For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psalm 10:3 continues David’s exposure of the wicked man. The psalm began with the anguish of God’s people under oppression: “Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (v.1). The wicked proudly persecutes the poor and plots devices against him (v.2). Verse 3 shows the inward fuel behind such oppression. The wicked is not only violent in action; he is corrupt in desire, speech, approval, and judgment. He boasts of what his heart wants, blesses the covetous, and stands under the dreadful verdict of Jehovah, who abhors such a man.
“For the wicked.” The verse describes the same wicked man who persecutes the poor in pride (v.2) and who will not seek after God because God is not in all his thoughts (v.4). David is not examining wickedness as an abstract idea. He describes the actual man whose heart, mouth, desires, and judgments are set against God. Scripture does not flatter him as misguided, unfortunate, or misunderstood. He is wicked. His inner life explains his outward cruelty.
“Boasteth.” Boasting is glorying, celebrating, and speaking proudly of something. The wicked man does not mourn his evil desires; he advertises them. He does not blush at corrupt ambition; he glories in it. This is a deep stage of sin. It is one thing to be tempted and grieved by temptation; it is another to boast in the desire itself. Isaiah pronounced woe on those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope (Isaiah 5:18). Paul spoke of men whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things (Philippians 3:19). Psalm 10:3 describes such a man: he is proud of what should humble him.
“Of his heart’s desire.” The problem begins in the heart. The wicked man’s desire is not first measured by what he has done outwardly, but by what he loves inwardly. The heart is the fountain of life and conduct. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Jesus taught that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies (Matthew 15:19). The wicked man boasts of the very fountain that is corrupt.
This heart’s desire is not a lawful desire governed by God. It is the craving of a proud man whose thoughts exclude God (v.4). He wants what his lusts choose, what his pride imagines, what his covetousness reaches for, and what his flesh approves. He does not say, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). He says by his life, My desire shall rule. That is why boasting in the heart’s desire is so evil. The man has enthroned his own appetite.
Scripture shows the danger of this kind of desire. Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desired to make one wise, and she took of the fruit (Genesis 3:6). Achan saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, silver, and gold; he coveted them and took them (Joshua 7:20-21). David himself saw Bathsheba, sent for her, and sinned grievously when desire was not ruled by God’s commandment (2 Samuel 11:2-4). James explains the order: every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed; then lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin brings forth death (James 1:14-15). The wicked man in Psalm 10:3 is not fighting that desire; he boasts of it.
“And blesseth the covetous.” The wicked man not only boasts of his own desire; he praises and approves the covetous man. To bless here is to speak well of, commend, congratulate, and treat as worthy. This is moral corruption in speech and judgment. He calls greed success. He calls grasping ambition wisdom. He calls oppression industry. He calls selfish increase blessing. Isaiah’s woe belongs here: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).
The covetous man is one ruled by greedy desire for gain, possessions, advantage, or increase beyond God’s appointed bounds. Covetousness is not a small fault. God’s law says, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). Jesus warned, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15). Paul wrote plainly that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). He also declared that no covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (Ephesians 5:5). To bless the covetous is to praise an idolater.
This explains much of the world’s religion and society. Men admire those who get more, dominate more, possess more, and rise higher, even when the path is unjust. They praise the rich fool who builds bigger barns but does not think of God (Luke 12:16-21). They honor Judas-like men who speak piously while loving the bag (John 12:4-6). They excuse Balaam’s wages of unrighteousness if the outward words sound religious enough (2 Peter 2:15). They bless covetousness because they share its desires. A man usually praises the sin he secretly loves.
The phrase also exposes religious hypocrisy. The Pharisees were covetous, and when Jesus taught that men cannot serve God and mammon, they derided Him (Luke 16:13-14). They were religious, but their hearts loved money. Jesus answered that they justified themselves before men, but God knew their hearts (Luke 16:15). Psalm 10:3 reaches such men. A man may speak religiously, dress respectably, attend worship, and maintain a reputation, while blessing the covetous in his heart and circle. God is not deceived.
