Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
The question is part of an inspired prayer asking God to execute justice for the poor and oppressed, not merely an expression of vengeance against the wicked. The psalm belongs with psalms connected to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives in the latter part of the Babylonian captivity, especially under Belshazzar, bringing encouragement, assurance of divine help, and final deliverance from persecutors. It means the wicked treat God with contempt because they have said in their hearts that he will not call them to account or require their deeds of them.
It describes present conditions and shows the world is not growing better but is full of oppression. The wicked in pride persecute the poor, lying in wait and murdering the innocent, while blaming and persecuting the servants of God. They openly claim that God has forgotten, hides his face, and will never see.
Yet God does see all trouble and has not forgotten the humble, including the fatherless, cripples, widows, homeless, and persecuted. It points to a coming day of retribution when every person will receive a just reward and only a remnant will be saved at the coming of Christ.
The question is part of an inspired prayer asking God to execute justice for the poor and oppressed, not merely an expression of vengeance against the wicked. The psalm belongs with psalms connected to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives in the latter part of the Babylonian captivity, especially under Belshazzar, bringing encouragement, assurance of divine help, and final deliverance from persecutors. It means the wicked treat God with contempt because they have said in their hearts that he will not call them to account or require their deeds of them.
It describes present conditions and shows the world is not growing better but is full of oppression. The wicked in pride persecute the poor, lying in wait and murdering the innocent, while blaming and persecuting the servants of God. They openly claim that God has forgotten, hides his face, and will never see.
Yet God does see all trouble and has not forgotten the humble, including the fatherless, cripples, widows, homeless, and persecuted. It points to a coming day of retribution when every person will receive a just reward and only a remnant will be saved at the coming of Christ.