He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net. He lies in waitThe phrase "He lies in wait" suggests a deliberate and premeditated action, akin to a predator stalking its prey. In the Hebrew text, the word used here is "אָרַב" (arab), which conveys the idea of lurking or ambushing. This imagery is powerful, evoking the stealth and cunning of an adversary who seeks to exploit the vulnerable. Historically, this reflects the tactics of ancient warfare and hunting, where patience and surprise were crucial for success. Spiritually, it serves as a warning against the subtle and often hidden nature of evil, reminding believers to remain vigilant and discerning. in a den
The term "in a den" refers to a hidden or concealed place, often associated with wild animals. The Hebrew word "סֵתֶר" (seter) implies secrecy and covertness. In the ancient Near Eastern context, dens were natural hiding places for predators, providing both shelter and a strategic advantage. This metaphor highlights the deceptive and insidious nature of wickedness, which often operates under the guise of safety and security. For the believer, it underscores the importance of seeking refuge in God, who is our true shelter and protector. like a lion
The simile "like a lion" draws on the majestic yet fearsome image of a lion, a common symbol of strength and ferocity in biblical literature. The Hebrew word "כְּאַרְיֵה" (ke'aryeh) emphasizes the power and intimidation associated with this king of beasts. In the ancient world, lions were both revered and feared, representing both royal authority and deadly threat. This comparison serves to illustrate the formidable and aggressive nature of the wicked, who, like lions, seek to dominate and destroy. It also reminds believers of the need for courage and faith in the face of such threats, trusting in God's ultimate sovereignty. in his thicket
The phrase "in his thicket" suggests a place of entanglement and confusion, where visibility is limited and escape is difficult. The Hebrew "בְּסֻכָּתוֹ" (besukkato) can be translated as "in his covert" or "in his lair," indicating a place of concealment. Thickets in the biblical landscape were dense and tangled, providing cover for predators. This imagery conveys the complexity and entrapment of sin, which ensnares and entangles those who fall into its grasp. For the believer, it is a call to seek clarity and guidance from God, who leads us through the tangled paths of life. He lurks
The word "He lurks" further emphasizes the stealthy and hidden nature of the wicked. The Hebrew "יֶאֱרֹב" (ye'ehrob) suggests a patient and watchful waiting, ready to seize an opportunity. This behavior is characteristic of those who operate in darkness, avoiding detection while plotting harm. In a spiritual sense, it highlights the persistent and pervasive presence of evil in the world, which often goes unnoticed until it strikes. Believers are encouraged to remain alert and prayerful, relying on the Holy Spirit for discernment and protection. to seize the poor
The phrase "to seize the poor" reveals the target of the wicked's schemes: the vulnerable and defenseless. The Hebrew "לַחֲטֹף עָנִי" (lachtof ani) conveys a sense of violence and exploitation, as the wicked take advantage of those who lack power and resources. This reflects a recurring biblical theme of social injustice, where the marginalized are often oppressed by those in positions of strength. For the Christian, it is a call to advocate for justice and mercy, following Christ's example of compassion and care for the least of these. He catches the helpless
The phrase "He catches the helpless" continues the theme of preying on the vulnerable. The Hebrew "יַחְטֹף עָנִי" (yachtsof ani) suggests a sudden and forceful action, capturing those who are unable to defend themselves. This highlights the predatory nature of evil, which seeks to ensnare and dominate the weak. In a broader sense, it serves as a reminder of the spiritual battle that rages against the forces of darkness, urging believers to stand firm in their faith and support those who are oppressed. dragging him off in his net
The imagery of "dragging him off in his net" evokes the picture of a hunter capturing prey. The Hebrew "בְּרִשְׁתּוֹ" (berishto) refers to a net, a common tool for trapping animals or fish. This metaphor illustrates the calculated and methodical approach of the wicked, who ensnare their victims with deceit and manipulation. For the believer, it is a sobering reminder of the enticements and traps of sin, which can lead to spiritual captivity. It calls for a reliance on God's wisdom and strength to navigate the challenges of life and avoid the snares of the enemy. Persons / Places / Events 1. The Wicked ManThe primary subject of this verse, depicted as a predator lying in wait to harm the vulnerable. 2. The OppressedThose who are targeted by the wicked, representing the innocent and defenseless in society. 3. The LionA metaphor for the wicked man's predatory nature, emphasizing stealth and strength. 4. The ThicketSymbolizes the hidden places where the wicked lie in wait, suggesting deceit and ambush. 5. The NetRepresents the traps and schemes used by the wicked to ensnare the innocent. Teaching Points Awareness of EvilRecognize that evil often operates in hidden and deceitful ways, much like a predator lying in wait. Christians should be vigilant and discerning. Protection for the VulnerableAs followers of Christ, we are called to protect and advocate for the oppressed and lowly, who are often targets of wicked schemes. Trust in God's JusticeWhile the wicked may seem to succeed temporarily, trust that God sees all and will ultimately bring justice to the oppressed. Spiritual WarfareUnderstand that the imagery of a lion and a net can also apply to spiritual battles. Equip yourself with the armor of God to stand against the schemes of the devil. Community SupportEncourage a strong community of believers who support and uplift one another, providing protection and strength against those who seek to harm. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of a lion in a thicket help us understand the nature of the wicked in this verse? 2. In what ways can we, as a church community, support and protect the oppressed in our society? 3. How does the concept of spiritual warfare relate to the imagery used in Psalm 10:9? 4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure we are not caught in the "net" of deceit and sin? 5. How can we find comfort and assurance in God's justice when we see the wicked prospering temporarily? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 7:2This verse also uses the imagery of a lion, describing how the wicked seek to tear apart their prey, highlighting the danger and aggression of evil forces. Proverbs 1:11-12These verses discuss the enticement of sinners who lie in wait for blood, drawing a parallel to the deceitful and predatory nature of the wicked. 1 Peter 5:8This New Testament verse warns believers to be vigilant because the devil prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, echoing the predatory imagery of Psalm 10:9. People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Afflicted, Ambush, Catch, Catches, Catcheth, Cover, Covert, Den, Drags, Draweth, Drawing, Draws, Hands, Helpless, Hiding, Hole, Keeps, Lair, Lies, Lieth, Lion, Lurketh, Lurks, Net, Poor, Pulling, Secret, Secretly, Seize, Seizes, Thicket, Wait, WaitingDictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 10:9 4666 lion
