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Commentary on Psalms 10 verses 1–11
David, in these verses, discovers,
I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing his gracious presence (Psa 10:1): "Why standest thou afar off, as one unconcerned in the indignities done to thy name and the injuries done to the people?" Note, God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people at any time, but especially in times of trouble. Outward deliverance is afar off and is hidden from us, and then we think God is afar off and we therefore want inward comfort; but that is our own fault; it is because we judge by outward appearance; we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then we complain that God stands afar off from us.
II. A very great indignation against sin, the sins that made the times perilous, Ti2 3:1. he beholds the transgressors and is grieved, is amazed, and brings to his heavenly Father their evil report, not in a way of vain-glory, boasting before God that he was not as these publicans (Luk 18:11), much less venting any personal resentments, piques, or passions, of his own; but as one that laid to he art that which is offensive to God and all good men, and earnestly desired a reformation of manners. passionate and satirical invectives against bad men do more hurt than good; if we will speak of their badness, let it be to God in prayer, for he alone can make them better. This long representation of the wickedness of the wicked is here summed up in the first words of it (Psa 10:2), The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor, where two things are laid to their charge, pride and persecution, the former the cause of the latter. Proud men will have all about them to be of their mind, of their religion, to say as they say, to submit to their dominion, and acquiesce in their dictates; and those that either eclipse them or will not yield to them they malign and hate with an inveterate hatred. Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin to pride. The psalmist, having begun this description, presently inserts a short prayer, a prayer in a parenthesis, which is an advantage and no prejudice to the sense: Let them be taken, as proud people often are, in the devices that they have imagined, Psa 10:2. Let their counsels be turned headlong, and let them fall headlong by them. These two heads of the charge are here enlarged upon.
1.They are proud, very proud, and extremely conceited of themselves; justly therefore did he wonder that God did not speedily appear against them, for he hates pride, and resists the proud. (1.) The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. He boasts of his heart's desire, boasts that he can do what he pleases (as if God himself could not control him) and that he has all he wished for and has carried his point. Ephraim said, I have become rich, I have found me out substance, Hos 12:8. "Now, Lord, is it for thy glory to suffer a sinful man thus to pretend to the sovereignty and felicity of a God?" (2.) He proudly contradicts the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is according to truth; for he blesses the covetous, whom the Lord abhors. See how God and men differ in their sentiments of persons: God abhors covetous worldlings, who make money their God and idolize is; he looks upon them as his enemies, and will have no communion with them. The friendship of the world is enmity to God. But proud persecutors bless them, and approve their sayings, Psa 49:13. They applaud those as wise whom God pronounces foolish (Luk 12:20); they justify those as innocent whom God condemns as deeply guilty before him; and they admire those as happy, in having their portion in this life, whom God declares, upon that account, truly miserable. Thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things. (3.) He proudly casts off the thoughts of God, and all dependence upon him and devotion to him (Psa 10:4): The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, that pride of his heart which appears in his very countenance (Pro 6:17), will not seek after God, nor entertain the thoughts of him. God is not in all his thoughts, not in any of them. All his thoughts are that there is not God. See here, [1.] The nature of impiety and irreligion; it is not seeking after God and not having him in our thoughts. There is no enquiry made after him (Job 35:10, Jer 2:6), no desire towards him, no communion with him, but a secret wish to have no dependence upon him and not to be beholden to him. Wicked people will not seek after God (that is, will not call upon him); they live without prayer, and that is living without God. They have many thoughts, many projects and devices, but no eye to God in any of them, no submission to his will nor aim at his glory. [2.] The cause of this impiety and irreligion; and that is pride. Men will not seek after God because they think they have no need of him, their own hands are sufficient for them; they think it a thing below them to be religious, because religious people are few, and mean, and despised, and the restraints of religion will be a disparagement to them. (4.) He proudly makes light of God's commandments and judgments (Psa 10:5): His wings are always grievous; he is very daring and resolute in his sinful courses; he will have his way, though ever so tiresome to himself and vexatious to others; he travails with pain in his wicked courses, and yet his pride makes him wilful and obstinate in them. God's judgments (what he commands and what he threatens for the breach of his commands) are far above out of his sight; he is not sensible of his duty by the law of God nor of his danger by the wrath and curse of God. Tell him of God's authority over him, he turns it off with this, that he never saw God and therefore does not know that there is a God, he is in the height of heaven, and quae supra nos nihil ad nos - we have nothing to do with things above us. Tell him of God's judgments which will be executed upon those that go on still in their trespasses, and he will not be convinced that there is any reality in them; they are far above out of his sight, and therefore he thinks they are mere bugbears. (5.) He proudly despises all his enemies, and looks upon them with the utmost disdain; he puffs at those whom God is preparing to be a scourge and ruin to him, as if he could baffle them all, and was able to make his part good with them. But, as it is impolitic to despise an enemy, so it is impious to despise any instrument of God's wrath. (6.) He proudly sets trouble at defiance and is confident of the continuance of his own prosperity (Psa 10:6): He hath said in his heart, and pleased himself with the thought, I shall not be moved, my goods are laid up for many years, and I shall never be in adversity; like Babylon, that said, I shall be a lady for ever, Isa 47:7; Rev 18:7. Those are nearest ruin who thus set it furthest from them.
