Psalm 10:5
He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.
He is secure in his ways at all times;
This phrase reflects the apparent prosperity and confidence of the wicked, who seem to thrive without immediate consequence. In biblical context, this can be seen as a test of faith for the righteous, who may struggle with the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:3-12). The security of the wicked is often temporary and deceptive, as their ways are not aligned with God's righteousness. Historically, this reflects the cultural understanding of divine justice, where immediate retribution was expected. However, the Bible often emphasizes that God's timing is not always immediate, and His justice will ultimately prevail (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13).

Your lofty judgments are far from him;
This phrase indicates the spiritual blindness or willful ignorance of the wicked towards God's judgments. The "lofty judgments" refer to God's righteous decrees and moral laws, which are beyond human understanding and often ignored by those who are self-reliant. This can be connected to Romans 1:18-32, where Paul describes how people suppress the truth and become futile in their thinking. The distance of God's judgments from the wicked highlights their separation from divine wisdom and understanding, a theme echoed in Isaiah 55:8-9, where God's thoughts and ways are higher than human ways.

he sneers at all his foes.
The sneering attitude of the wicked towards their enemies reflects arrogance and pride, common traits condemned throughout Scripture (Proverbs 16:18). This behavior is indicative of a heart hardened against God and others, often leading to further sin and eventual downfall. The cultural context of the ancient Near East often involved honor and shame dynamics, where public scorn was a powerful tool. Biblically, this attitude is contrasted with the humility and meekness exemplified by Jesus Christ, who taught love for enemies and humility (Matthew 5:44, Philippians 2:5-8). The ultimate defeat of such arrogance is prophesied in passages like Psalm 37:12-13, where the Lord laughs at the wicked, knowing their day is coming.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Wicked Man
The primary subject of this verse, representing those who live in opposition to God's ways and seem to prosper despite their wickedness.

2. God
Implicitly present as the one whose judgments are described as "lofty" and distant from the wicked.

3. The Foes
Those who oppose the wicked man, whom he dismisses with contempt.
Teaching Points
Understanding God's Justice
God's judgments are described as "lofty," indicating their transcendence and ultimate authority. Believers are encouraged to trust in God's perfect justice, even when it seems distant or delayed.

The Illusion of Prosperity
The prosperity of the wicked is temporary and deceptive. Christians should focus on eternal values rather than temporary success.

Responding to Injustice
Believers are called to maintain faith and integrity, even when faced with the apparent success of those who do wrong.

The Role of Faith in Trials
Trusting in God's timing and justice requires faith, especially when circumstances seem unfair. This faith is a testimony to others.

The Danger of Pride
The wicked man's sneering attitude highlights the danger of pride and self-reliance. Christians are reminded to remain humble and dependent on God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the prosperity of the wicked challenge your understanding of God's justice, and how can you reconcile this with your faith?

2. In what ways can you guard against the temptation to envy the success of those who do not follow God's ways?

3. How can you apply the lessons from Psalm 10:5 to situations of injustice you encounter in your own life?

4. What other biblical examples can you find where God's justice seemed delayed, and how did those involved respond?

5. How can you cultivate a humble heart in a world that often rewards pride and self-reliance?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 73
This psalm also addresses the prosperity of the wicked and the struggle of the righteous to understand why they seem to flourish.

Job 21
Job questions why the wicked live, grow old, and increase in power, echoing the themes of Psalm 10.

Habakkuk 1
The prophet Habakkuk laments the success of the wicked and questions God's justice, similar to the concerns in Psalm 10.

Proverbs 3:33-34
These verses contrast the fate of the wicked with the blessings on the righteous, providing a broader biblical perspective on divine justice.
Judgments of LifePhillips Brooks, D. D.Psalm 10:5
Man's Judgment At Variance with God'sH. Grey, M. A.Psalm 10:5
The Unseen AvengersG. Gardner, M. A.Psalm 10:5
A Theological Difficulty, a Haughty Impiety, an Earnest PrayerD. Thomas, D. D.Psalm 10:1-18
Man's Cry for a Solution of the Felt Distance of His MakerJ. Parker, D. D.Psalm 10:1-18
The Righteous GodC. Short Psalm 10:1-18
Times of Darkness and FearW. Forsyth Psalm 10:1-18
Why? Or, Hard Facts and Puzzling QuestionsC. Clemance Psalm 10:1-18
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Adversaries, Always, Decisions, Enemies, Firm, Fixed, Foes, Grievous, Haters, Haughty, Higher, Judgments, Laws, Nothing, Pain, Prosper, Prosperous, Puffeth, Puffs, Sight, Sneers, Snorts, Succeed
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 10:5