5425 net Psalm 10:2-11 5793 arrogance Psalm 10:4-11 6169 godlessness Psalm 10:8-9 5977 waiting
8787 opposition, to God Psalm 10:8-11 5348 injustice, nature and source Psalm 10:9-11 5896 irreverence Library One Saying from Three Men
'The wicked hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved.' --PSALM x. 6. 'Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.' --PSALM xvi. 8. 'And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.' --PSALM xxx. 6. How differently the same things sound when said by different men! Here are three people giving utterance to almost the same sentiment of confidence. A wicked man says it, and it is insane presumption and defiance. A good man says it, having been lulled into false security by easy times, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Poor Man's Friend
"The poor committeth himself unto thee."--Psalm 10:14. GOD IS THE POOR MAN'S FRIEND; the poor man, in His helplessness and despair, leaves his case in the hands of God, and God undertakes to care for him. In the days of David,--and I suppose, in this respect, the world has but little improved,--the poor man was the victim of almost everybody's cruelty, and sometimes he was very shamefully oppressed. If he sought redress for his wrongs, he generally only increased them, for he was regarded as a rebel …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 53: 1907 Jerome
I, Jerome, [2568] son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which is on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia and was overthrown by the Goths, up to the present year, that is, the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius, have written the following: Life of Paul the monk, one book of Letters to different persons, an Exhortation to Heliodorus, Controversy of Luciferianus and Orthodoxus, Chronicle of universal history, 28 homilies of Origen on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which I translated from Greek into Latin, …
Various—Jerome and Gennadius Lives of Illustrious Men. Look we Then, Beloved, what Hardships in Labors and Sorrows Men Endure...
3. Look we then, beloved, what hardships in labors and sorrows men endure, for things which they viciously love, and by how much they think to be made by them more happy, by so much more unhappily covet. How much for false riches, how much for vain honors, how much for affections of games and shows, is of exceeding peril and trouble most patiently borne! We see men hankering after money, glory, lasciviousness, how, that they may arrive at their desires, and having gotten not lose them, they endure …
St. Augustine—On Patience The Tests of Love to God
LET us test ourselves impartially whether we are in the number of those that love God. For the deciding of this, as our love will be best seen by the fruits of it, I shall lay down fourteen signs, or fruits, of love to God, and it concerns us to search carefully whether any of these fruits grow in our garden. 1. The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial These Things, My Brother Aurelius, Most Dear unto Me...
38. These things, my brother Aurelius, most dear unto me, and in the bowels of Christ to be venerated, so far as He hath bestowed on me the ability Who through thee commanded me to do it, touching work of Monks, I have not delayed to write; making this my chief care, lest good brethren obeying apostolic precepts, should by lazy and disobedient be called even prevaricators from the Gospel: that they which work not, may at the least account them which do work to be better than themselves without doubt. …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks. The Situation of the Jews During this Period.
As we have seen in earlier chapters, the declarations of Holy Writ make it very clear that Israel will yet be restored to God's favor and be rehabilitated in Palestine. But before that glad time arrives, the Jews have to pass through a season of sore trouble and affliction, during which God severely chastises them for their sins and punishes them for the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah. Fearful indeed have been the past experiences of "the nation of the weary feet" but a darker path than …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V. …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep "And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life Life of Jerome.
The figures in parentheses, when not otherwise indicated, refer to the pages in this volume. For a full account of the Life, the translator must refer to an article (Hieronymus) written by him in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography. A shorter statement may suffice here, since the chief sources of information are contained in this volume, and to these reference will be continually made. Childhood and Youth. A.D. 345. Jerome was born at Stridon, near Aquileia, but in Pannonia, a place …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome The Revelation and Career of the Anti-Christ.
Who is the Anti-christ? Varied and wild have been the answers to this question. In pre-christian times there were many who regarded Antiochus Epiphanes as the one whom Daniel and the other prophets described. At the beginning of this dispensation Nero was looked upon as the predicted Man of Sin. After the Reformation the Papacy was selected as the fulfiller of the prophecies given through the Patmos seer. And in our day there have been those who consider the Kaiser to be the Son of Perdition. It …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 10:9 NIVPsalm 10:9 NLTPsalm 10:9 ESVPsalm 10:9 NASBPsalm 10:9 KJV
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