◄ Psalm 10:6 ►
He says to himself, "I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress."
Study Bible
He says to himself,

This phrase indicates a self-assured inner dialogue, reflecting the mindset of the wicked. In biblical context, self-talk often reveals the heart's true condition (Psalm 14:1). The wicked's confidence is rooted in pride and self-reliance, contrasting with the righteous who depend on God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Psa 36:2 For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate…
Oba 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,…
Pro 21:2 All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD…

“I will not be moved;

This expression of confidence suggests a belief in personal invincibility. Biblically, being "moved" often refers to stability and security (Psalm 16:8). The wicked's false sense of security is a recurring theme, as seen in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21), who also believed in his own permanence.

Psa 30:6-7 In prosperity I said, “I will never be shaken.”…
Rev 18:7 As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury,…
Isa 47:7-8 You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ …

from age to age

This phrase implies a belief in enduring stability across generations. Historically, many ancient cultures, including those surrounding Israel, believed in the permanence of their own power and legacy. This contrasts with the biblical teaching that only God is eternal (Psalm 90:2).

Psa 49:11 Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings…
Jer 48:11 Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine…
Ecc 8:12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times…

I am free of distress.”

The wicked's claim of being free from trouble highlights their ignorance of divine justice. Throughout scripture, distress is often a tool used by God to bring people to repentance (Psalm 119:67). The belief in being free from distress is a delusion, as ultimate peace and security are found only in God (John 16:33).

Job 21:7-13 Why do the wicked live on, growing old…
Psa 73:5 They are free of the burdens others carry;…
Luk 12:19 Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things…

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Wicked Man
The primary subject of this verse, representing those who live in arrogance and self-reliance, believing they are invincible and beyond accountability.

2. The Psalmist
Traditionally attributed to David, the psalmist observes and laments the behavior and mindset of the wicked.

3. God
Implicit in the text as the ultimate judge and authority, contrasting the self-assured wicked with divine justice.

4. The Oppressed
Though not directly mentioned in this verse, they are the victims of the wicked's arrogance and are central to the broader context of the psalm.

5. The Context of Distress
The broader setting of the psalm, where the wicked believe they are free from trouble, while the righteous suffer.
Teaching Points
The Folly of Arrogance
The wicked man's belief that he will "never be moved" reflects a dangerous arrogance. This mindset ignores the reality of God's sovereignty and the transient nature of human life.

The Illusion of Security
The phrase "from age to age I am free of distress" highlights the false sense of security that comes from relying on one's own strength and resources rather than on God.

God's Sovereignty and Justice
Despite the wicked's confidence, the broader biblical account assures us that God is just and will hold the arrogant accountable. Believers are encouraged to trust in God's ultimate justice.

The Call to Humility
This verse serves as a reminder for believers to cultivate humility, recognizing our dependence on God and the fleeting nature of earthly power and security.

Trust in God's Deliverance
While the wicked may seem secure, believers are called to place their trust in God's deliverance and protection, knowing that He sees and will act in His perfect timing.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the attitude of the wicked man in Psalm 10:6 reflect common attitudes in today's society?

2. In what ways can believers guard against the arrogance and self-reliance depicted in this verse?

3. How does the assurance of God's justice provide comfort to those who feel oppressed or distressed?

4. What practical steps can we take to cultivate humility and reliance on God in our daily lives?

5. How do the themes in Psalm 10:6 connect with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, particularly regarding wealth and security?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 16:18
This verse speaks to the theme of pride leading to downfall, which connects to the arrogance of the wicked in Psalm 10:6.

James 4:13-16
These verses warn against boasting about tomorrow, highlighting the folly of self-assuredness without acknowledging God's sovereignty.

Luke 12:16-21
The parable of the rich fool illustrates the danger of placing confidence in material wealth and self-sufficiency, similar to the mindset in Psalm 10:6.
Sermons
Godless Confidence -- its Mad ArroganceA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 10:6
One Saying from Three MenAlexander MaclarenPsalm 10:6
The False Security of the WickedThomas Brooks.Psalm 10:6
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
Adversity, Always, Evil, Generation, Generations, Happy, Heart, I'll, Meet, Moved, Nothing, Says, Shake, Shaken, Thinks, Throughout, Trouble
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 10:6

     4903   time
     5874   happiness

Psalm 10:2-6

     5550   speech, negative
     6121   boasting

Psalm 10:2-11

     5793   arrogance

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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