Psalm 10:4
In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.
In his pride
The Hebrew word for "pride" here is "גַּאֲוָה" (ga'avah), which conveys a sense of arrogance and haughtiness. This pride is not merely self-confidence but an inflated sense of self that dismisses the need for God. Historically, pride has been seen as the root of many sins, as it elevates the self above the divine. In the biblical context, pride is often the precursor to a fall, as seen in Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." This phrase sets the stage for understanding the mindset of the wicked man, who is so consumed by his own importance that he fails to recognize his need for God.

the wicked man
The term "wicked" is translated from the Hebrew word "רָשָׁע" (rasha), which refers to someone who is morally wrong or guilty. In the Psalms, the wicked are often contrasted with the righteous, highlighting a life lived in opposition to God's laws. The wicked man is not just someone who occasionally sins but is characterized by a lifestyle of rebellion against God. This phrase reminds us of the biblical narrative where the wicked are those who choose to live apart from God's covenant and guidance.

does not seek Him
The Hebrew verb "דָּרַשׁ" (darash) means to seek, inquire, or require. It implies an intentional pursuit or desire to know God. The wicked man's failure to seek God is not due to ignorance but a deliberate choice. In the historical context of Israel, seeking God was synonymous with seeking His will and presence, often through prayer, worship, and adherence to the Law. This phrase underscores the spiritual apathy and intentional neglect of the divine by the wicked.

in all his schemes
The word "schemes" is derived from the Hebrew "מְזִמּוֹת" (mezimot), which can mean plans, thoughts, or devices. It suggests a calculated and deliberate approach to life, often with a negative connotation of plotting or devising evil. The wicked man's life is marked by self-reliance and cunning, rather than trust in God. This phrase highlights the futility of human plans that exclude God, as seen in Proverbs 19:21, "Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail."

there is no God
This phrase reflects the practical atheism of the wicked man. While he may not deny God's existence outright, he lives as if God does not matter. The Hebrew "אֵין אֱלֹהִים" (ein Elohim) can be understood as a denial of God's relevance or authority in one's life. This mindset is a stark contrast to the biblical call to acknowledge God in all our ways (Proverbs 3:6). Historically, this reflects the folly of nations and individuals who, despite witnessing God's power and creation, choose to live in denial of His sovereignty.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Wicked Man
Represents those who live in defiance of God, characterized by pride and self-reliance.

2. God
The central figure whom the wicked man refuses to seek or acknowledge.

3. Schemes
The plans and actions of the wicked, which are devoid of divine consideration or guidance.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Pride
Pride blinds individuals to their need for God, leading them to rely on their own understanding and strength.

The Absence of God in Planning
When God is absent from our plans, we risk pursuing paths that lead to spiritual and moral failure.

The Importance of Seeking God
Actively seeking God is crucial for a life aligned with His will and purpose.

Recognizing God's Sovereignty
Acknowledging God's presence in our lives helps us to remain humble and dependent on His guidance.

The Consequences of Ignoring God
Ignoring God leads to a life of futility and ultimately, judgment.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does pride manifest in our daily lives, and what steps can we take to combat it?

2. In what ways can we ensure that God is at the center of our plans and decisions?

3. Reflect on a time when you relied on your own understanding rather than seeking God. What was the outcome?

4. How can we cultivate a habit of seeking God in both small and significant matters?

5. Compare the mindset of the wicked man in Psalm 10:4 with the call to humility in James 4:6. How can this comparison guide our spiritual growth?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 16:18
This verse speaks about pride leading to destruction, which aligns with the theme of the wicked man's pride in Psalm 10:4.

Romans 1:21
Discusses how people fail to honor God, similar to the wicked man's disregard for God in Psalm 10:4.

James 4:6
Highlights God's opposition to the proud, reinforcing the consequences of the wicked man's pride.

Isaiah 55:6-7
Encourages seeking the Lord, contrasting the wicked man's refusal to do so.

Psalm 14:1
Describes the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God," paralleling the mindset of the wicked in Psalm 10:4.
A Discourse on Habitual DevotionJ. Priestley, LL. D.Psalm 10:4
A Searching Description of the WickedChristian ObserverPsalm 10:4
Man's ThoughtsW. Forsyth Psalm 10:4
The Place Where God is NotD. Thomas, D. D.Psalm 10:4
The Pride of Man Restrains Seeking After GodJ. Hamilton, D. D.Psalm 10:4
The Sinfulness of Forgetting GodT. Scott, MA.Psalm 10:4
The Wicked, from Pride, Refuse to Seek GodE. Payson, D. D.Psalm 10:4
Who are the WickedJ. H. Hamilton, M. D.Psalm 10:4
A Theological Difficulty, a Haughty Impiety, an Earnest PrayerD. Thomas, D. D.Psalm 10:1-18
Man's Cry for a Solution of the Felt Distance of His MakerJ. Parker, D. D.Psalm 10:1-18
The Righteous GodC. Short Psalm 10:1-18
Times of Darkness and FearW. Forsyth Psalm 10:1-18
Why? Or, Hard Facts and Puzzling QuestionsC. Clemance Psalm 10:1-18
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Countenance, Devices, Evil-doer, Face, Haughtiness, Height, Inquireth, Pride, Require, Room, Says, Search, Seek, Thoughts, Wicked
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 10:4

