Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? – David did not utter this Psalm of any one particular occasion; it is rather a prayer which anyone who is in trouble by reason of an enemy might use. In it he tells of the ways of the wicked in his persecution of the poor and him who is helpless to escape him. And because usually the persecutor does not act openly, he tells of the persecution by the wicked, how he oppresses the poor by means of ambush and secret place; and that (the poor) has no means of safeguarding himself from him but (in turning) his eyes upon the Lord. And he tells of the deeds of the wicked individually and generally, for the wicked is one and his helpers many. And he includes in the Psalm likewise (a reference to) the persecution with which the nations of the world would persecute Israel in their land; therefore he says (v. 16), the heathen are perished out of his land. And he says: that mortal man (shall no longer) oppress (v. 18). He says: Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? For when help comes from Him to the poor and to him that crieth, it is as if He were nigh and helping him, as it says (Deut. 4:7): "that hath a God so nigh unto them"; and it says (Ps. 145:18): "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him"; and when the enemy prevails it is as if God were far away, and hiding His eyes from the poor – therefore he says: Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? And the beth of ברחוק stands really for two words; I mean רחוק במקום, "in a place afar.⁠"

Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble (בצרה)? – times, that is, when the poor is in trouble (בצרה).

In the pride of the wicked does he hotly pursue the poor – that is, in the (bold and) public way with which in his pride he pursues him.

Let them be caught in the devices that (זוּ) they have planned – Let them be caught is a prayer: May it please Thee that the wicked be caught in the devices that they have planned to catch the poor. זוּ is to be explained as the equivalent of אשׁר, and so (Is. 42:24): זוּ חטאנו לו, "He against whom we have sinned.⁠"

For the wicked doth congratulate himself – because he congratulates himself

upon his soul's desire – When he does it and none denies him, Thou shalt shew him that there is One supreme over him, and he shall be caught in what he proposes to do.

And blesses the robber, him who despises the Lord – The wicked blesses and praises the robber and him who holds on his way and despises God, and says that He is powerless to deliver the oppressed out of his hand, or that there is none who pays regard to him, as it says (v. 13), He says in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

The wicked according to the loftiness of his looks (lit. nose) – The loftiness of the heart displays itself in the face, and the face is indicated by the nose (אף), for it is high upon the face, as (1 Sam 20:41), "and fell on his nose (לאפיו),⁠" where the meaning is on his face;⁠" and bowed to him nose (אפים) to the earth" (Gen. 42:6), where the meaning is faces.

doth not (seek) God – Because of his haughtiness and pride he does not seek God, neither does he pray to Him.

All his thoughts are, There is no God – All the thoughts of the wicked and his calculations are: that there is no God judging in the earth, and everything which man pleases to do let him do, for there is none to seek (require), and none to search it out, therefore he does not seek God.

His ways are grievous – (יחילו may be explained) from the significance of חיל in "pain (חיל) as of a woman in travail" (Ps.48:7). He says: that the evil ways of the wicked cause pangs to the poor.

always – for all the while he is in the world they are afraid of him.

O Exalted One, Thy judgments are out of his sight – מרום (Exalted) is a vocative addressed to God – Blessed be He! He says: For Thou, O Lord, Exalted One, Thy judgments are out of his sight and do not touch him, therefore he is boastful.

All his adversaries – i.e. the poor.

he puffeth at them – They are as a puff of breath before him. Or it (יפיח) may be interpreted from the meaning (of פח) a trap and a snare: as if to say that he sets a trap among them to take them. And so "they bring a city into a snare (יפיחו)" (Prov. 29:8).

He says in his heart, I shall not be moved – He thinks in his heart I shall not ever be moved; I shall never be moved from my greatness.

generation after generation not be in adversity – For generation after generation shall I live, for I shall not be in, nor see, adversity; therefore I shall live a long time.

His mouth is full of swearing, deceit, and fraud – Such is the way of the wicked; when he wishes to deceive others he swears to them with a full mouth, so that he may seem to swear in all sincerity, and this is deceit and fraud. Fraud also is the same as deceit, because there is not really in his heart what he pretends with his mouth.

Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity – When he takes an oath with his tongue, under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. The heart is under the tongue, hidden from what is revealed by the tongue. So also (in the verse) "high praise was under my tongue" (Ps. 66:17); he (the Psalmist) is speaking of the heart. And מלא (full) is not an adjective, but a verb, as: "and the glory of the Lord filled (מלא) the tabernacle" (Exod. 40. 34). He says: he fills his mouth with swearing so that a man may trust him, and then he plays him false.

