Arise, Yahweh! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless.
Parallel Translations
-
Arise, Yahweh! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless.
-
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
-
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Thy hand; forget not the humble.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Psalms 10:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Micah 5:9 Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all of your enemies be cut off.
- Psalms 9:12 For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.
- Psalms 94:2 Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.
- Psalms 17:7 Show your marvelous loving kindness, you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.
- Isaiah 33:10 “Now I will arise,” says Yahweh. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.
- Psalms 3:7 Arise, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
- Psalms 7:6 Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
- Psalms 9:19 Arise, Yahweh! Don’t let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight.
- Psalms 77:9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?”
- Isaiah 26:11 Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.
- Psalms 13:1 How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 12. Arise, O Jehovah. It is a disease under…
12. Arise, O Jehovah. It is a disease under which men in general labor, to imagine, according to the judgment of the flesh, that when God does not execute his judgments, he is sitting idle, or lying at ease. There is, however, a great difference with respect to this between the faithful and the wicked. The latter cherish the false opinion which is dictated by the weakness of the flesh, and in order to soothe and flatter themselves in their vices, they indulge in slumbering, and render their conscience stupid, “Et prenent plaisir kassop et rendre leur conscience stupide, afin de se flatter en leurs vices.” — Fr.
“Retournans d’eux mesmes a bien considerer ce qui enest a la verite.” — Fr.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He calleth to God for help, because wickedness is…
He calleth to God for help, because wickedness is so far overgrown, that God must now help or never.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 10:12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up…
Psa 10:12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
Ver. 12. Arise, O Lord] Surge, age, summe Pater, said Mantuan to the pope, stirring him up against the Turks; may we better say to the Almighty God, against his people’s enemies,
Read full note →
O God, lift up thine hand Lift it up on high, that it may fall down the more heavily. In the first verse of this psalm the prophet complained that God stood afar off, and hid himself in time of trouble, Here he is entreated to arise, to come near, to put forth his hand for his people’s help, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Lift up thine hand, to rescue the poor, and…
Lift up thine hand, to rescue the poor, and to smite their oppressors with a hand stretched out and lifted up, that the blow maybe the greater: compare Exo 7:5; Isa 5:25; 9:12, &c.
Forget not the humble; show by thy appearance for their vindication that thou dost remember and regard them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain David here, upon the foregoing representation of the inhumanity…
David here, upon the foregoing representation of the inhumanity and impiety of the oppressors, grounds an address to God, wherein observe,
I. What he prays for. 1. That God would himself appear (Psa 10:12): "Arise, O Lord! O God! lift up thy hand, manifest thy presence and providence in the affairs of this lower world. Arise, O Lord! to the confusion of those who say that thou hidest thy face. Manifest thy power, exert it for the maintaining of thy own cause, lift up thy hand to give a fatal blow to these oppressors; let thy everlasting arm be made bare." 2. That he would appear for his people: "Forget not the humble, the afflicted, that are poor, that are made poorer, and are poor in spirit. Their oppressors, in their presumption, say that thou hast forgotten them; and they, in their despair, are ready to say the same. Lord, make it to appear that they are both mistaken." 3. That he would appear against their persecutors, Psa 10:15. (1.) That he would disable them from doing any mischief: Break thou the arm of the wicked, take away his power, that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared, Job 34:30. We read of oppressors whose dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged (Dan 7:12), that they might have time to repent. (2.) That he would deal with them for the mischief they had done: "Seek out his wickedness; let that be all brought to light which he thought should for ever lie undiscovered; let that be all brought to account which he thought should for ever go unpunished; bring it out till thou find none, that is, till none of his evil deeds remain unreckoned for, none of his evil designs undefeated, and none of his partisans undestroyed."
Read full note →
II. What he pleads for the encouraging of his own faith in these petitions.
1. He pleads the great affronts which these proud oppressors put upon God himself: "Lord, it is thy own cause that we beg thou wouldst appear in; the enemies have made it so, and therefore it is not for thy glory to let them go unpunished" (Psa 10:13): Wherefore do the wicked contemn God? He does so; for he says, "Thou wilt not require it; thou wilt never call us to an account for what we do," than which they could not put a greater indignity upon the righteous God. The psalmist here speaks with astonishment, (1.) At the wickedness of the wicked: "Why do they speak so impiously, why so absurdly?" It is a great trouble to good men to think what contempt is cast upon the holy God by the sin of sinners, upon his precepts, his promises, his threatenings, his favours, his judgments; all are despised and made light of. Wherefore do the wicked thus contemn God? It is because they do not know him. (2.) At the patience and forbearance of God towards them: "Why are they suffered thus to contemn God? Why does he not immediately vindicate himself and take vengeance on them?" It is because the day of reckoning is yet to come, when the measure of their iniquity is full.
