The Perils of the Pilgrim 1 Why, LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself for times of distress?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Why, O Lord," says he, "have You withdrawn afar off?" Then he who thus inquired, as if all on a sudden he understood, or as if he asked, though he knew, that he might teach, adds, "You despise in due seasons, in tribulations:" that is, You despise seasonably, and causest tribulations to inflame men's minds with longing for Your coming.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 In his regard for the afflicted, he says to the Lord in the manner of human weakness, "Why have you withdrawn far away?" This does not mean that God leaves a place and moves to another location since he is completely present in every place.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Here he sets forth the progress of the wicked. And first, he sets forth the cause of their wickedness. Second, he describes their wickedness, at "whose mouth is full of cursing," etc. Third, against it he implores divine assistance, at "Arise, O Lord God." The cause of wickedness is twofold: namely permissive and inductive.
2 In the pride of the wicked the afflicted man burns; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Then he who thus inquired, as if all on a sudden he understood, or as if he asked, though he knew, that he might teach, adds, "You despise in due seasons, in tribulations:" that is, You despise seasonably, and causest tribulations to inflame men's minds with longing for Your coming. For that fountain of life is sweeter to them that have much thirst.
3 For the wicked has praised the craving of his own soul, and the one who takes by force has blessed himself and spurned the LORD.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 [The wicked] are chiefly of this type who lack wisdom and spiritual resources, nor do they hold to teachings of the faith correctly. They incur the judgment of wise providence when they praise the sinner indulging in his own desires. However, it becomes apparent enough that the sinner strives not for better things but for more pleasing and desirous ones.
Martin of Braga · AD 580 The disease of pride is acute; it poisons from either side, and it wounds when least expected. For some boast of themselves because they are good, others because they are bad.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "Because." Here are set forth three causes leading to sin. The first is flattery. The second, contempt of God, at "he said in his heart." The third, presumption, at "God is not." Regarding the first, he does three things. First, he sets forth the flattery. Second, the effect. Third, the divine clemency.
4 The wicked, in the height of his nose, will not seek him out; “There is no God” is the whole of his schemes.
Diodorus of Tarsus · AD 390 In his wish to give vent to his anger and desires, [a wicked person] becomes so caught up in his passion as to be unaware that there is someone who has an eye to human affairs.… He acts as if God were not surveying what happens.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The sinner has angered the Lord" [Psalm 10:4]. Let no one congratulate the man that prospers in his way, to whose sins no avenger is near, and an approver is by. This is the greater anger of the Lord. For the sinner has angered the Lord, that he should suffer these things, that is, should not suffer the scourging of correction.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "God is not." Above, the Psalmist set forth certain causes of the malice of the wicked, of which one was permissive, because God withdrew far off; the second was inductive, namely the flattering tongue. Here are set forth other motivating causes, namely intrinsic ones, which are two: namely contempt of God and personal presumption.
5 His ways prosper at every time; your judgments are on high, far from him; all his foes — he puffs at them.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 This is the reason why the sinner provokes the Lord, because he does not keep him before his eyes, because he turns himself away from God. The one who sins conducts himself in this way.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "God is not in his sight, his ways are polluted in all time." He that knows what in the soul gives joy and gladness, knows how great an ill it is to be abandoned by the light of truth: since a great ill do men reckon the blindness of their bodily eyes, whereby this light is withdrawn.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "They are removed." Here he shows how they contemn divine judgment. And first, he sets forth the cause. Second, he shows the effect, at "all his enemies." "Your judgments," that is, your benefits, "are removed from his face," that is, from his mind and memory; and so he will not fear because he does not think about them. Prov.
6 He has said in his heart, “I shall not be shaken; from generation to generation I am one whom evil will not touch.”
Eusebius of Caesarea · AD 339 So bold is the person who does not look on God or recognize his judgment that he does not consider within himself his own audacious wicked deeds, believing that he will rejoice forever in his prosperity. His mouth swells up with blasphemies and irreverence.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 What could be more stupid than this attitude in a human being, subject to death, caught up in affairs of the moment, subject to countless changes, to come up with such fantasies? Now, where did this spring from? From stupidity.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 And seeing that being delivered over to the lust of his own heart, and predestinated to extreme condemnation, he is to come, by wicked arts, to that vain and empty height and rule; therefore it follows, "For he has said in his heart, I shall not move from generation to generation without evil" [Psalm 10:6]: that is, my fame and my name will not pass from this generation to the…
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceits and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and iniquity.
