He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”
- KJV He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
- ESV He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
- NKJV He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see.”
- NASB He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
- NLT The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wicked tells himself God has forgotten and will never see his deeds. He presumes upon God's silence as if it were blindness.
Overview
The wicked man's self-deceiving thought is that God neither notices nor will act against his evil. This denial of divine accountability is the engine of his cruelty. The psalm will directly refute this lie, affirming that God does see and will call the wicked to account.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 8:12“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
- Ps 94:7They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
- Ps 10:6He says to himself, “I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress.”
- Ps 73:11The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
- Ezek 9:9He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
- Eccl 8:11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Ps 64:5They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.
- Luke 7:39When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!”
- Job 22:13–14Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
- Mark 2:6But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 10:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.