He sitteth in the places of ambush of the villages – The villages are the open towns which are upon the highways: as "her towns (lit. her daughters) and her villages" (Jos. 15:45); "the villages that Kedar doth inhabit" (Is. 42:11). Similarly we find (Zech. 2:8) "Jerusalem shall dwell as open regions.⁠"

In the secret places doth he murder the innocent – for usually the wicked does not do his wicked work openly, but he sits in ambushes and secret places that he may beware of the sons of men so that they may not see him. But he cannot beware of the All–seeing God!

His eyes lie in wait for the hapless – לחלכה is equivalent to חלך with the addition of he; and its interpretation: "for the poor.⁠" He says: that the eyes of the wicked are on the look out for the poor, to take him. And יצפנו (lie in wait for) is an intransitive verb, as if he meant "he sets his eyes in a hidden place (צפון), and from thence looks out over the roads.⁠"

He lieth in ambush in the secret place as a lion in his den: He lieth in ambush to catch the poor: He catcheth the poor, when he draweth him in his net. – He likens him to a lion as he crouches in his den and lieth in wait to catch the passer–by or one near at hand, so that they will not (be able to) guard themselves against him and flee from him when they see him; and when he sees the prey he catcheth (it). And (the word) "catching" here means "seizing quickly,⁠" for the wicked sits in ambush in the secret place. Afterwards he compares him with a fowler who spreads his net and stands at a distance from it so that the bird may not be aware of him, and the cords of the net are in his hand, and when the bird falls into the net he closes the net with the cords in his hand and the bird is taken. So is the way of the wicked. Sometimes he will not be in ambush, but will stand at a distance from the roads, so that men may not beware of him; and then when he sees the poor and the helpless he rushes upon them. Or he stations some members of his band on the roads without any weapons, while he himself is with the armed men some distance off. Then as defenceless people pass these give them a signal and they come; and they (the decoys) are to them as the net to the fowler. He tells of yet another way the wicked adopts, and this is what he says:

He is crushed, he humbleth himself – ודכה, the Kethib is written with waw, and the Keri (ידכה) with yodh, and the waw and the yodh interchange. He says: that in yet another sense it is the way of the wicked to get the poor into his power. He makes himself (as one) crushed and humble. He and his band pretend that they are weak and crushed, so that the children of men may not be on their guard against them, but go forth with them in the company on the way; and then when they are far from any human habitation they reveal their strength and power and seize them; and this (is the meaning of)

And the hapless fall by their strong (ones) – (The Kethib) is written as one word, חלכאים, but the Keri reads as two words, כאים חל; and its interpretation is: "the congregation of the stricken and the weary.⁠" And עצומיו (their strong ones) is an adjective for "their strong limbs" – their hands and feet. And all these are the ways which he narrates in the matter of the wicked, to shew that in all these ways he may be wary of the sons of men, but cannot be wary of God, and (that) he shews himself to be no fearer of God; for he says in his heart that He (God) does not see and does not know, as he says:

He says in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see. – If He knows, He has forgotten. Or its interpretation is: that He does not know at all, like the man who has forgotten a matter and does not know it, or like the man who knows a matter, but hides his face and is unwilling ever to see it; therefore he says:

Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Thy hand – Because the wicked says that Thou dost not see, do Thou arise and lift up Thy hand against him.

Forget not the meek – even as the wicked has said, God has forgotten. The Kethib is עניים (poor); the Keri ענוים (meek).

Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God, (And) say in his heart, Thou wilt not require? – For why is he despising Thee? Only because he says in his heart that Thou wilt not require, nor regard what he says and does.

Thou hast seen – The yodh of the third radical is missing from the form as written. The wicked man says that Thou dost not see; but Thou hast seen all.

For Thou – assuredly

beholdest mischief and spite – The mischief and spite which the wicked exhibits towards the poor, Thou beholdest it.

To put (the matter) in Thine hand – when it shall please Thee to. exact the judgment of the poor from the wicked. For

To Thee the hapless leaveth – the hapless, i.e. he that is poor, (leaveth) his cause; for often has he seen that

Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless – for Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless and the weak, therefore he waits for Thee and leaves his cause to Thee. And in חלכה the he is added, as we have (already) explained (Ps. 10:8).

Break Thou the arm of the wicked – Break his arm and his strength.

And as for the evil man, do Thou seek out his wickedness and Thou shalt find none – When he says Thou wilt not require, as he said above (13), shew him that Thou dost require; and if Thou doest so, Thou shalt not find wickedness in the earth, for if Thou shouldest break his arm, then those who remain will hear and fear. And רשע and רע (wickedness and evil) are synonyms (lit., is a double word).

The Lord is King forever and ever – When Thou shalt execute judgment upon the wicked who oppress Israel in exile, then Thou shalt be King forever and ever and none shall rebel against Thy word, as it says (Zech. 14:9), "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth "; and then

The heathen are perished out of his land – and the kingdom shall return to Israel.