Break thou the arm of the wicked - The arm is the instrument by which we effect a purpose, and especially in wielding a sword or a spear, as in battle; and if the arm is broken, we are powerless. The psalmist, therefore, prays that God would render the wicked, in this respect, powerless.

And the evil man - Of all the evil, or the wicked. In regard to the prayer here, see the note at Psalm 5:10.

Seek out his wickedness until thou find none - Until it is all punished; until there has been a full recompense. This is a wish that no wicked act of his should be forgotten; that exact justice should be rendered. If it is right to punish the wicked at all, it is right to deal with them just as they deserve; if any wickedness may properly be punished, all may be; and, whatever may occur, the sinner may be assured that he will not be punished merely for a part of his sins. If God punishes the wicked at all, there will be nothing left unpunished.

Break thou the arm - Destroy his power, deprive him of his influence, that he may be no longer able to oppress.

Seek out his wickedness till thou find none - All his public haunts and private ways shall be investigated; thou wilt bring all his villanies to light, and continue to inflict punishment, while there is a crime to punish. Or, "Continue to judge and punish transgressors, till not one is to be found." This agrees with the following verse.

Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man,.... His power and strength, so that he shall not be able to hold the sword, to strike a blow, or do any hurt to the people of God; see Ezekiel 30:21. This prayer is in some measure already fulfilled in antichrist, the man of sin, or pope of Rome; though his kingdom is not broke to pieces; as it will be when Christ's kingdom shall be more visibly set up, to which reference is had in Psalm 10:16; see Daniel 2:44; yet his strength is weakened, his arm is broken, he has not the power he had, nor can he tyrannise and do the mischief he once did: "but as for the evil man" (m), for so the words should be read, there being an "athnach" under the word "wicked", which ends the proposition there:

seek out his wickedness till thou find none; which designs a thorough search after sin, full punishment of it, and the entire ruin and destruction of the wicked; and the sense is, that God would make a strict inquiry into the wickedness of the man of sin, which he promised himself he would not, Psalm 10:13; and that he would punish him and his followers to the uttermost for it, until there should not be one of the antichristian party found upon earth; with which sense agrees Psalm 10:16; see Psalm 104:35.

(m) "improbum quod attinet, requiras", &c. Gejerus; so Michaelis.

The desire for Jahve's interposition now rises again with fresh earnestness. It is a mistake to regard דּרשׁ and מצא as correlative notions. In the phrase to seek and not find, when used of that which has totally disappeared, we never have דּרשׁ, but always בּקּשׁ, Psalm 37:36; Isaiah 41:12; Jeremiah 50:20, and frequently. The verb דּרשׁ signifies here exactly the same as in Psalm 10:4, Psalm 10:13, and Psalm 9:13 : "and the wicked (nom. absol. as in Psalm 10:4) - mayst Thou punish his wickedness, mayst Thou find nothing more of it." It is not without a meaning that, instead of the form of expression usual elsewhere (Psalm 37:36; Job 20:8), the address to Jahve is retained: that which is no longer visible to the eye of God, not merely of man, has absolutely vanished out of existence. This absolute conquest of evil is to be as surely looked for, as that Jahve's universal kingship, which has been an element of the creed of God's people ever since the call and redemption of Israel (Exodus 15:18), cannot remain without being perfectly and visibly realised. His absolute and eternal kingship must at length be realised, even in all the universality and endless duration foretold in Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 7:14, Revelation 11:15. Losing himself in the contemplation of this kingship, and beholding the kingdom of God, the kingdom of good, as realised, the psalmist's vision stretches beyond the foes of the church at home to its foes in general; and, inasmuch as the heathen in Israel and the heathen world outside of Israel are blended together into one to his mind, he comprehends them all in the collective name of גּוים, and sees the land of Jahve (Leviticus 25:23), the holy land, purified of all oppressors hostile to the church and its God. It is the same that is foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 52:1), Nahum (Nahum 2:1), and in other passages, which, by the anticipation of faith, here stands before the mind of the suppliant as an accomplished fact - viz. the consummation of the judgment, which has been celebrated in the hymnic half (Psalm 9) of this double Psalm as a judgment already executed in part.

Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find {i} none.

(i) For you have utterly destroyed him.

10:15 Seek - Search for it, and punish these wicked atheists. 'Till - No such wickedness be left in the world, or at least in the church.

15. arm-power.

till thou find none-So far from not requiting (Ps 10:11, 13), God will utterly destroy the wicked and his deeds (Ps 9:5, 6; 34:16; 37:36).

10:12-18 The psalmist speaks with astonishment, at the wickedness of the wicked, and at the patience and forbearance of God. God 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. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord, and we must seek unto him for it. Let the poor, afflicted, persecuted, or tempted believer recollect, that Satan is the prince of this world, and that he is the father of all the ungodly. The children of God cannot expect kindness, truth, or justice from such persons as crucified the Lord of glory. But this once suffering Jesus, now reigns as King over all the earth, and of his dominion there shall be no end. Let us commit ourselves unto him, humbly trusting in his mercy. He will rescue the believer from every temptation, and break the arm of every wicked oppressor, and bruise Satan under our feet shortly. But in heaven alone will all sin and temptation be shut out, though in this life the believer has a foretaste of deliverance.