Psalms 10:11
in Psalms 10He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He saith in his heart: God hath forgotten; He hideth 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.
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This verse in Psalms 10
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten - That is, this is his practical, habitual feeling. He acts as if God had forgotten, or as if God takes no knowledge of what is occurring in the earth. Compare Psa 10:6. He hideth his face - God has hidden his face; that is, he does not look on what is occurring. He will never see it - That is, he will never see what is done.
This site's exposition
His mouth is full of cursing
on Psalms 10:7-11
The mouth comes first, full of cursing, deceit and violence, with trouble and malice under the tongue. The hands follow the mouth: he waits like a lion in a thicket and catches the lowly in his net. He tells himself God has forgotten and never sees.
This site's exposition
He hides His face and never sees
He says to himself occurs at verses 6, 11 and 13, three sayings of the heart. The one praying asked in verse 1 why God hides, and the wicked man reads that same hiding as proof that God never sees. Verse 14 answers him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But how shall he decline, and fall? "For he has said in his heart, God has forgotten; He turns away His face, that He see not unto the end." This is declining, and the most wretched fall, while the mind of a man prospers as it were in its iniquities, and thinks that it is spared; when it is being blinded, and kept for an extreme and timely vengeance.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"In his snare." Here two things are set forth. And first, to what their effort leads. Second, the cause, at "he said." For the effort of the sinner, according to his intention, leads to the prostration of the poor; hence, "in his snare." But according …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten,....
In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of the oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the injurious. Prayer against Persecutors.
(4.) That they are very cruel and barbarous. Their malice is against the innocent, who never provoked them--against the poor, who cannot resist them and over whom it will be no glory to triumph. Those are perfectly lost to all honesty and honour against whose mischievous designs neither innocence nor poverty will be any man's security.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
As upon the former count, so upon this one; a witness is forthcoming, who has been listening at the keyhole of the heart. Speak up, friend, and let us hear your story. "He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it." This cruel man comforts himself with the idea that God is blind, or, at least, forgetful: a fond and foolish fancy, indeed. Men doubt Omniscience when they persecute the saints. If we had a sense of God's presence with us, it would be impossible for us to ill-treat his children.
As upon the former count, so upon this one; a witness is forthcoming, who has been listening at the keyhole of the heart. Speak up, friend, and let us hear your story. "He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it." This cruel man comforts himself with the idea that God is blind, or, at least, forgetful: a fond and foolish fancy, indeed. Men doubt Omniscience when they persecute the saints. If we had a sense of God's presence with us, it would be impossible for us to ill-treat his children. In fact, there can scarcely be a greater preservation from sin than the constant thought of "Thou, God, seest me." Thus has the trial proceeded. The case has been fully stated; and now it is but little wonder that the oppressed petitioner lifts up the cry for judgment, which we find in the following verse:—
God hath forgotten - He hath cast off this people, and he will never more re-establish them. So Sanballat thought.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He says in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see. – If He knows, He has forgotten. Or its interpretation is: that He does not know at all, like the man who has forgotten a matter and does not know it, or like the man who knows a matter, but hides his face and is unwilling ever to see it; therefore he says:
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He crouches, he bows down So is the habit of the lurker; he crouches and lowers [himself] and makes himself small in order to be inconspicuous.
Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Thy hand: – Because the wicked says that Thou dost not see, do Thou arise and lift up Thy hand against him.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּ֭לִבּוֹ | belibo | in heart his | H3820 → | 595 times |
| שָׁ֣כַֽח | shakhach | he has forgotten | H7911 → | 102 times |
| אֵ֑ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| הִסְתִּ֥יר | histir | he has hidden | H5641 → | 80 times |
| פָּ֝נָ֗יו | panav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| רָאָ֥ה | raah | he sees | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| לָנֶֽצַח׃ | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
בְּ֭לִבּוֹin heart his
beliboH3820 →595 times
שָׁ֣כַֽחhe has forgotten
shakhachH7911 →102 times
אֵ֑לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
הִסְתִּ֥ירhe has hidden
histirH5641 →80 times
פָּ֝נָ֗יוface his
panavH6440 →2123 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
רָאָ֥הhe sees
raahH7200 →1300 times
לָנֶֽצַח׃to perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 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…
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:15
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 9:9
He 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…
- Isaiah 29:15
Through
Psalms 73:11The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:12
And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 7:2
But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.
- Zephaniah 1:12
Through
Ezekiel 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…
it leads to
- Psalms 94:7
They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 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…
- Job 22:13
Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
- Psalms 94:7
Through
Psalms 94:7They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
it leads to
- Luke 18:3–4
And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
- Luke 18:3–4
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 10; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.