For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin.
- KJV For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
- NKJV For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
- NASB For it flatters him in his own eyes Concerning the discovery of his wrongful deed and the hatred of it.
- NLT In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.
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 person flatters himself, blind to his own sin so that he neither sees nor hates it. Self-deception keeps him from repentance.
Overview
David describes how the godless soothes his conscience, too proud and self-flattering to recognize his guilt. Sin breeds spiritual blindness, making the sinner think well of himself while remaining unrepentant. The gospel breaks this self-flattery, for the Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:8) and grants the honest self-knowledge that drives sinners to Christ for mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Deut 29:19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Ps 49:18Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—
- Ps 10:3For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
- Rom 7:9Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
- 1 Sam 15:18–24and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’
- 1 Chr 10:13–14So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
- Luke 10:29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Luke 16:14–15The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
- Rom 10:3Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Hos 12:7–8A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
- Jer 2:23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,
- Jer 2:34–35Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Rom 3:9What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
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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 36:2 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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