Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Chapter 1: Psalms 1–17

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Psalm 10 with John Chrysostom – The Foolishness of Sin

The wicked says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.” He swears, “No one will ever do me harm” (v. 6). Do you see the foolishness? Do you see the destruction gradually increasing? The wicked are applauded in their sins, commended in their wrongdoing. This is the first pitfall, enough to trip up those who do not expect it. Hence it is necessary to welcome those who rebuke and correct us rather than those who applaud and flatter us to the point of destruction. We need to mourn deeply for sinners, not applaud them. Do you see the perversity of evil, that it not only escapes accusation but even results in celebration? From their own foolishness they increased the wickedness of the praises, they forgot the fear of God and his judgements, forgetting their own nature as well. Those who forget the judgements of God, after all, lose self- awareness. His mouth is full of lies and threats, trouble and evil are under his tongue. He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. . . . He lies in wait to catch the helpless (vv. 7–9). What could be more pitiful than this, what could be more desperate, to feel the need to steal the possessions of the poor? So then shall we consider these people rich? Do you see their moral bankruptcy and cruelty? Moral bankruptcy, because they lust after the goods of the poor; cruelty, because far from being moved by their predicament they make it worse when they should be helping. Justice does not follow close on their heels, since God in his long-suffering summons them to repentance; but when they profit nothing from the long-suffering, then he punishes them. Those who are wronged, you see, came to no harm; rather, they emerged better and more visible from their hardship. God for his