Romans · AD 56 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and deceit" [Psalm 10:7]. For it is a great curse to seek heaven by such abominable arts, and to get together such earnings for acquiring the eternal seat. But of this cursing his mouth is full.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "Whose mouth." Here he sets forth the progress of malice. And first, in the heart, about which he has already spoken. Second, of the mouth. Third, of deed, "he sits in ambush," etc. Regarding the first, he sets forth two things. The sin of the mouth, which is committed in three ways. Sometimes by cursing God or neighbor, which is to break forth into blasphemy: Is.
8 He sits in the ambush of the villages; in the hiding places he kills the innocent; his eyes lurk for the hapless.
Jerome · AD 420 And lastly, against the devil: 'God is not before his eyes, he sits in ambush with the rich.' Unhappy the rich, with whom the devil sits.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "He lies in ambush with the rich" [Psalm 10:8]. What rich, but those whom he will load with this world's gifts? And he is therefore said to lie in ambush with them, because he will display their false happiness to deceive men; who, when with a perverted will they desire to be such as they, and seek not the good things eternal, will fall into his snares.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Here he shows the progress of the wicked as regards the body; and regarding this he does two things. First, he sets forth their progress. Second, the end of the progress, "in the snare." Regarding the first, he does three things.
9 He lies in wait in the covert, like a lion in his thicket; he lies in wait to seize the afflicted; he seizes the afflicted when he drags him off in his net.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 He lies in wait in secret, like a lion in his den or a savage lion in his cave so that he may drag off the poor by crafty speech and, equally often, by their deeds. After he has caught him in the trap he will draw him to apostasy. Wild beasts are threatening, and especially so the lion.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 In earlier times, the persecution of the church was merely violent, when Christians were being pressed by pagans through proscriptions, torture and beatings to sacrifice to idols. A second type of persecution is through deceit, which is currently being carried out by heretics and false Christians. A final form still remains, and it is predicted to come through the Antichrist.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "He lies in ambush." Here the manner of ambush is set forth. And first, he sets forth the comparison: "like a lion in his den," namely, so wicked rulers oppress the poor. Prov. 28: "A roaring lion and a hungry bear: a wicked ruler over a poor people." Second, the manner of ambush itself, "he lies in ambush to seize." Prov.
10 He crouches, he bows down, and the hapless fall by his mighty ones.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Just as the inspired author describes them as a wild beast, so he talks about them in those terms, making a show of their tricks, ambushes, schemes. What could be more pitiful than this, what could be more desperate, to feel the need of the possessions of the poor? So shall we call these people rich, tell me?… Do you see their moral bankruptcy and cruelty?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Again, the two which follow are the same. "In his snare he will humble him," is craft [Psalm 10:10]. "He shall decline and fall, while he shall have domination over the poor," is violence. For a "snare" naturally points to "lying in wait:" but domination most openly conveys the idea of terror.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "In his snare." Here two things are set forth. And first, to what their effort leads. Second, the cause, at "he said." For the effort of the sinner, according to his intention, leads to the prostration of the poor; hence, "in his snare." But according to God's ordering, it leads first to the emptying of his power; hence, "he bowed himself down." For it happens that warlike men…
11 He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; he has hidden his face; he will never see it.”
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But how shall he decline, and fall? "For he has said in his heart, God has forgotten; He turns away His face, that He see not unto the end." This is declining, and the most wretched fall, while the mind of a man prospers as it were in its iniquities, and thinks that it is spared; when it is being blinded, and kept for an extreme and timely vengeance.
