Psalms 10:3-11

3 For the wicked 1boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain 2curses[a] and 3renounces the LORD.
4 In the pride of his face[b] the wicked does not 4seek him;[c] all his thoughts are, 5"There is no God."
5 His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, 6out of his sight; as for all his foes, he 7puffs at them.
6 He 8says in his heart, "I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I 9shall not meet adversity."
7 10His mouth is filled with cursing and 11deceit and 12oppression; 13under his tongue are 14mischief and 15iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in 16hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like 17a lion in his 18thicket; he 19lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his 20net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, "God has forgotten, he has 21hidden his face, he 22will never see it."

Psalms 10:3-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 10

This psalm in the Septuagint version, and those that follow it, is a part and continuation of the preceding psalm, and makes but one with it; hence in these versions the number of the following psalms differ from others, and what is the eleventh with others is the tenth with them, and so on to the hundred fourteenth and one hundred fifteenth, which also are put into one; but in order to make up the whole number of one hundred and fifty, the hundred sixteenth and the hundred forty seventh are both divided into two; and indeed the subject of this psalm is much the same with the former. Antichrist and antichristian times are very manifestly described; the impiety, blasphemy, and atheism of the man of sin; his pride, haughtiness, boasting of himself, and presumption of security; his persecution of the poor, and murder of innocents, are plainly pointed at; nor does the character of the man of the earth agree to well to any as to him: his times are times of trouble; but at the end of them the kingdom of Christ will appear in great glory, when the Gentiles, the antichristian nations, will perish out of his land, Ps 10:1-11,16,18.

Cross References 22

  • 1. Psalms 94:4; [Isaiah 3:9]
  • 2. ver. 13
  • 3. Job 1:5, 11
  • 4. [See ver. 3 above]
  • 5. Psalms 14:1; Psalms 53:1
  • 6. [Isaiah 26:11]
  • 7. Psalms 12:5
  • 8. ver. 11, 13
  • 9. [Revelation 18:7]
  • 10. Cited Romans 3:14
  • 11. Psalms 36:3
  • 12. Psalms 55:11; Psalms 72:14
  • 13. Job 20:12; [Psalms 140:3; Song of Songs 4:11]
  • 14. Psalms 7:14
  • 15. Psalms 5:5; Psalms 6:8
  • 16. Psalms 17:12; Psalms 64:4; [Habakkuk 3:14]
  • 17. Psalms 17:12
  • 18. Job 38:40
  • 19. Psalms 59:3; Micah 7:2
  • 20. Psalms 9:15
  • 21. [Psalms 73:11]; Job 22:13
  • 22. Psalms 94:7; Ezekiel 8:12; Ezekiel 9:9; [Zephaniah 1:12]

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or and he blesses the one greedy for gain
  • [b]. Or of his anger
  • [c]. Or the wicked says, "He will not call to account"
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.