‘Arise, O YHWH, O God, lift up your hand,
Do not forget the needy.
Why does the unrighteous man renounce God,
And say in his heart, ‘You will not call to account'?
You have seen, for you behold mischief and spite,
To deal with it (literally ‘give it' i.e. give in respect of it) with your hand.
He who is helpless commits (‘abandons') himself to you.
You have been the helper of the fatherless.
From here on an acrostic is introduced with stanzas beginning with Qoph (Q) through to Tau (T)
The psalmist now expresses his puzzlement and distress at YHWH's reluctance to act. He calls on Him to act speedily on behalf of those who are in need. Let Him ‘arise' (in order to do something), let Him ‘lift up his hand' (to act in power), let Him show that He has not forgotten the needy. Why does He allow the unrighteous man to get away with his attitude? The psalmist himself is not deceived. He knows very well that God does see the full situation, and knows that God will one day deal with it. But he wants to know, why the delay? And so he reminds God that the helpless are looking to Him and depending on Him to act. For they know that He is the helper of the fatherless, of those who have none to look after them.
‘Arise, O YHWH.' Do not wait any longer. Start to act! Compare Psalms 3:7; Psalms 7:6; Psalms 9:19 and often. ‘Lift up your hand.' Commence actual action with your strength. Compare Psalms 138:7; Exodus 7:5; Micah 5:9. ‘Do not forget the needy.' Do not do what these people say you are doing, but rather show that they are wrong by what You do on behalf of the needy.
‘You have seen, for you behold mischief and spite, to deal with it (literally ‘give it' i.e. give in respect of it) with your hand.' Faith declares that, contrary to the belief of the unrighteous, God does see all that is done, and especially such things as mischief and vexation brought on the weak and helpless. And faith also knows that one day He will deal with it and bring retribution accordingly. For the helpless and the weak look to Him as their only Protector. They abandon themselves to Him. And He will not fail them.