12 Rise, LORD! God, lift up your hand; do not forget the afflicted.
Eusebius of Caesarea · AD 339 Through these words he asks that whenever the forbearance and kindness of God are being set in motion, and he is stirred to judgment against the wicked, in which judgment the uplifted hand of God, he will judge each one.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Of which the Psalmist now speaks: "Arise, O Lord God, let Thine hand be exalted" (ver. 12): that is, let Thy power be made manifest. Now he had said above, "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail, let the heathen be judged in Thy sight:" that is, in secret, where God alone seeth.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "Arise." Above, the Psalmist diligently pursued the order of human iniquity; here, as if driven by zeal and crying out, he implores assistance against this wickedness. And first, he implores assistance. Second, he introduces prayers and their being heard. Third, he foretells his being heard.
13 For what has the wicked spurned God? He has said in his heart, “You will not seek it out.”
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Accordingly understanding now the manifest judgment, and in exultation at it, they say, "Wherefore hath the ungodly angered God?" (ver. 13); that is, what hath it profited him to do so great evil? "For he said in his heart, He will not require it."
14 You have seen — for you yourself look on trouble and grief, to take it into your hand. Upon you the hapless leaves his case; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 The poor abandon themselves to you. You will care for his deliverance so that you may make him rich in heavenly goods. So also, the orphan is helped, protected and nourished like a son. It is important to understand here that the orphan is one whose father is the devil because of iniquity but who has cast him out through the practice of repentance.
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 Even if those living in impiety claim countless times, he is saying, that you are not looking at human affairs, we know that you are studying and considering their crimes and requiring due penalty of them.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "To you." Here he confirms the first reason; as if to say: you should not forget, because "to you the poor man is left," hence his care belongs to you. Is. 52: "Rejoice and be glad together, O desolate Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people." All who have nothing in the world except God alone, their help belongs to God alone. 2 Chron.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness till you find none.
Evagrius Ponticus · AD 399 The sinner is the one who sins out of lust and weakness; the wicked one is he who follows after evil with a deliberated plan.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Break the arm of the sinner and of the malicious"; of him, namely, of whom it was said above, "He shall have dominion over all his enemies." He called his power then, his arm; to which Christ's power is opposed, of which it is said, "Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "Break." Here he announces his being heard. And first, as to sinners. Second, as to the poor, at "the desire of the poor," etc. Regarding the first, he does two things. First, he announces the cessation of the power of the wicked by which they inflicted evils. Second, the cessation of their evils themselves.
16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations have perished from his land.
Gregory of Nyssa · AD 395 We find that we are drawn round uninterruptedly and evenly, and that we are always following a circumference where there is nothing to grasp; we find the divine life returning upon itself in an unbroken continuity, where no end and no parts can be recognized.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 After this, what wonder if there follow, "The Lord shall reign for ever and world without end; ye heathen shall perish out of His earth"? He uses heathen for sinners and ungodly.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 After the universal calamity has been abolished, the psalmist turns to the new order of things. For after the Antichrist has been killed, the eternal, holy and benevolent kingdom of the Lord will come. Wicked evil is permitted to advance quite far in order that the longed-for kingdom of the Lord may be received with greater thanks.
17 The craving of the afflicted you have heard, LORD; you will make their heart firm; you will make your ear attend,
Eusebius of Caesarea · AD 339 The Lord has heard the desires of the poor.… They have suffered misfortune and endured affliction in this life, but he who is king of the ages and judge will vindicate them "lest people boast on the earth."
Cassiodorus · AD 585 "Your ear has heard." We should regularly note that God does not have any physical members, but the the power by which he hears is called his ear, that by which he sees his eye, and that by which he acts his hand. These ideas should be committed to memory so that we may not seem to offend you by repeating them, because they often need to be repeated.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "The desire." Here he foretells being heard on the part of the poor; and he sets forth three things. First, the hearing, at "the desire." Second, in what he was heard, at "to judge." Third, with what fruit, at "that man may no longer presume." Regarding the first, he shows that the poor are heard efficaciously, because God gives them what they desire. Prov.
18 to judge the fatherless and the crushed, so that a man of the earth may terrify no more.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "To judge for the orphan and the humble" [Psalm 10:18]: that is, not for him who is conformed to this world, nor for the proud. For it is one thing to judge the orphan, another to judge for the orphan. He judges the orphan even, who condemns him; but he judges for the orphan, who delivers sentence for him.