Salmos 10

ARC · Chapter 10/150

1Porque estás ao longe, Senhor? Porque te escondes nos tempos de angustia?

2Os impios na sua arrogancia perseguem furiosamente o miseravel; sejam apanhados nas ciladas que machinaram.

3Porque o impio gloria-se do desejo da sua alma; bemdiz ao avarento, e blasphema do Senhor.

4Pela altivez do seu rosto o impio não busca a Deus: todas as suas cogitações são que não ha Deus

5Os seus caminhos atormentam sempre: os teus juizos estão longe da vista d'elle em grande altura, e despreza aos seus inimigos.

6Diz em seu coração: Não serei commovido, porque nunca me verei na adversidade.

7A sua bocca está cheia d'inprecações, d'enganos e d'astucia; debaixo da sua lingua ha molestia e maldade.

8Põe-se nas emboscadas das aldeias; nos logares occultos mata ao innocente; os seus olhos estão occultamente fitos contra o pobre.

9Arma ciladas no esconderijo, como o leão no seu covil; arma ciladas para roubar ao miseravel; rouba ao miseravel, trazendo-o na sua rede.

10Encolhe-se, abaixa-se, para que os pobres caiam em suas fortes garras.

11Diz em seu coração: Deus esqueceu-se, cobriu o seu rosto, e nunca o verá.

12Levanta-te, Senhor: oh! Deus, levanta a tua mão; não te esqueças dos miseraveis.

13Porque blasphema o impio de Deus? dizendo no seu coração: Tu não o esquadrinharás?

14Tu o viste, porque attentas para o trabalho e enfado, para o entregar em tuas mãos; a ti o pobre se encommenda, tu és o auxilio do orphão.

15Quebra o braço do impio e malvado; busca a sua impiedade, até que nenhuma encontres.

16O Senhor é Rei eterno; da sua terra perecerão os gentios.

17Senhor, tu ouviste os desejos dos mansos; confortarás os seus corações; os teus ouvidos estarão abertos para elles;

18Para fazer justiça ao orphão e ao opprimido, afim de que o homem da terra não prosiga mais em usar da violencia.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The psalmist asks why God seems distant while the wicked prosper by oppressing the poor and the orphan, and closes by asking God to rise up to bring justice and defend the defenseless.

Explanation

A natural continuation of Psalm 9 (forming a single poem in the original Hebrew), this text gives honest voice to a universal question: why do the wicked seem to win while God 'hides himself'? The portrait of the oppressor is detailed — he lies, deceives, and takes advantage of others' weakness, convinced that 'God hath forgotten' (v. 11). The Bible does not avoid this hard question, but turns it into prayer. Today's application: it is legitimate to question God in the face of injustice, as long as it leads us to prayer rather than cynicism, trusting that he is 'the helper of the fatherless' (v. 14).

Fun facts

  • Together with Psalm 9, it forms a Hebrew alphabetic acrostic — a device used to aid memorization in a culture with a largely oral tradition.
  • The closing line, 'that the man of the earth may no more oppress,' is one of the earliest biblical expressions of the desire for justice that structurally protects the vulnerable, not merely punishes isolated cases.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 10:1It opens with the classic question of someone suffering and feeling God's absence: why does He seem so far away exactly in the time of trouble?
  2. Salmos 10:2It describes the arrogance of those who persecute the weak, and already asks that the very trap planned for the victims close in on the one who set it.
  3. Salmos 10:3It shows the wicked man's inverted values: he takes pride in his own greed, praises those as covetous as himself, and treats God with contempt.
  4. Salmos 10:4This isn't a philosophical debate about God's existence: it's a description of someone too arrogant to care about God in practice, living as though his own actions carried no consequences at all.
  5. Salmos 10:5It describes how the wicked man's way always seems to succeed, so far beyond the reach of God's judgment that he doesn't even worry about it, and so he treats his own enemies with contempt.
  6. Salmos 10:6It shows the wicked man's false security: he's so certain nothing will go wrong that he doesn't even consider the possibility of ever facing hardship.
  7. Salmos 10:7It describes what comes out of the wicked man's mouth: cursing, deceit, and mischief hidden under his tongue, like a poison kept ready for use.
  8. Salmos 10:8It describes the wicked man as an ambush predator, hidden in the corners of villages, his eyes fixed in secret on the poor and defenseless.
  9. Salmos 10:9Comparing the oppressor to a lion hidden in wait for prey is a hunting image: he hides, stays still, and ambushes the weaker one by surprise. It's a realistic description of how violence worked against those with no defense.
  10. Salmos 10:10The hunting image continues: he crouches and stoops like an animal preparing to pounce, waiting for the moment to seize the weak.
  11. Salmos 10:11It reveals the logic behind the wickedness: the wicked man acts this way only because he's convinced God has forgotten, has looked away, and will never notice what he does.
  12. Salmos 10:12It's the direct request that contradicts the wicked man's assumption from the previous verse: that God has not forgotten, and more than that, that He rise up and act on behalf of the one who suffers.
  13. Salmos 10:13It repeats the same accusation in the form of a question: why can the wicked man go on living in contempt of God, betting he'll never be held accountable for it?
  14. Salmos 10:14It flatly contradicts the wicked man's assumption: God does see the suffering and weariness of those who endure it, and it's to Him that the poor and the orphan turn for help.
  15. Salmos 10:15In Hebrew poetry, arm is a synonym for strength and power to act, so asking that the arm of the wicked be broken is asking that his capacity to do harm be canceled out, not calling for a specific physical injury.
  16. Salmos 10:16After describing at such length the wicked man's apparent power, the psalm recalls who truly reigns forever, in contrast to nations that will one day vanish.
  17. Salmos 10:17It shifts into confidence: the desires of the humble don't fall into emptiness, God listens and even promises to strengthen their hearts.
  18. Salmos 10:18The psalm closes with the ultimate goal of all this justice: to protect the orphan and the oppressed until human violence simply has no way left to continue.

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