2.They are persecutors, cruel persecutors. For the gratifying of their pride and covetousness, and in opposition to God and religion, they are very oppressive to all within their reach. Observe, concerning these persecutors, (1.) That they are very bitter and malicious (Psa 10:7): His mouth is full of cursing. Those he cannot do a real mischief to, yet he will spit his venom at, and breathe out the slaughter which he cannot execute. Thus have God's faithful worshippers been anathematized and cursed, with bell, book, and candle. Where there is a heart full of malice there is commonly a mouth full of curses. (2.) They are very false and treacherous. There is mischief designed, but it is hidden under the tongue, not to be discerned, for his mouth is full of deceit and vanity. He has learned of the devil to deceive, and so to destroy; with this his hatred is covered, Pro 26:26. He cares not what lies he tells, not what oaths he breaks, nor what arts of dissimulation he uses, to compass his ends. (3.) That they are very cunning and crafty in carrying on their designs. They have ways and means to concert what they intend, that they may the more effectually accomplish it. Like Esau, that cunning hunter, he sits in the lurking places, in the secret places, and his eyes are privily set to do mischief (Psa 10:8), not because he is ashamed of what he does (if he blushed, there were some hopes he would repent), not because he is afraid of the wrath of God, for he imagines God will never call him to an account (Psa 10:11), but because he is afraid lest the discovery of his designs should be the breaking of them. Perhaps it refers particularly to robbers and highwaymen, who lie in wait for honest travellers, to make a prey of them and what they have. (4.) That they are very cruel and barbarous. Their malice is against the innocent, who never provoked them - against the poor, who cannot resist them and over whom it will be no glory to triumph. Those are perfectly lost to all honesty and honour against whose mischievous designs neither innocence nor poverty will be any man's security. Those that have power ought to protect the innocent and provide for the poor; yet these will be the destroyers of those whose guardians they ought to be. And what do they aim at? It is to catch the poor, and draw them into their net, that is, get them into their power, not to strip them only, but to murder them. They hunt for the precious life. It is God's poor people that they are persecuting, against whom they bear a mortal hatred for his sake whose they are and whose image they bear, and therefore they lie in wait to murder them: He lies in wait as a lion that thirsts after blood, and feeds with pleasure upon the prey. The devil, whose agent he is, is compared to a roaring lion that seeks not what, but whom, he may devour. (5.) That they are base and hypocritical (Psa 10:10): He crouches and humbles himself, as beasts of prey do, that they may get their prey within their reach. This intimates that the sordid spirits of persecutors and oppressors will stoop to any thing, though ever so mean, for the compassing of their wicked designs; witness the scandalous practices of Saul when he hunted David. It intimates, likewise, that they cover their malicious designs with the pretence of meekness and humility, and kindness to those they design the greatest mischief to; they seem to humble themselves to take cognizance of the poor, and concern themselves in their concernments, when it is in order to make them fall, to make a prey of them. (6.) That they are very impious and atheistical, Psa 10:11. They could not thus break through all the laws of justice and goodness towards man if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion, and risen up in rebellion against the light of its most sacred and self-evident principles: He hath said in his heart, God has forgotten. When his own conscience rebuked him with the consequences of it, and asked how he would answer it to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, he turned it off with this, God has forsaken the earth, Eze 8:12; Eze 9:9. This is a blasphemous reproach, [1.] Upon God's omniscience and providence, as if he could not, or did not, see what men do in this lower world. [2.] Upon his holiness and the rectitude of his nature, as if, though he did see, yet he did not dislike, but was willing to connive at, the most unnatural and inhuman villanies. [3.] Upon his justice and the equity of his government, as if, though he did see and dislike the wickedness of the wicked, yet he would never reckon with them, nor punish them for it, either because he could not or durst not, or because he was not inclined to do so. Let those that suffer by proud oppressors hope that God will, in due time, appear for them; for those that are abusive to them are abusive to God Almighty too.
