For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
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.
- BSB For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
- 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 29:19and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.”
- Ps 49:18Though while he lived he blessed his soul — and men praise you when you do well for yourself —
- Ps 10:3For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy, and condemns Yahweh.
- Rom 7:9I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
- 1 Sam 15:18–24and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
- 1 Chr 10:13–14So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Yahweh, because of Yahweh’s word, which he didn’t keep; and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire,
- Luke 10:29But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
- Luke 16:14–15The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
- Rom 10:3For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
- Hos 12:7–8A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.
- Jer 2:23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
- Jer 2:34–35Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.
- Rom 3:9What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they 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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