Job 10
Psalm 10 begins with the psalmist appealing to God as he observes the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. Overall, the poem pleads God to address a reality in which the wicked act arrogantly and suppress the poor and the weak, as if God were sometimes silent. The psalmist then confesses hope, proclaiming that God will ultimately not ignore such injustice and will rise up for those who are suffering.
1verse“My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2verseI will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
3verseIs it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
4verseDo you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?
5verseAre your days as the days of mortals, or your years as man’s years,
6versethat you inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin?
7verseAlthough you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.
8verse“‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.
9verseRemember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?
10verseHaven’t you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11verseYou have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12verseYou have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.
13verseYet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is with you:
14verseif I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity.
15verseIf I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still will not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my affliction.
16verseIf my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.
17verseYou renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me.
18verse“‘Why, then, have you brought me out of the womb? I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.
19verseI should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20verseAren’t my days few? Stop! Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,
21versebefore I go where I will not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
22versethe land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.’”
The Main Message of the Whole Chapter
This psalm is mainly about raising questions concerning God’s silence and God’s judgment of the wicked, as well as God’s care for those who are oppressed. Even in the midst of suffering, it sings that we can appeal to God and that in the end God’s justice will be realized. The psalmist addresses, in a weighty way, how evil in human society and God’s righteousness clash, and ultimately places all hope in God.
Points for Reflection
- Even in times when it feels like God is not beside us, we can think about how we are able to pray in faith.
- Rather than becoming discouraged by the world’s injustice and evil deeds, we renew our hope that God will never ignore them.
Apply It to Yourself
- I check my heart on how I am accepting God’s silence in the midst of difficulties.
- I think about how I can pray and act for the weak around me and those who are being oppressed.
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