     5171   nose
     8824   self-righteousness, nature of

Psalm 10:2-5

     8805   pride, results

Psalm 10:2-6

     5550   speech, negative
     6121   boasting

Psalm 10:2-11

     5793   arrogance

Psalm 10:3-5

     8710   atheism

Psalm 10:4-5

     5896   irreverence

Psalm 10:4-6

     8701   affluence

Psalm 10:4-11

     6169   godlessness

Library
One Saying from Three Men
'The wicked hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved.' --PSALM x. 6. 'Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.' --PSALM xvi. 8. 'And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.' --PSALM xxx. 6. How differently the same things sound when said by different men! Here are three people giving utterance to almost the same sentiment of confidence. A wicked man says it, and it is insane presumption and defiance. A good man says it, having been lulled into false security by easy times,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Poor Man's Friend
"The poor committeth himself unto thee."--Psalm 10:14. GOD IS THE POOR MAN'S FRIEND; the poor man, in His helplessness and despair, leaves his case in the hands of God, and God undertakes to care for him. In the days of David,--and I suppose, in this respect, the world has but little improved,--the poor man was the victim of almost everybody's cruelty, and sometimes he was very shamefully oppressed. If he sought redress for his wrongs, he generally only increased them, for he was regarded as a rebel
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 53: 1907

Jerome
I, Jerome, [2568] son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which is on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia and was overthrown by the Goths, up to the present year, that is, the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius, have written the following: Life of Paul the monk, one book of Letters to different persons, an Exhortation to Heliodorus, Controversy of Luciferianus and Orthodoxus, Chronicle of universal history, 28 homilies of Origen on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which I translated from Greek into Latin,
Various—Jerome and Gennadius Lives of Illustrious Men.

Look we Then, Beloved, what Hardships in Labors and Sorrows Men Endure...
3. Look we then, beloved, what hardships in labors and sorrows men endure, for things which they viciously love, and by how much they think to be made by them more happy, by so much more unhappily covet. How much for false riches, how much for vain honors, how much for affections of games and shows, is of exceeding peril and trouble most patiently borne! We see men hankering after money, glory, lasciviousness, how, that they may arrive at their desires, and having gotten not lose them, they endure
St. Augustine—On Patience

The Tests of Love to God
LET us test ourselves impartially whether we are in the number of those that love God. For the deciding of this, as our love will be best seen by the fruits of it, I shall lay down fourteen signs, or fruits, of love to God, and it concerns us to search carefully whether any of these fruits grow in our garden. 1. The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

These Things, My Brother Aurelius, Most Dear unto Me...
38. These things, my brother Aurelius, most dear unto me, and in the bowels of Christ to be venerated, so far as He hath bestowed on me the ability Who through thee commanded me to do it, touching work of Monks, I have not delayed to write; making this my chief care, lest good brethren obeying apostolic precepts, should by lazy and disobedient be called even prevaricators from the Gospel: that they which work not, may at the least account them which do work to be better than themselves without doubt.
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

The Situation of the Jews During this Period.
As we have seen in earlier chapters, the declarations of Holy Writ make it very clear that Israel will yet be restored to God's favor and be rehabilitated in Palestine. But before that glad time arrives, the Jews have to pass through a season of sore trouble and affliction, during which God severely chastises them for their sins and punishes them for the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah. Fearful indeed have been the past experiences of "the nation of the weary feet" but a darker path than
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V.
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

"And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Life of Jerome.
The figures in parentheses, when not otherwise indicated, refer to the pages in this volume. For a full account of the Life, the translator must refer to an article (Hieronymus) written by him in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography. A shorter statement may suffice here, since the chief sources of information are contained in this volume, and to these reference will be continually made. Childhood and Youth. A.D. 345. Jerome was born at Stridon, near Aquileia, but in Pannonia, a place
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

The Revelation and Career of the Anti-Christ.
Who is the Anti-christ? Varied and wild have been the answers to this question. In pre-christian times there were many who regarded Antiochus Epiphanes as the one whom Daniel and the other prophets described. At the beginning of this dispensation Nero was looked upon as the predicted Man of Sin. After the Reformation the Papacy was selected as the fulfiller of the prophecies given through the Patmos seer. And in our day there have been those who consider the Kaiser to be the Son of Perdition. It
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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