2. He pleads the notice God took of the impiety and iniquity of these oppressors (Psa 10:14): "Do the persecutors encourage themselves with a groundless fancy that thou wilt never see it? Let the persecuted encourage themselves with a well-grounded faith, not only that thou hast seen it, but that thou doest behold it, even all the mischief that is done by the hands, and all the spite and malice that lurk in the hearts, of these oppressors; it is all known to thee, and observed by thee; nay, not only thou hast seen it and dost behold it, but thou wilt requite it, wilt recompense it into their bosoms, by thy just and avenging hand."
3. He pleads the dependence which the oppressed had upon him: "The poor commits himself unto thee, each of them does so, I among the rest. They rely on thee as their patron and protector, they refer themselves to thee as their Judge, in whose determination they acquiesce and at whose disposal they are willing to be. They leave themselves with thee" ( so some read it), "not prescribing, but subscribing, to thy wisdom and will. They thus give thee honour as much as their oppressors dishonour thee. They are thy willing subjects, and put themselves under thy protection; therefore protect them."
4. He pleads the relation in which God is pleased to stand to us, (1.) As a great God. He is King for ever and ever, Psa 10:16. And it is the office of a king to administer justice for the restraint and terror of evil-doers and the protection and praise of those that do well. To whom should the injured subjects appeal but to the sovereign? Help, my Lord, O King! Avenge me of my adversary. "Lord, let all that pay homage and tribute to thee as their King have the benefit of thy government and find thee their refuge. Thou art an everlasting King, which no earthly prince is, and therefore canst and wilt, by an eternal judgment, dispense rewards and punishments in an everlasting state, when time shall be no more; and to that judgment the poor refer themselves." (2.) As a good God. He is the helper of the fatherless (Psa 10:14), of those who have no one else to help them and have many to injure them. He has appointed kings to defend the poor and fatherless (Psa 82:3), and therefore much more will he do so himself; for he has taken it among the titles of his honour to be a Father to the fatherless (Psa 68:5), a helper of the helpless.
5. He pleads the experience which God's church and people had had of God's readiness to appear for them. (1.) He had dispersed and extirpated their enemies (Psa 10:16): "The heathen have perished out of his land; the remainders of the Canaanites, the seven devoted nations, which have long been as thorns in the eyes and goads in the sides of Israel, are now, at length, utterly rooted out; and this is an encouragement to us to hope that God will, in like manner, break the arm of the oppressive Israelites, who were, in some respects, worse than heathens." (2.) He had heard and answered their prayers (Psa 10:17): "Lord, thou hast many a time heard the desire of the humble, and never saidst to a distressed suppliant, Seek in vain. Why may not we hope for the continuance and repetition of the wonders, the favours, which our father told us of?"
6. He pleads their expectations from God pursuant to their experience of him: "Thou hast heard, therefore thou will cause thy ear to hear, as, Psa 6:9. Thou art the same, and thy power, and promise, and relation to thy people are the same, and the work and workings of grace are the same in them; why therefore may we not hope that he who has been will still be, will ever be, a God hearing prayers?" But observe, (1.) In what method God hears prayer. He first prepares the heart of his people and then gives them an answer of peace; nor may we expect his gracious answer, but in this way; so that God's working upon us is the best earnest of his working for us. He prepares the heart for prayer by kindling holy desires, and strengthening our most holy faith, fixing the thoughts and raising the affections, and then he graciously accepts the prayer; he prepares the heart for the mercy itself that is wanting and prayed for, makes us fit to receive it and use it well, and then gives it in to us. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord, and we must seek unto him for it (Pro 16:1) and take that as a leading favour. (2.) What he will do in answer to prayer, Psa 10:18. [1.] He will plead the cause of the persecuted, will judge the fatherless and oppressed, will judge for them, clear up their innocency, restore their comforts, and recompense them for all the loss and damage they have sustained. [2.] He will put an end to the fury of the persecutors. Hitherto they shall come, but no further; here shall the proud waves of their malice be stayed; an effectual course shall be taken that the man of the earth may no more oppress. See how light the psalmist now makes of the power of that proud persecutor whom he had been describing in this psalm, and how slightly he speaks of him now that he had been considering God's sovereignty. First, He is but a man of the earth, a man out of the earth (so the word is), sprung out of the earth, and therefore mean, and weak, and hastening to the earth again. Why then should we be afraid of the fury of the oppressor when he is but man that shall die, a son of man that shall be as grass? Isa 51:12. He that protects us is the Lord of heaven; he that persecutes us is but a man of the earth. Secondly, God has him in a chain, and can easily restrain the remainder of his wrath, so that he cannot do what he would. When God speaks the word Satan shall by his instruments no more deceive (Rev 20:3), no more oppress.
