Bible Strands
Psalms 10:14
But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, countering the wicked man’s claim in verse 13 that God will not hold him accountable by asserting that God observes oppression and will intervene. This declaration occurs between a rhetorical question about divine abandonment and a direct plea for judgment in verse 15.
The words — The Hebrew רָאִיתָה (ra'itah) translates literally as "you have seen," paired with תַּבִּיט (tabbit), "you pay attention," to describe God’s active observation of עָמָל (amal, "mischief") and כַעַס (kaas, "vexation"). These terms establish the textual basis for the claim that God notices suffering and prepares to act.
The thread — The psalmist’s description of God as the helper of the fatherless runs parallel to Psalms 68:5 and Psalms 146:9, where the same divine role is explicitly named. This linguistic and thematic link appears alongside Psalms 55:22, which pairs the call to entrust burdens to the LORD with the promise of His sustaining presence.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that God’s attention to oppression is not passive observation but a prelude to action, demanding a response of trust rather than self-reliance. It places the burden of vindication on God’s observed character rather than human calculation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
Cross-references
- Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.
- Psalms 55:22 Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
- Psalms 146:9 The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
- Jeremiah 49:11 Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”
- Hosea 14:3 Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”
- 1 Peter 4:19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
- Judges 1:7 Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
- 2 Kings 9:26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:23 then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.