Psalm 10:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He says in his heart, "I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity."

NIV: He says to himself, "Nothing will ever shake me." He swears, "No one will ever do me harm."

NASB: He says to himself, 'I will not be moved; Throughout the generations I will not be in adversity.'

CSB: He says to himself, "I will never be moved— from generation to generation without calamity."

NLT: They think, 'Nothing bad will ever happen to us! We will be free of trouble forever!'

KJV: He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

NKJV: He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.”

Those who ignore God, and His will, often express false confidence. The wicked person depicted here by David (Psalm 10:2–3) looks at his earthly success (Psalm 10:4–5) and assumes he will always be free from consequences. He thinks he is impervious to harm now and forever. As far as he is concerned, he can keep on stealing and oppressing the poor without experiencing punishment.

The apostle Peter writes about people who think everything will continue without change or concern. He says, "They will say, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.'" (2 Peter 3:4). Peter points out that the created world "was deluged with water and perished" (2 Peter 3:6). Noah's contemporaries didn't expect the flood, and they refused to heed Noah's preaching (2 Peter 2:5). Consequently, the Lord is keeping "the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment" (2 Peter 2:9). The wicked who think they can keep on sinning with impunity will one day have a painful awakening (Revelation 20:11–15).

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.