In singing these verses we must commit religion's just but injured cause to God, as those that are heartily concerned for its honour and interests, believing that he will, in due time, plead it with jealousy.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Arise, O Lord,.... See Psa 3:7;
Arise, O Lord,.... See Psa 3:7;
O God, lift up thine hand; either on the behalf of his people, to help and deliver them; his hand may be said to be let down when their enemies prevail, and to be lifted up or exalted when it does valiantly, and works salvation for them; so when Moses's hands were let down Amalek prevailed, and when his hands were lifted up Israel prevailed, Exo 17:11; or against their enemies, to strike them, to inflict punishment upon them, as God's hand is said to be stretched out against the Egyptians, and to lie upon them, when he sent his plagues among them, Exo 7:4; and a dreadful thing it is to fall both into and under the hand of the living God, and to feel the weight of the lighting down of his arm with indignation. The Targum understands it as a gesture of swearing; see Gen 14:22; and paraphrases it, "confirm the oath of thine hand"; either sworn in wrath against his enemies, or in love to his people; either of which is sure and certain, and according to the immutable counsel of his will;
Read full note →
forget not the humble; the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, the Lamb of God, by which character the saints are distinguished from the antichristian party, Rev 14:4; these are such who are made so by the Spirit of God, who in conversion brings down the pride and haughtiness of man, that Christ and his grace may be alone exalted; these have the meanest thoughts of themselves, and the best of others; their motto is,
"less than the least of all saints, and the chief of sinners;''
they envy not the gifts and graces of others, and ascribe all they have and are to the free grace of God; they are not easily provoked, they patiently bear injuries, and quietly submit to the adverse dispensations of Providence: the word in the original text is read "humble", but written "afflicted": both characters generally meet together in the people of God; See Gill on Psa 9:12; this prayer for the humble is a prayer of faith; for though the humble may seem to be forgotten by God, they are not, they are precious in his sight; he dwells among them, he gives more grace unto them, he comforts them when disconsolate, he feeds them when they are hungry, he teaches and guides them when they want direction, he lifts them up when they are cast down, and beautifies them with salvation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Arise, O Lord] Hear their reproaches see…
Verse 12. Arise, O Lord] Hear their reproaches see their guile, consider thy oppressed people. "Lift up thine hand," threaten them, that they may desist and repent. If they repent not let them be punished.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 10:12-13. Lift up thy hand — To rescue…
Psa 10:12-13. Lift up thy hand — To rescue the poor, and to smite their oppressors; forget not the humble — Show, by thy appearing for their vindication, that thou dost remember and regard them. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? — Why dost thou, by giving them impunity, suffer and occasion them to despise thee?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Arise, O Lord - See the note at Psa…
Arise, O Lord - See the note at Psa 3:7. This commences the second part of the psalm, in which the author calls on God to remember those who were oppressed and wronged by the wicked. By suffering the wicked thus to carry on their plans, God seemed to be indifferent to human affairs, and the psalmist, therefore, invokes him to interpose, and to rescue the afflicted from their grasp.
O God, lift up thine hand - As one does when he is about to strike, or to exert his power. The prayer is, that God would interfere to put down the wicked.
Read full note →
Forget not the humble - Margin, “afflicted.” The margin expresses the true sense. The idea is not that God would remember “humble” persons in the sense in which that word is now commonly used, but that he would remember those who were down-trodden, crushed, and afflicted. This is in accordance with the marginal reading in the Hebrew Bibles, which is now usually regarded as the more correct reading.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Compare Psa 9:19; Psa 3:7).
(Compare Psa 9:19; Psa 3:7).
the humble--(Compare Psa 10:17, and Margin.)
Read full note →
lift up thine hand--exert thy power.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Arise, O Lord—Against the blasphemous unbelief and wickedness…
12. Arise, O Lord—Against the blasphemous unbelief and wickedness already described, the psalmist calls upon Jehovah, the Almighty, to show his power and justice in defence of his own law and covenant promise.
