Psalm 10
Theme
A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked
Outline
1-5, The Pride of the Wicked 6-11, The Plans of the Wicked 12-15, The Prayers of the Righteous 16-18, The Humility of the Righteous
Key Verse
(10:1) Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?
Notes
Psalms 9 and 10 together form a single acrostic poem that spans both psalms. This acrostic is irregular and broken, beginning with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph) in Psalm 9:1 and continuing through the alphabet, with the final letter (Tav) appearing in Psalm 10:18. The acrostic is split evenly between the two psalms, with ten letters in Psalm 9 and eleven in Psalm 10, and the total word count of the acrostic is nearly identical in both psalms, with 162 words each when certain markers like "Selah" are excluded. This structural unity is further supported by the fact that Psalms 9 and 10 are treated as one psalm in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, and the absence of a heading in Psalm 10 in the main Hebrew manuscripts. The irregularity of the acrostic is thought to reflect the theme of "times of trouble" or the "great tribulation" that the psalms describe.