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Psalm 10:4 – Why There Is No God
Reading different versions spurs different thoughts due to the different wording. For example, Psalm 10:4:
- CSB – In all his scheming, the wicked person arrogantly thinks, “There’s no accountability, since there’s no God.”
- NASB – The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek [Him.] All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
- ESV – In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
- NET The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks, “God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.”
- NIV – In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
These five are quite different, although there are similarities. Sometimes Hebrew is difficult to translate. Regardless of the translation, all versions teach truth taught elsewhere. One take on a literal word-for-word translation reads,
- The wicked, according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.”
According to the NET Notes:
The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).
Thinking God does not care or does not exist rationalizes or soothes the conscience for those wanting to be in charge of their moralities. Some atheists willingly admit this is a major reason for their atheism:
Aldus Huxley: “The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do….For myself, as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation … from a certain system of morality” (Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means).
We Christians must watch ourselves that we too don’t form conclusions based upon what we want morally or doctrinally. God is the deciding factor, and we must keep reminding ourselves of that; or else we are no better than those who don’t believe because they want to be god.
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