     5810   complacency
     6245   stubbornness
     8160   seeking God
     8702   agnosticism
     8744   faithlessness, as disobedience
     8763   forgetting
     8779   materialism, nature of

Psalm 10:2-4

     6186   evil scheming

Psalm 10:2-5

     8805   pride, results

Psalm 10:2-6

     5550   speech, negative
     6121   boasting

Psalm 10:2-11

     5793   arrogance

Psalm 10:3-4

     5960   success

Psalm 10:3-5

     8710   atheism

Psalm 10:4-5

     5896   irreverence

Psalm 10:4-6

     8701   affluence

Psalm 10:4-11

     6169   godlessness

Library
One Saying from Three Men
'The wicked hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved.' --PSALM x. 6. 'Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.' --PSALM xvi. 8. 'And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.' --PSALM xxx. 6. How differently the same things sound when said by different men! Here are three people giving utterance to almost the same sentiment of confidence. A wicked man says it, and it is insane presumption and defiance. A good man says it, having been lulled into false security by easy times,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Poor Man's Friend
"The poor committeth himself unto thee."--Psalm 10:14. GOD IS THE POOR MAN'S FRIEND; the poor man, in His helplessness and despair, leaves his case in the hands of God, and God undertakes to care for him. In the days of David,--and I suppose, in this respect, the world has but little improved,--the poor man was the victim of almost everybody's cruelty, and sometimes he was very shamefully oppressed. If he sought redress for his wrongs, he generally only increased them, for he was regarded as a rebel
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 53: 1907

Jerome
I, Jerome, [2568] son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which is on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia and was overthrown by the Goths, up to the present year, that is, the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius, have written the following: Life of Paul the monk, one book of Letters to different persons, an Exhortation to Heliodorus, Controversy of Luciferianus and Orthodoxus, Chronicle of universal history, 28 homilies of Origen on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which I translated from Greek into Latin,
Various—Jerome and Gennadius Lives of Illustrious Men.

Look we Then, Beloved, what Hardships in Labors and Sorrows Men Endure...
3. Look we then, beloved, what hardships in labors and sorrows men endure, for things which they viciously love, and by how much they think to be made by them more happy, by so much more unhappily covet. How much for false riches, how much for vain honors, how much for affections of games and shows, is of exceeding peril and trouble most patiently borne! We see men hankering after money, glory, lasciviousness, how, that they may arrive at their desires, and having gotten not lose them, they endure
St. Augustine—On Patience

The Tests of Love to God
LET us test ourselves impartially whether we are in the number of those that love God. For the deciding of this, as our love will be best seen by the fruits of it, I shall lay down fourteen signs, or fruits, of love to God, and it concerns us to search carefully whether any of these fruits grow in our garden. 1. The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

These Things, My Brother Aurelius, Most Dear unto Me...
38. These things, my brother Aurelius, most dear unto me, and in the bowels of Christ to be venerated, so far as He hath bestowed on me the ability Who through thee commanded me to do it, touching work of Monks, I have not delayed to write; making this my chief care, lest good brethren obeying apostolic precepts, should by lazy and disobedient be called even prevaricators from the Gospel: that they which work not, may at the least account them which do work to be better than themselves without doubt.
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

The Situation of the Jews During this Period.
As we have seen in earlier chapters, the declarations of Holy Writ make it very clear that Israel will yet be restored to God's favor and be rehabilitated in Palestine. But before that glad time arrives, the Jews have to pass through a season of sore trouble and affliction, during which God severely chastises them for their sins and punishes them for the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah. Fearful indeed have been the past experiences of "the nation of the weary feet" but a darker path than
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V.
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

"And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Life of Jerome.
The figures in parentheses, when not otherwise indicated, refer to the pages in this volume. For a full account of the Life, the translator must refer to an article (Hieronymus) written by him in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography. A shorter statement may suffice here, since the chief sources of information are contained in this volume, and to these reference will be continually made. Childhood and Youth. A.D. 345. Jerome was born at Stridon, near Aquileia, but in Pannonia, a place
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

The Revelation and Career of the Anti-Christ.
Who is the Anti-christ? Varied and wild have been the answers to this question. In pre-christian times there were many who regarded Antiochus Epiphanes as the one whom Daniel and the other prophets described. At the beginning of this dispensation Nero was looked upon as the predicted Man of Sin. After the Reformation the Papacy was selected as the fulfiller of the prophecies given through the Patmos seer. And in our day there have been those who consider the Kaiser to be the Son of Perdition. It
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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