God about the ongoing presence of injustice that goes on in the world unaddressed. Job probably posed the question first, and Jeremiah reiterates it, as does Habakkuk. All begin their complaints by asking “Why?” Asaph explores the same theme descriptively in Psalm 73. All except Job conclude God is just and fair, and that the judgment of the wicked will come in its day. Perhaps these later writers had more information about God than Job, who had to be content with an answer something like “The question is too big for you.”

Psalm 10:2-11 —Describing the Wicked

“In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’ His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, ‘I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.’ His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. 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. He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.’ ”

12 Characteristics of Wickedness

• Arrogance (“hotly pursue the poor”)
• Pride (“the wicked boasts”)
• Avarice (“greedy for gain”)
• Blasphemy (“curses and renounces the Lord”)
• Lack of interest in God (“does not seek him”)
• Atheism (“There is no God”)
• Prosperity without regard for the future (“judgments are … out of his sight”)
• False sense of security (“I shall not meet adversity”)
• Lying (“mouth is filled with deceit”)
• Calculation (“under his tongue are mischief”)
• Sneakiness (“ambush”, “hiding”)
• Uniformitarianism (if God has not acted yet, he will not in the future)

The Schemes They Have Devised

We mentioned last week in our discussion of Psalm 9 that God has a tendency to use the wicked’s schemes and traps against them rather than inventing new terrors for them. Our Lord has a sweet sense of irony, not to mention justice. Verse 2 of this psalm echoes verses 15 and 16 of Psalm 9.

There is No God

The statement “all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’ ” may go beyond intellectual atheism to the practical atheist, the man who acknowledges that God may indeed exist, but who lives as if he does not. Every calculation he makes is based on the assumption that God will not be interested enough to interfere or to act on behalf of those who may suffer as a result. Later he says, “God has forgotten” rather than “There is no God”. Such a person is not an avid or accurate theologian. He only cares that God’s absence (for whatever reason) provides an opportunity for his own spoil and profit.

Your Judgments Are … Out of His Sight

God’s judgments are frequently invisible to those about to be judged until the moment he acts. The fear in Jericho prior to Israel’s arrival to knock down its walls was unusual in that respect. It moved Rahab to treason and a change of gods. Far more often, sinners encountering God’s justice for the first time never see it coming: the men of Sodom, Korah in his rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar in his pride, or Herod just before he was eaten of worms and died.

New Testament Usage

The apostle Paul quotes verse 7 (“His mouth”, etc.) in Romans 3:14. An earlier post in this series on Paul’s Use of Psalm 5:9 in Romans 3 discusses that subject in more detail.

Poor, Innocent, Helpless

The psalmist mentions the poor and helpless five times in these verses. These wicked persons described here do not conform to the usual profile for conquerors of nations, who tended to leave the poor and helpless to tend the lands they had acquired, while carrying off or murdering the elite among the nations they conquered. Both the Assyrians who dispersed Israel and the Chaldeans who exiled Judah’s elite left the poor and helpless alone. They did not consider them enemies or hindrances to their plans. They did not even consider them of sufficient value to uproot and relocate.

The wicked in Psalm 10 are different: they are malicious in ways even foreign conquerors were not. They have more in common with the rich oppressors in Israel than with any foreign nation. That’s one reason I feel like the enemies of Psalm 10 are not the enemies of Psalm 9, and may be local and personal rather than global and national.