Psalms 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

Isaiah 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ²  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ³ 

they say wonderful things about me, ⁴ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ⁵ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ⁶ 

Isaiah 43:22

The Lord Rebukes His People

43:22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;

you did not long ⁷  for me, O Israel.

Hebrews 10:22

10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, ⁸  because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience ⁹  and our bodies washed in pure water.

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” 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).

[29:13]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ³ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[43:22]  ⁷ tn Or “strive”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “been weary of me.”

[10:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “in assurance of faith.”

[10:22]  ⁹ sn The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).