Psalm 10:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

NIV: He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

NASB: For the wicked boasts of his soul’s desire, And the greedy person curses and shows disrespect to the Lord.

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

NLT: For they brag about their evil desires; they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.

KJV: For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

NKJV: For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.

Those who deliberately target the weak or poor to take advantage of them are depicted as arrogant, greedy, and profane. Lacking any sense of shame or morality, such a person both possesses evil desires and celebrates them, rather than being ashamed to admit them. Worse, he brags to others about his evil.

The persons depicted here care only about wealth, nothing more. They are not bothered at the idea of robbing the poor, needy, and helpless. The wicked person's soul craves material wealth. In Psalm 73 Asaph pictures the wicked as having eyes that swell out through fatness (Psalm 73:7). He writes: "Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches" (Psalm 73:12). The apostle Paul warns the Philippian believers about false teachers whose "god is their belly, and they glory in their shame" (Philippians 3:19).

Here, David also points out how wickedness is expressed not just in oppression of the poor, but also in profaning the Lord. The wicked person curses and insults God. The Hebrew word used here implies contempt and despising, and is attributed to evil people again later in the song (Psalm 10:13). Modern culture includes many individuals whose speech imitates that of the wicked person described here. They boast about their sinful behavior and have no regard for God. In fact, they go out of their way to mock and offend both God and those who honor Him.

Psalm 10:1–11 asks why God seems to ignore the character and deeds of wicked people. The wicked are described as haughty oppressors of the poor and helpless. They are arrogant, greedy, insulters of God. They don't believe He exists, so they feel free to take advantage of poor and helpless victims.

This song opens with a common question humanity asks in hard times: "where are you, God?" There follows a description of wicked people and their deeds and motives. Evil people feel free to be depraved and arrogant, assuming there is no God to judge them. Like predators, these wicked people ambush helpless people. Despite their wrong assumptions, God keeps His promises. He will judge the wicked and defend His people. Helpless people can trust God to make matters right. Someday, He will rid the earth of all sin and suffering. His justice will prevail, and His people will never again experience persecution.

According to some scholars, Psalms 9 and 10 might have been composed together, possibly even as one psalm. No title is affixed to Psalm 10, and it seems to continue the acrostic pattern of Psalm 9, starting each section with a successive letter from the Hebrew alphabet. The Septuagint and the Vulgate place the two psalms as one. However, the mood shifts from one psalm to the other. Psalm 9 focuses on judgment to come; Psalm 10 focuses on the presence of widespread injustice. Whether literally composed together, or separately, they deal with related issues using profoundly different tones.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.