“Whom the LORD abhorreth.” Here is the final word, and it must not be softened. The LORD abhorreth the covetous man whom the wicked blesses. LORD in all capital letters is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the divine name Jehovah. The wicked man blesses; Jehovah abhors. The wicked man approves; Jehovah loathes. The wicked man praises; Jehovah hates with holy opposition. This is the great collision in the verse. Man’s blessing and God’s abhorrence stand against each other.
“Abhorreth” is a strong word. It does not mean mild disapproval. It means to detest, loathe, reject, and regard with holy hatred. Scripture speaks this way without apology. “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity” (Psalm 5:5). “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth” (Psalm 11:5). “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). God’s hatred is not sinful passion, creaturely loss of control, or unrighteous bitterness. His hatred is holy, pure, judicial, and perfect. He hates what is contrary to His nature, law, glory, and righteousness.
This word also proves that God’s opposition is not only against sin as an impersonal thing, while the sinner remains morally untouched. The text says, “whom the LORD abhorreth.” The object is the covetous man. Psalm 5:5 says God hates “all workers of iniquity.” Psalm 11:5 says His soul hates “the wicked and him that loveth violence.” Men often try to protect their false view of God by saying He hates sin but has no hatred toward the workers of sin; I.e., God hates the sin but loves the sinner. Scripture does not allow that comfort. God’s wrath abides on the unbelieving (John 3:36). The wicked man himself is abhorrent to Jehovah while he remains in his wickedness.
This is necessary doctrine. If God did not abhor covetousness and the covetous, He would not be holy. If He blessed what the wicked bless, He would agree with evil. But Jehovah is not like man. He does not admire greed because it succeeds. He does not excuse sinful ambition because it is profitable. He does not rename idolatry as prudence. He does not bow before wealthy oppressors. He abhors the covetous man, though the world claps for him.
The last word also makes verse 4 inevitable. The wicked man boasts of his heart’s desire and blesses the covetous because “God is not in all his thoughts” (v.4). If Jehovah were in his thoughts, he would tremble to praise what God abhors. If God’s law governed his judgment, he would hate covetousness as idolatry. If he feared the LORD, he would not congratulate the man God hates. Pride excludes God from the mind; once God is excluded, the heart boasts in desire and the mouth blesses evil.
This verse warns churches and families as well as nations. It is possible to bless the covetous by the men we admire, the success we celebrate, the marriages we encourage, the leaders we appoint, the examples we praise, and the counsel we give. When a church treats gain as godliness, it has departed from the doctrine of Christ (1 Timothy 6:5-10). When parents teach children to prize wealth above truth, they bless the covetous. When men flatter successful sinners because they envy their prosperity, they stand on the wrong side of Psalm 10:3. The question is plain: Do we bless what Jehovah abhors?
The verse also calls for self-examination. What do you boast in? What do you bless? What kind of man do you admire? What desires do you excuse because they are yours? A man may condemn certain outward sins while secretly honoring covetousness, ambition, selfish gain, and proud independence. But God reads the heart. The heart’s desire, the boast of the mouth, and the men we praise all reveal our condition. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Jesus Christ stands in perfect contrast to Psalm 10:3. He did not boast of His own heart’s desire against the Father, but said, “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). He did not bless covetousness, but warned against it and exposed it (Luke 12:15; 16:13-15). He was poor in this world, yet perfectly rich toward God (2 Corinthians 8:9). When offered all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, He refused Satan’s bargain and answered by the written word: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:8-10). No covetous desire ruled Him. No idolatrous gain enticed Him. The Father’s will was His meat (John 4:34).
Psalm 10:3 therefore exposes the wicked man in his desires, his boasting, his approvals, and his standing before God. He glories in what should shame him. He praises the covetous whom Jehovah abhors. His judgment is upside down because God is absent from his thoughts. Let the reader tremble at the last word. It is no light thing to be admired by men and abhorred by the LORD. Better to be poor, hated, and oppressed with God’s approval than rich, praised, and successful under His holy hatred. The wicked bless the covetous, but Jehovah abhorreth him.