Lift up thy hand—An allusion, probably, to the custom of oriental masters in giving their orders to servants by the motion of the hand. Thus Baron de Tott: “The muzar aga, (or high priest,) coming into the hall, and approaching the pasha, whispered something in his ear, and we observed that all the answer he received from him was a slight horizontal motion with his hand, after which the vizier, instantly resuming an agreeable smile, continued the conversation. We then left the hall of audience and came to the foot of the great staircase, where we remounted our horses. Here nine heads, cut off and placed in a row on the outside of the first gate, completely explained the sign which the vizier had made use of in our presence.” See note on Psa_123:2
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. Arise] The usual summons to action. Cp. Psa_3:7,…
12. Arise] The usual summons to action. Cp. Psa_3:7, Psa_7:6 (notes); Psa_9:19.
O God] El, as in Psa_10:11.
Read full note →
lift up thine hand] The attitude of action. Cp. similar phrases in Psa_138:7; Exo_7:5; Mic_5:9; and contrast Psa_74:11.
forget not the humble] Disprove the calumny of the wicked (Psa_10:11). The Qrç ‘anavîm, ‘humble’ or ‘meek,’ is preferable to the Kthîbh ‘aniyyîm, ‘afflicted’ or ‘poor.’ The spirit in which sufferings have been borne is urged as a plea. Cp. Psa_10:17.
12, 13. Stanza of Qôph.
12–18. An urgent plea that Jehovah will vindicate His own character by action, grounded upon a confident assurance of the present reality of His government. The alphabetical arrangement is here resumed.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) Here the acrostic arrangement is resumed with koph.
(12) Here the acrostic arrangement is resumed with koph.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Arise, O Lord. (comp. Psa_9:19) At this point the…
Arise, O Lord. (comp. Psa_9:19) At this point the psalmist passes from description to invocation. From ver. 2 to the end of ver. 11 he has described the conduct, the temper, and the very inmost thoughts of the wicked. Now he addresses himself to God he summons God to arise to vengeance. As Hengetenberg says, "Here the second part begins prayer, springing out of the lamentation which has preceded;" prayer and invocation, beginning here, and terminating at the close of ver. 15. O God, lift up thine hand; i.e. to strike, to take vengeance on the wicked. Forget not the humble; or, the afflicted. Do not justify the hidden thought of the wicked (ver. 11), that thou forgettest show that thou rememberest at once the sufferings of the afflicted, and the guilt of their oppressors.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain David Makes a Plea for Speedy Deliverance
David Makes a Plea for Speedy Deliverance
v. 12. Arise, O Lord, David’s usual powerful and importunate appeal to Jehovah, the true God; O God, lift up Thine hand, namely, for the purpose of punishing the wicked; forget not the humble, forsaking them, giving them up to the cruelty of the wicked.
Read full note →
v. 13. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? How is it possible that God should permit such a blasphemous challenge of His government? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it, not call the wicked to account for his every misdeed.
v. 14. Thou hast seen it, this being set against the false security of the wicked; for Thou beholdest mischief and spite, all the grief which the ungodly lays upon the righteous, to requite it with Thy hand, with the full punishment which it deserves. The poor committeth himself unto Thee, trusting in God’s righteous judgment; Thou art the Helper of the fatherless, those without natural protectors to defend them.
v. 15. Break Thou the arm of the wicked, definitely putting a stop to his wicked acts, and the evil man; seek out his wickedness till Thou find none, the result being such a reverent awe of God that all meanness would be removed and disappear without leaving a trace.
v. 16. The Lord is King forever and ever, He is not dethroned despite all the attacks of the enemies; the heathen are perished out of His land, cut off entirely, annihilated, no remnant remaining. This being the poet’s assurance, he adds his last plea.
v. 17. Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble, their longing for help; Thou wilt prepare their heart, establishing it by firm confidence in Him; Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear, to attend closely to their cry,
v. 18. to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, executing judgment upon their oppressors, that the man of the earth, the haughty wicked adversary, may no more oppress, by terrifying the believers. That is the consolation of the children of God at all times, that He will finally vindicate His might and execute judgment upon all enemies of His people.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:12-15 With confidence that the wicked will be held…
10:12-15 With confidence that the wicked will be held responsible for their deeds and that the Lord will care for the helpless, the psalmist prays intensely for rescue from evil.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.