Psalm 10:13

Psalm 10:13, in plain English

The psalmist is asking why the wicked person has rejected God entirely—why they've decided that God won't hold them accountable for anything. He's identifying the core delusion: the belief that there are no consequences.

Why it's here

This is a rhetorical question. The psalmist already knows the answer: pride. But by asking it, he's highlighting how irrational it is to reject the God of the universe just so you can live selfishly. It's like rejecting gravity and thinking you can jump off a building without falling. The wicked person has built their whole life on a rejection that can't actually work.

Who's speaking

The psalmist, asking a pointed question about the wicked person's false confidence

Where it sits in the story

God's accountability is universal according to Scripture. No one escapes it—not in this life necessarily, but ultimately. The psalm is asserting that this belief in consequence-free living is pure fantasy.

The scholarly reading

The psalmist marvels at the wicked man's refusal to acknowledge God's moral authority, his conviction that accountability will never materialize.

Language and setting

The Hebrew מָדוּעַ נִאֵץ רָשָׁע אֱלֹהִים (madua niʾetz rasha ʾElohim, 'Why has the wicked man renounced God') employs נִאֵץ (ni-etz), a root meaning 'to spurn' or 'to treat with contempt.' The question is rhetorical—the psalmist understands the wicked man's reasoning even as he rejects it. The quoted soliloquy אַתָּה לֹא תִדְרוֹשׁ (atta lo tidrosk, 'You will never call me to account') uses the future tense with negation, expressing absolute conviction. The verb דָּרַשׁ (darash) returns us to 'seek' or 'inquire,' now inverted: the wicked man believes God will never 'seek him out' for judgment. This verse deepens the theological profile—the wicked man is not merely immoral but has constructed a systematic theology negating divine judgment. Medieval commentators like David Kimchi recognized this as intellectual rebellion: the wicked man has reasoned his way to practical impunity.

Voice

The righteous sufferer, articulating the wicked man's core conviction and expressing wonder at his moral audacity.

Significance

This verse exposes that judgment awaits the wicked precisely because he has refused to acknowledge it—his denial does not negate God's justice but seals his accountability.

11He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”

12Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless.

13Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”

14But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

15Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found.

Read all of Psalm 10 — The wicked prosper and the helpless are crushed. Why do You stand far off, Lord? A cry that the oppressed have prayed in every century.