The wicked lurks in his ambush like a lion in the thicket. He spies on the weak to catch them in a net.
This reminds us of Psalm 7:1–2 save me…lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
The helpless succumbs, falls down, and is totally overpowered. He is defenseless against this power. One can also translate (from the attacker’s perspective): he bends down, to not be seen, and overpowers his victim, and so on. The strong attacker says to himself, God forgets it. He averts his gaze; he looks away. He never looks at it.
Just as in Psalm 10:4, the haughty language is heard: God is not here, anyway. He does not do anything to protect the weak.
There are no human witnesses of the crimes committed—this is how secretive he does things—but it also seems that God is not a witness either. The attacker has nothing to fear.
We think back to Genesis, where man, the image of God, is attacked and killed as if he is prey. In Genesis 4:8, we read that Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
The Lord addresses Cain about the fact that Abel is his brother: he was also created—an image of God—and on top of that a blood relative. In Genesis 4:10–11 we read: “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” The killing of a fellow human being goes very deep and has great consequences. In Genesis, God acts immediately. In Psalm 10, the author calls for justice from above. See Psalm 10:1: Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Throughout the Psalm, the author asks probing questions. Sometimes it even seems to be rude, but he makes a strong appeal to God who is just.
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.