◄ Psalm 10:7 ►
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.
Study Bible
His mouth is full of cursing
The phrase "His mouth is full of cursing" indicates a heart that is overflowing with bitterness and hostility. In the Hebrew text, the word for "cursing" (קָלָל, qalal) can also imply a sense of belittling or making light of others, which reflects a deep-seated contempt. This aligns with the biblical understanding that the words we speak are a reflection of the heart (Matthew 12:34). Historically, cursing was not just about using foul language but invoking harm or misfortune upon others, which is contrary to the biblical call to bless and not curse (Romans 12:14).

deceit
The term "deceit" (מִרְמָה, mirmah) in Hebrew conveys the idea of treachery and falsehood. It is a deliberate act of misleading others, often for personal gain. This word is frequently used in the Old Testament to describe the actions of those who oppose God's truth. Deceit is a tool of the wicked, contrasting sharply with the call for believers to live in truth and integrity (Ephesians 4:25). The presence of deceit in one's speech indicates a heart that is not aligned with God's righteousness.

and violence
"Violence" (חָמָס, chamas) in this context refers to both physical harm and moral wrongs. It is a term that encompasses acts of injustice and oppression. The historical context of the Psalms often reflects a society where the powerful would exploit the weak, and this word captures the essence of such brutality. Biblically, God abhors violence and calls His people to pursue peace and justice (Micah 6:8). The presence of violence in speech suggests a heart inclined towards aggression and domination.

trouble and malice
The words "trouble and malice" (עָמָל וָאָוֶן, amal va'aven) together paint a picture of intentional harm and wickedness. "Trouble" (עָמָל, amal) often refers to toil or laborious effort, but in this context, it implies causing distress or hardship to others. "Malice" (אָוֶן, aven) denotes iniquity or moral evil. These terms highlight a premeditated intent to harm, reflecting a heart that devises evil rather than good. This is contrary to the biblical exhortation to love one's neighbor and seek their welfare (Philippians 2:3-4).

are under his tongue
The phrase "are under his tongue" suggests that these harmful words and intentions are ready to be spoken at any moment. It implies a lurking readiness to unleash evil, much like poison hidden under the tongue, ready to strike. This imagery is powerful, indicating that the wicked are always prepared to speak harm. In the broader scriptural context, this serves as a warning to guard one's heart and speech, as the tongue has the power to bring life or death (Proverbs 18:21). The righteous are called to have speech seasoned with grace and truth (Colossians 4:6).

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Wicked Person
The primary subject of this verse, representing those who oppose God and His ways. This person is characterized by their harmful speech and intentions.

2. The Psalmist
Traditionally attributed to David, the psalmist is the one observing and lamenting the behavior of the wicked.

3. The Oppressed
Implicit in the context of the psalm, these are the individuals who suffer under the actions and words of the wicked.

4. God
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, God is the ultimate judge and deliverer, to whom the psalmist appeals throughout the psalm.

5. The Community of Believers
The audience of the psalm, who are encouraged to trust in God's justice and righteousness.
Teaching Points
The Power of Words
Words have the power to harm or heal. As believers, we must be mindful of our speech, ensuring it aligns with God's truth and love.

Guarding the Heart
The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. We must guard our hearts against deceit and malice, filling them with God's Word and Spirit.

Trust in God's Justice
While the wicked may seem to prosper, God sees and will judge their actions. We can trust in His ultimate justice and righteousness.

The Call to Righteous Speech
As followers of Christ, we are called to use our words to bless and encourage others, reflecting the character of God in our interactions.

Intercession for the Oppressed
We should pray for those who suffer under the wicked, asking God to deliver them and bring justice to their situation.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the description of the wicked person's speech in Psalm 10:7 challenge you to reflect on your own use of words?

2. In what ways can you guard your heart to ensure that your speech reflects God's love and truth?

3. How does understanding God's justice provide comfort when witnessing the prosperity of the wicked?

4. What practical steps can you take to ensure your words build up rather than tear down those around you?

5. How can you actively intercede for those who are oppressed by the deceit and violence of others, as described in Psalm 10:7?
Connections to Other Scriptures
James 3:6-10
This passage discusses the power of the tongue, emphasizing how it can be used for both blessing and cursing, similar to the deceit and violence described in Psalm 10:7.

Proverbs 6:16-19
Lists things the Lord hates, including a lying tongue and a heart that devises wicked schemes, paralleling the deceit and malice mentioned in Psalm 10:7.

Matthew 12:34-37
Jesus speaks about how the mouth speaks what the heart is full of, connecting to the idea that the wicked's speech reveals their inner corruption.

Romans 3:13-14
Paul references Psalm 10:7 when describing the sinful nature of humanity, highlighting the universality of sin and the need for redemption.

Ephesians 4:29
Encourages believers to speak words that build up rather than harm, contrasting with the destructive speech of the wicked in Psalm 10:7.
Sermons
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
Black ArtsW. L. Watkinson.Psalm 10:7-18
OppressionThomas Brooks.Psalm 10:7-18
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Curses, Cursing, Dark, Deceit, Deceits, Evil, Filled, Fraud, Full, Iniquity, Lies, Mischief, Mouth, Oaths, Oppression, Perverseness, Purposes, Thoughts, Threats, Tongue, Trouble, Vanity, Wickedness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 10:7

     5167   mouth
     5193   tongue
     6023   sin, universality
     6146   deceit, and God
     6632   conviction
     8442   good works
     8796   persecution, forms of

Psalm 10:2-11

     5793   arrogance

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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