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Psalm 10 · a question people ask

"The wicked … has no room in his thoughts for God" (10:4). Does he say there is no God?

In the text

The WEB has "The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God" (10:4). In Hebrew the verse ends ein elohim kol-mezimmotav. Ein elohim are the two words behind the WEB's "There is no God" in "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 14:1), and mezimmotav is 10:2's word for schemes, with his (tap schemes). But 10:4 doesn't say he says, and the WEB doesn't give the line as speech. Where the psalm does quote him, he names God: "God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it" (10:11), and "God won’t call me into account" (10:13). In those words he doesn't say there is no God; he says God won't see, and won't call him to account. These notes set 10:4 beside 10:11 and 10:13 as they stand, and don't say more about what he believes than the psalm does.

The verses

“In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.”
Psalm 10:2 · World English Bible
“The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.”
Psalm 10:4 · World English Bible
“He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.””
Psalm 10:11 · World English Bible
“Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”?”
Psalm 10:13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 10

Psalm 10: Why do you stand far off?

Psalm 10 lets the wicked speak his heart, then answers him to God with his own verbs: "God has forgotten" (10:11) meets "Don’t forget the helpless" (10:12); "He will never see it" (10:11) meets "But you do see" (10:14); and "God won’t call me into account" (10:13) meets "seek out his wickedness" (10:15), one Hebrew verb, darash.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions