Where Are You?
10 1 Why, our Father, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man fiercely hunts down the poor; let them be caught in the schemes he has devised. 3 For the wicked boasts about what his heart craves; the greedy man curses and renounces our Father. 4 In his arrogance the wicked man will not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God." a a v4 The wicked man's settled thought — "There is no God" — is the ancient lie that our Father is distant or absent. The psalm answers it: our Father does see, and he defends the helpless. 5 His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, far above him; he sneers at all his foes. 6 He says in his heart, "I will never be shaken; from generation to generation I will meet no trouble."
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and wickedness. 8 He sits in ambush near the villages; from hiding places he murders the innocent, his eyes stealthily watching for the helpless. 9 He lies in wait in secret like a lion in its thicket; he lies in wait to seize the poor, dragging off the poor in his net. 10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; the helpless fall by his might. 11 He says in his heart, "God has forgotten; he has hidden his face; he will never see it."
12 Arise, our Father! Lift up your hand; do not forget the afflicted. 13 Why does the wicked man renounce our Father and say in his heart, "You will not call me to account"? 14 But you do see, for you take note of trouble and grief, to take it into your own hand. The helpless one entrusts himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. b b v14 Our Father is named here as the helper of the fatherless — the orphan's defender. His heart shelters the very ones no one else will protect. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call his wickedness to account until you find no more. c c v15 "Break the arm" — shatter his power to harm; "find no more" — until his wickedness is gone.
16 Our Father is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. 17 You hear the longing of the afflicted, our Father; you will strengthen their heart; you will listen closely, 18 to do justice for the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere mortals may strike terror no more.