In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of the oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the injurious.
[The wicked] are chiefly of this type who lack wisdom and spiritual resources, nor do they hold to teachings of the faith correctly. They incur the judgment of wise providence when they praise the sinner indulging in his own desires. However, it becomes apparent enough that the sinner strives not for better things but for more pleasing and desirous ones. In addition to that mistake, they judge that they who have riches and human glory are taking part in blessing. Accordingly, they claim the wicked are blessed by God; but it is necessary to believe that blessing of God is granted to the religious.
This is what the inspired author laments, that evil has so prevailed as to be something to be proud of and spoken openly about, and what is more regrettable, that it is shameless and not simply applauds itself for its achievements but also has others to applaud it.
"They are taken in their thoughts, which they think:" that is, their evil thoughts become chains to them. But how become they chains? "For the sinner is praised," says he, "in the desires of his soul" [Psalm 10:3]. The tongues of flatterers bind souls in sin. For there is pleasure in doing those things, in which not only is no reprover feared, but even an approver heard. "And he that does unrighteous deeds is blessed." Hence "are they taken in their thoughts, which they think."
The disease of pride is acute; it poisons from either side, and it wounds when least expected. For some boast of themselves because they are good, others because they are bad. Of the good who boast it is said, “For God has scattered the bones of those who are pleased with themselves.” Of the evil who boast it is said, “For the wicked person is praised in the desires of his soul, and the worker of injustice shall be blessed.”
When the evil person is praised, he becomes conceited; he does not give a thought to correcting his ways, provided that someone can always be found to praise him in spite of his faults. The exaltation of sin follows, so that the one known as an evildoer is blessed. Deceived by the insincerity of those who sing his praise, such a person lets himself get drawn into the excessive pride of tyranny. Strictly speaking, one ought to understand this passage as referring to the Antichrist; he is led to this point by the crowds of deceivers so that he proclaims himself not only as earthly king, but even as God of all things.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 10:3 offers a stark and penetrating portrayal of the wicked, revealing their audacious self-glorification and their perverse endorsement of those driven by ruthless greed. This verse lays bare the profound moral inversion characteristic of ungodliness, where personal desires supersede divine will, and ill-gotten gain is celebrated. It powerfully contrasts human depravity with God's holy character, asserting that the very covetousness the wicked commend is an abomination to the LORD, thereby setting a crucial theological foundation for the psalmist's subsequent lament and plea for divine justice.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 10:3 employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound theological and moral message. Irony is strikingly evident, as the wicked "bless" (commend, approve) precisely what the LORD "abhorreth" (despises, rejects). This stark juxtaposition highlights the immense moral chasm between human depravity and divine righteousness. There is also a strong element of Antithesis, setting the wicked's self-glorification and their active approval of sin directly against God's absolute detestation of it. The phrase "heart's desire" functions as a form of Metonymy, where the "heart" represents the core being and its deepest inclinations, which are here characterized by self-serving ambition and defiance. The verse's concise yet powerful structure, moving from the wicked's internal state to their external actions and culminating in God's definitive judgment, creates a memorable and impactful statement of moral and theological truth.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 10:3 offers profound theological insights into the pervasive nature of sin, the immutable character of God, and the distorted moral landscape of humanity. It reveals that sin is not merely an isolated transgression but a deep-seated rebellion rooted in the "heart's desire," leading to audacious self-glorification and a complete disregard for divine authority. The wicked's act of "blessing the covetous" demonstrates a societal and spiritual contagion, where sin is not only practiced but actively affirmed and celebrated, leading to a profound moral inversion that celebrates what God condemns. This stands in stark opposition to God's holy nature, which "abhorreth" such unrighteousness. The verse underscores God's unwavering justice and His active opposition to all forms of greed and oppression, reminding us that His character is the ultimate standard against which all human actions are measured, and His judgment against sin is certain and just.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
This verse serves as a potent mirror, inviting believers to scrutinize their own hearts and the values they embrace in a world often captivated by worldly success. In a culture that frequently celebrates wealth and achievement regardless of its ethical origins, are we susceptible to "blessing the covetous" by admiring or condoning those who gain through unjust means, or who prioritize selfish desires over God's righteous commands? Psalms 10:3 calls us to cultivate a profound moral clarity, aligning our affections and approvals with God's. It challenges us to resist the pervasive cultural currents that normalize or even glorify self-interest and greed. Instead, we are called to embody God's abhorrence for sin, to stand for justice, and to trust that even when the wicked appear to prosper, God's ultimate judgment and unwavering commitment to righteousness will prevail. Our hope is not in the fleeting successes of the ungodly but in the enduring justice and steadfast character of the LORD.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does it mean that the wicked "boasteth of his heart's desire"?
