He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.
Parallel translations
- WEB His ways are prosperous at all times. He is haughty, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
- KJV His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
- NKJV His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
- NASB ¶His ways succeed at all times; Yet Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
- NLT Yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies.
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 seems to prosper, ignores God's laws, and sneers at his foes. Outward success can mask a heart hardened against God.
Overview
The psalmist observes the apparent prosperity and arrogance of the wicked, who dismisses God's commands and despises opponents. This raises the perennial problem of evil seeming to go unpunished. The psalm answers it not by denying the tension but by appealing to God's certain justice in due time.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Isa 26:11O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!
- Ps 12:5“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Hos 14:9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
- Ps 92:5–6How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
- Prov 2:15whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
- Rom 3:16ruin and misery lie in their wake,
- 1 Kgs 20:10–11Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”
- Isa 42:25So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
- 2 Sam 5:6Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”
- Prov 24:1Do not envy wicked men or desire their company;
- Prov 2:13from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,
- 1 Kgs 20:13Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
- Judg 9:38“Where is your gloating now?” Zebul replied. “You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the people you ridiculed? Go out now and fight them!”
- Hos 9:9They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
- Judg 9:27And after they had gone out into the fields, gathered grapes from their vineyards, and trodden them, they held a festival and went into the house of their god; and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.
- Isa 5:12At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- Isa 28:15For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
- Prov 15:24The path of life leads upward for the wise, that he may avoid going down to Sheol.
- Isa 10:1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
- Prov 1:19Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.
- Gen 6:12And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.
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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 10:5 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
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