Psalm 10: Do Not Stand Far Off

Receive the daily Psalm email here: YAHWEH, do not stand far off. Come with Your saving Justice. Psalm 10 continues the acrostic movement begun in Psalm 9. Together, Psalms 9 and 10 carry the community through thanksgiving, injustice, protest, and the cry for God to act. The acrostic pattern is partial and strained, which fits the prayer: the ordered language itself seems to pass through disruption. Psalm 9 praised YAHWEH as the Secure Height for the crushed. Psalm 10 asks why that Secure Height feels hidden. The first cry is not strategy or analysis. It is a plea for God’s near presence: “Why, YAHWEH, do You stand far away?” This is a prayer for rescue. It is also a prayer for co-regulation. The body is asking God to come close before it turns toward what terrifies it. The enemy is described as a predator of the poor, a liar, an ambusher, and one who lives as if God will not hold anyone accountable. The Psalm personifies evil in a focused way. This can be dangerous if it leads us to dehumanize a neighbor, but it can also be powerful in prayer because it gives the community a clear ask: God, see this, stop this, break this power, seek out this Twisting until You find none. In the Messiah’s voice, Psalm 10 is the cry of the Beloved standing with the poor, the orphan, and the crushed. We can also imagine this prayer in the voice of those trapped under Babylon or any Tower of Babel system that values brick-making over human lives. The Hebrew word family around mishpat can be rendered as both judgment and Justice. In this episode, we listen for the fullness of the word: God setting things right, holding evil accountable, and enacting Justice so that the orphan and the crushed are no longer terrified. This is saving Justice. Psalm 10 can help a community name exploitation without spiritualizing it away. It gives language for the ache of divine hiddenness. It teaches that God’s Justice is especially good news for the helpless, the orphan, and the crushed. And it helps us hand over the desire to break the power of evil to God, asking God to stop harm without making us agents of revenge. May YAHWEH come near when trouble surrounds you. May the Holy One see the grief others have hidden. May God come with saving Justice for the afflicted. May the Messiah stand with the poor, the orphan, and the crushed. May every tower-system that values bricks over bodies be brought before the Justice of God. And may the Mortal of Dust from the earth terrify no more. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We gather as a group each morning to pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka. Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.