Answer: This phrase signifies that the wicked openly and proudly celebrate their own selfish inclinations, ambitions, and plans, rather than seeking or submitting to God's will. Their "heart's desire" (Hebrew nephesh combined with taʼăvâh for "soul's longing" or "appetite") is the ultimate authority in their lives. It implies a defiant self-sufficiency and a complete disregard for divine authority, where personal gratification and ungodly schemes are not hidden in shame but are openly glorified. This boasting is an act of self-exaltation, a public declaration of their independence from God and their commitment to their own sinful appetites, demonstrating a profound lack of remorse or humility.
Why does the KJV say the wicked "blesseth the covetous"?
Answer: The word "blesseth" (Hebrew bârak) here is used in the sense of commending, approving, or praising, rather than invoking divine favor. It indicates that the wicked not only engage in ungodliness themselves but also affirm and applaud others who are "covetous" (Hebrew bâtsaʻ, meaning greedy, rapacious, or ruthlessly acquisitive). This highlights a profound moral corruption where sin is not merely tolerated but is celebrated and encouraged within their sphere of influence. It shows a complete reversal of divine values, where those who gain through unjust means are honored rather than condemned, further emphasizing the wicked's opposition to God's righteous standards and their complicity in systemic injustice.
What does "whom the LORD abhorreth" imply about God's character?
Answer: This powerful declaration reveals God's absolute holiness and unwavering justice. The verb "abhorreth" (Hebrew nâʼats) signifies a profound, active detestation, scorn, and rejection. It means God despises and spurns what is contrary to His nature. This phrase implies that God is not indifferent to sin, particularly covetousness and the oppression it causes. Rather, He is actively opposed to it. It underscores His moral purity, His commitment to righteousness, and His promise of ultimate judgment against all forms of ungodliness, providing assurance that His character is the ultimate standard and that justice will ultimately prevail, even when it seems delayed.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 10:3, with its stark portrayal of the wicked's self-glorifying covetousness and God's righteous abhorrence, finds its ultimate fulfillment and resolution in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "heart's desire" that the wicked boast of is the very essence of fallen humanity's rebellion against God, a desire for autonomy and self-rule that culminated in the rejection and crucifixion of the Son of God. Jesus, however, perfectly embodies the opposite: His "heart's desire" was always to do the will of His Father, even to the point of death on a cross, declaring, I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but to do the will of him who sent me. While the wicked "bless the covetous," celebrating unjust gain and worldly power, Christ utterly condemned covetousness, warning His disciples to take heed and beware of all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions and demonstrating true blessedness in poverty of spirit and righteousness, as taught in the Beatitudes. The LORD's abhorrence of sin, so clearly stated in this verse, is fully manifested at the cross, where Christ, the sinless Lamb of God, bore the full weight of that divine wrath against sin, including covetousness and all forms of unrighteousness, becoming sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Through His atoning sacrifice, Christ not only absorbed God's righteous abhorrence but also provides the only means by which a covetous heart can be transformed into one that delights in God's will, leading to true blessedness and eternal life, a hope that far surpasses the fleeting boasts of the wicked, as believers are made alive together with Christ by grace.