‘Why do you stand far off, O YHWH?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
As a result of the arrogance of the unrighteous the poor is hotly pursued;
They are taken (or ‘Let them be taken') in the schemes that they have conceived.'
The psalmist is puzzled and concerned. His own heart is righteous, and as he surveys the society in which he lives he cannot conceive why YHWH stands back in the day of trouble, why He seems to be hiding Himself while the lowly righteous are suffering (compare Psalms 22:1), and are caught in the schemes of the unrighteous. Alternately (for the Hebrew can mean either) he prays that YHWH will ensure that the unrighteous are ensnared in the schemes and snares that they themselves have set.
Like many he had a low view of sin. He did not at this stage see the lowly as themselves sinful and needing to be purged and as being given the opportunity to become strong in faith, although later his own faith in the face of what is happening will come out. And He did not recognise that YHWH had deeper purposes than he could conceive of. He failed to recognise that the outright unrighteous are indeed sometimes used as instruments of chastening for God's true people, prior to their own final defeat and judgment, a constant theme throughout Scripture.
‘Why do you stand far off?' That is, seemingly so because of His inaction (see Isaiah 59:1-2 for one answer). In contrast when YHWH openly acts He is said to be ‘near' (Psalms 34:18; Psalms 75:1).
‘Why do you hide yourself?' Literally ‘muffle yourself'. Compare Psalms 55:1. Seemingly covering his eyes so that He cannot see (Isaiah 1:15), and his ears so that He cannot hear (Lamentations 3:56).
‘The arrogance of the unrighteous.' Men who are selfish, greedy and strong tend to treat all others arrogantly. And often no one seems to be able to do anything about it. They go their own way without regard for the weak. The writer recognised the total wrongness of this, and therefore wondered why God did nothing about it. Possibly it is saying that He wants them to be caught out by their own schemes, as indeed they often are, but not often enough.
‘The poor is hotly pursued.' It is always the weak and helpless and poor who suffer most under the arrogance of the unrighteous, for they have no way of countering it, and are treated just as pawns and targets. And yet it is often those poor who are the righteous ones. Why then does God allow them to be pursued like hunted animals?
‘They are taken (or ‘Let them be taken') in the schemes that they have conceived.' The poor are not only hunted but often captured by the schemes of the unrighteous. The picture is a sad one of the sufferings of the hunted animal and its final entrapment. This continuation of the theme seems to fit better than the alternative rendering.