For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psalm 10:3 continues David’s exposure of the wicked man. The psalm began with the anguish of God’s people under oppression: “Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (v.1). The wicked proudly persecutes the poor and plots devices against him (v.2). Verse 3 shows the inward fuel behind such oppression. The wicked is not only violent in action; he is corrupt in desire, speech, approval, and judgment. He boasts of what his heart wants, blesses the covetous, and stands under the dreadful verdict of Jehovah, who abhors such a man.
“For the wicked.” The verse describes the same wicked man who persecutes the poor in pride (v.2) and who will not seek after God because God is not in all his thoughts (v.4). David is not examining wickedness as an abstract idea. He describes the actual man whose heart, mouth, desires, and judgments are set against God. Scripture does not flatter him as misguided, unfortunate, or misunderstood. He is wicked. His inner life explains his outward cruelty.
“Boasteth.” Boasting is glorying, celebrating, and speaking proudly of something. The wicked man does not mourn his evil desires; he advertises them. He does not blush at corrupt ambition; he glories in it. This is a deep stage of sin. It is one thing to be tempted and grieved by temptation; it is another to boast in the desire itself. Isaiah pronounced woe on those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope (Isaiah 5:18). Paul spoke of men whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things (Philippians 3:19). Psalm 10:3 describes such a man: he is proud of what should humble him.
“Of his heart’s desire.” The problem begins in the heart. The wicked man’s desire is not first measured by what he has done outwardly, but by what he loves inwardly. The heart is the fountain of life and conduct. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Jesus taught that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies (Matthew 15:19). The wicked man boasts of the very fountain that is corrupt.
This heart’s desire is not a lawful desire governed by God. It is the craving of a proud man whose thoughts exclude God (v.4). He wants what his lusts choose, what his pride imagines, what his covetousness reaches for, and what his flesh approves. He does not say, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). He says by his life, My desire shall rule. That is why boasting in the heart’s desire is so evil. The man has enthroned his own appetite.
Scripture shows the danger of this kind of desire. Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desired to make one wise, and she took of the fruit (Genesis 3:6). Achan saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, silver, and gold; he coveted them and took them (Joshua 7:20-21). David himself saw Bathsheba, sent for her, and sinned grievously when desire was not ruled by God’s commandment (2 Samuel 11:2-4). James explains the order: every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed; then lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin brings forth death (James 1:14-15). The wicked man in Psalm 10:3 is not fighting that desire; he boasts of it.
“And blesseth the covetous.” The wicked man not only boasts of his own desire; he praises and approves the covetous man. To bless here is to speak well of, commend, congratulate, and treat as worthy. This is moral corruption in speech and judgment. He calls greed success. He calls grasping ambition wisdom. He calls oppression industry. He calls selfish increase blessing. Isaiah’s woe belongs here: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).
The covetous man is one ruled by greedy desire for gain, possessions, advantage, or increase beyond God’s appointed bounds. Covetousness is not a small fault. God’s law says, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). Jesus warned, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15). Paul wrote plainly that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). He also declared that no covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (Ephesians 5:5). To bless the covetous is to praise an idolater.
This explains much of the world’s religion and society. Men admire those who get more, dominate more, possess more, and rise higher, even when the path is unjust. They praise the rich fool who builds bigger barns but does not think of God (Luke 12:16-21). They honor Judas-like men who speak piously while loving the bag (John 12:4-6). They excuse Balaam’s wages of unrighteousness if the outward words sound religious enough (2 Peter 2:15). They bless covetousness because they share its desires. A man usually praises the sin he secretly loves.
The phrase also exposes religious hypocrisy. The Pharisees were covetous, and when Jesus taught that men cannot serve God and mammon, they derided Him (Luke 16:13-14). They were religious, but their hearts loved money. Jesus answered that they justified themselves before men, but God knew their hearts (Luke 16:15). Psalm 10:3 reaches such men. A man may speak religiously, dress respectably, attend worship, and maintain a reputation, while blessing the covetous in his heart and circle. God is not deceived.
