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Psalm 36 · a question people ask

"He flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin" (36:2). Can someone really not see their own sin?

In the text

Psalm 36 says it of the wicked man: he flatters himself "too much to detect and hate his sin" (36:2). He has "no fear of God before his eyes" (36:1), and "He doesn’t abhor evil" (36:4). Other psalms say something like it of anyone, and pray about it. "Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors" (Psalm 19:12). "Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way" (Psalm 139:23-24). The man in Psalm 36 doesn't look, and doesn't ask. In Psalms 19 and 139 the psalmist asks God to forgive what he can't discern, and to search him.

The verses

“For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of the LORD. A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin.”
Psalm 36:1-2 · World English Bible
“He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.”
Psalm 36:4 · World English Bible
“Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.”
Psalm 19:12 · World English Bible
“Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”
Psalm 139:23-24 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 36

Psalm 36: The spring of life

Psalm 36 calls what it sees in the wicked a revelation, ne'um, the word of the prophets' "says the LORD", and Romans has nearly the same words, "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18). Then it looks up and says, "with you is the spring of life" (36:9): Hebrew words found elsewhere only in Proverbs, once of "the fear of the LORD" (Proverbs 14:27).

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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