Psalms 10:4

4 In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks:^[a] "There is no accountability, [since] God does not exist."^[b]

Psalms 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 10:4

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not
seek [after God]
We supply it, "after God"; as do the Targum and Kimchi on the place: the sense is, he will not seek to God for counsel or assistance, he will not pray unto him; which is the character of every unregenerate man, ( Romans 3:11 ) ; or, he will not inquire into the will of God, to know what is right or what is wrong, but will do what seems best in his own eyes: and this arises from the pride of his heart, which shows itself in his countenance, in his proud and haughty look. It is said of the little horn, who is antichrist, that he has a look more stout than his fellows, ( Daniel 7:20 ) . The words may be rendered, "the wicked inquires not into the height of his anger"; so Ainsworth observes; that is, of God's anger; he is not concerned about it; he neither fears God nor regards men. Jarchi's sense of the words is,

``all his thoughts say unto him, God will not inquire into everything that I shall do, for there is no judgment.''

God [is] not in all his thoughts;
nor in any of them, for they are evil continually; and if he does at any time think of him, his thoughts of him are wrong; he thinks he is altogether such an one as himself: or, "all his thoughts [are, there is] no God" ^F26: though he does not choose to say so, he thinks so; at least, he wishes it may be so; and he works himself into such impiety and atheism as to deny the providence of God, and thinks that he does not govern the world, nor concern himself with what is done below; that he takes no notice of men's actions, nor will call them to an account for them; and that there will be no future state or judgment, in which secret as well as open things will be made manifest: or, as the Chaldee paraphrase glosses it, "that all his thoughts are not manifest before the Lord".

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (wytwmzm lk Myhla Nya) "non Deus, omnes cogitationes ejus", Montanus, Vatablus, Muis; "nullum esse Deum hae sunt omnes cogitationes ejus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Ainsworth.

Psalms 10:4 In-Context

2 In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

3 For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings; the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.

4 In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks: "There is no accountability, [since] God does not exist."

5 His ways are always secure; Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight; he scoffs at all his adversaries.

6 He says to himself, "I will never be moved- from generation to generation without calamity."

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit wicked according to the height of his nose
• [b]. Ps 10:11; 14:1; 53:1