Psalms 10:14

Thou hast seen [it],.... Though the wicked say God will never see, Psalms 10:11; he sees all things in general, all men and all their actions; all are manifest and open to him, and everything in

Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Thou hast seen it; or, but thou hast seen it, and therefore they are horribly mistaken, as they will find to their cost. For; or, surely, as this particle is oft used, as . Thou beholdest; not as an idle spectator, but with an eye of observation and vindication, as it follows. Mischief and spite, i.e. all the injurious and spiteful or malicious carriages of wicked men towards those who are more righteous than they. To requite it with thy hand, Heb. to give (i.e. to restore or pay, the simple verb for the compound; which is usual in the Hebrew tongue) it (to wit, the mischief which they have done to others) with thy hand, i.e. by thy own immediate and extraordinary providence, because the oppressed were destitute of all other succours. Or, to put (giving being oft used for putting, as hath been observed before) it in or into thy hand, that thou mayst have it always in thine eye, and under thy care and consideration, as the like phrase is evidently used, Therefore thou dost not and canst not forget it, but wilt certainly require it. Committeth himself; or, his matters or cause, i.e. the care of his person and righteous cause. Heb. he leaveth; which word is used for committing to the trust of another, . Of the fatherless, i.e. of such poor oppressed ones as have no friend nor helper; one kind of them being put for all the rest.

Psalms 10:14 Thou hast seen [it]; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite [it] with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.Ver. 14. Thou hast seen it] For thou art All-eye, whatever the wicked conceiteth to the contrary, making thee a God of clouts, as they say, or a heathen idol, which is nothing in the world. To requite it with thy hand] Reponendo in manu tua, by taking it in thy hand, so some render it, sc. ut propius intuearis, certius consideres, diiudices et vindices, that thou mayest take a more near and narrow view of it, and duly punish it (Aben-Ezra). The poor committeth himself unto thee] Heb. leaveth, relinquit seipsum, et currit ad te, he relinquisheth himself, and runneth unto thee, Relinquit in te onus suum (R. Solomon). Now, whosoever committeth himself and his affairs to God shall be sure to find him a faithful depositary. Thou art the helper of the fatherless] The world’ s refuge, as the Grand Seignior is called; The poor man’ s king, as James V, of Scotland. In God "the fatherless findeth mercy," Hosea 14:3. And these arguments David useth in his prayer, not to move God to hear and help, but to work upon his own heart thereby, and to persuade himself to more faith, love, obedience, humility, thankfulness, whereby we are the better fitted for mercy. When a man in a ship plucks a rock it seemeth as if he plucketh the rock nearer the ship, when as, indeed, the ship is plucked nearer the reck. So is it in this case: we seem to persuade God by our arguments, when as, indeed, the change is not wrought in him, but only in ourselves; our arguments are curarum nostrarum levamenta, et fiduciae impetrandi augmenta, the cure of our cares, and props to our faith of obtaining.

(14) The poor committeth himself.—Better, the helpless leaveth it to Thee. By a slight alteration in the division of the Hebrew letters, and of the pointing, we should get, It is against thee that he is strong in darkness. (See Notes above, Psalms 10:8; Psalms 10:10.)

Verse 14. Thou hast seen it] Nothing can escape thy notice. Thou hast not forgotten thy justice, though judgment is not speedily executed on an evil work. But thou wilt requite it with thy hand. By thy power thou wilt cast down and destroy the wicked. The poor committeth himself unto thee] To thee he has given up his body, his soul, and his cause; with the full conviction that thou who art the helper of fatherless, will not forget him.

14. Stanza of Resh, consisting of one long verse. Originally in all probability there were two verses, as in the other alphabetic stanzas. Thou hast seen it] Whatever the wicked may imagine to the contrary, arguing from his own limited experience (Psalms 10:11). Faith triumphs over appearances, for it rests on the unchanging character of God, Who never ceases to ‘behold,’ to observe all that goes on upon the earth. Cp. Psalms 33:13; Psalms 35:22; Psalms 94:9. mischief and spite] The words may be understood thus, of the wrong done; or, as in R.V. marg., of the suffering endured, travail and grief. The first word inclines rather to the objective, the second to the subjective sense. Perhaps we might render: mischief and vexation. to requite it with thy hand] More exactly as R.V., to take it into thy hand. God’s observation cannot fail to lead to action. In His own time He will take the matter in hand. Cp. P.B.V., which however, in opposition to the Hebrew accents, connects the words with the following clause, ‘That thou mayest take the matter into thine hand: the poor &c.’ the poor] The helpless (Psalms 10:8; Psalms 10:10) abandons (such is the literal sense of the word) himself and his cause to God, Who will never abandon him (Psalms 9:10). thou art] Rather as R.V., thou hast been. It is an appeal to experience. The ‘fatherless’ (or ‘orphan’) is mentioned as a typical example of the friendless and unprotected, who are under God’s special guardianship. Cp. the primitive law of Exo 22:22 ff., reechoed in the latest utterance of prophecy, Malachi 3:5.

Thou hast seen it - Thou seest all. Though people act as if their conduct was not observed, yet thou art intimately acquainted with all that they do. The workers of iniquity cannot hide themselves.

14. Thou hast seen it—The psalmist repels their blasphemy. God does behold human actions with legal cognizance.