“Whom the LORD abhorreth.” Here is the final word, and it must not be softened. The LORD abhorreth the covetous man whom the wicked blesses. LORD in all capital letters is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the divine name Jehovah. The wicked man blesses; Jehovah abhors. The wicked man approves; Jehovah loathes. The wicked man praises; Jehovah hates with holy opposition. This is the great collision in the verse. Man’s blessing and God’s abhorrence stand against each other.
“Abhorreth” is a strong word. It does not mean mild disapproval. It means to detest, loathe, reject, and regard with holy hatred. Scripture speaks this way without apology. “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity” (Psalm 5:5). “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth” (Psalm 11:5). “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). God’s hatred is not sinful passion, creaturely loss of control, or unrighteous bitterness. His hatred is holy, pure, judicial, and perfect. He hates what is contrary to His nature, law, glory, and righteousness.
This word also proves that God’s opposition is not only against sin as an impersonal thing, while the sinner remains morally untouched. The text says, “whom the LORD abhorreth.” The object is the covetous man. Psalm 5:5 says God hates “all workers of iniquity.” Psalm 11:5 says His soul hates “the wicked and him that loveth violence.” Men often try to protect their false view of God by saying He hates sin but has no hatred toward the workers of sin; I.e., God hates the sin but loves the sinner. Scripture does not allow that comfort. God’s wrath abides on the unbelieving (John 3:36). The wicked man himself is abhorrent to Jehovah while he remains in his wickedness.
This is necessary doctrine. If God did not abhor covetousness and the covetous, He would not be holy. If He blessed what the wicked bless, He would agree with evil. But Jehovah is not like man. He does not admire greed because it succeeds. He does not excuse sinful ambition because it is profitable. He does not rename idolatry as prudence. He does not bow before wealthy oppressors. He abhors the covetous man, though the world claps for him.
The last word also makes verse 4 inevitable. The wicked man boasts of his heart’s desire and blesses the covetous because “God is not in all his thoughts” (v.4). If Jehovah were in his thoughts, he would tremble to praise what God abhors. If God’s law governed his judgment, he would hate covetousness as idolatry. If he feared the LORD, he would not congratulate the man God hates. Pride excludes God from the mind; once God is excluded, the heart boasts in desire and the mouth blesses evil.
This verse warns churches and families as well as nations. It is possible to bless the covetous by the men we admire, the success we celebrate, the marriages we encourage, the leaders we appoint, the examples we praise, and the counsel we give. When a church treats gain as godliness, it has departed from the doctrine of Christ (1 Timothy 6:5-10). When parents teach children to prize wealth above truth, they bless the covetous. When men flatter successful sinners because they envy their prosperity, they stand on the wrong side of Psalm 10:3. The question is plain: Do we bless what Jehovah abhors?
The verse also calls for self-examination. What do you boast in? What do you bless? What kind of man do you admire? What desires do you excuse because they are yours? A man may condemn certain outward sins while secretly honoring covetousness, ambition, selfish gain, and proud independence. But God reads the heart. The heart’s desire, the boast of the mouth, and the men we praise all reveal our condition. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Jesus Christ stands in perfect contrast to Psalm 10:3. He did not boast of His own heart’s desire against the Father, but said, “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). He did not bless covetousness, but warned against it and exposed it (Luke 12:15; 16:13-15). He was poor in this world, yet perfectly rich toward God (2 Corinthians 8:9). When offered all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, He refused Satan’s bargain and answered by the written word: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:8-10). No covetous desire ruled Him. No idolatrous gain enticed Him. The Father’s will was His meat (John 4:34).
Psalm 10:3 therefore exposes the wicked man in his desires, his boasting, his approvals, and his standing before God. He glories in what should shame him. He praises the covetous whom Jehovah abhors. His judgment is upside down because God is absent from his thoughts. Let the reader tremble at the last word. It is no light thing to be admired by men and abhorred by the LORD. Better to be poor, hated, and oppressed with God’s approval than rich, praised, and successful under His holy hatred. The wicked bless the covetous, but Jehovah abhorreth him.