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Psalms 36:10-11
Based on that confidence, the psalm asks God to keep showing love and righteousness, and to block proud and wicked aggression.
Meaning in context
Based on that confidence, the psalm asks God to keep showing love and righteousness, and to block proud and wicked aggression.
Section 4 of 5
A plea for continued protection
Based on that confidence, the psalm asks God to keep showing love and righteousness, and to block proud and wicked aggression.
Movement
Worship across the whole story
Artifact
Prayer book of the covenant people
Biblical Timeline
Kingdom
Psalms context: 1000 BC - 586 BC
Biblical Timeline
Kingdom
Psalms context
Kingdom / 1000 BC - 586 BC
Psalms context is set in the kingdom period, where Israel's monarchy from David and Solomon to exile.
Scripture Text
Thesis
Based on that confidence, the psalm asks God to keep showing love and righteousness, and to block proud and wicked aggression.
Verse by Verse
A request for ongoing loyal love The speaker asks God to keep extending “lovingkindness” toward “those who know” God. The request is not just for a momentary help but for continued, stretched-out care. The second line parallels the first: God’s “righteousness” is asked for as a steady gift to people described as “upright in heart,” meaning people whose inner intentions are straight rather than divided.
A request for personal protection from arrogant power The prayer becomes personal: “Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.” The image suggests being stepped on—oppression that comes from someone’s self-importance. Then the speaker asks that “the hand of the wicked” not “drive me away,” picturing forceful removal, displacement, or being pushed out from safety and stability.
The two verses connect moral orientation (“know you,” “upright in heart”) with practical outcomes (not being trampled or expelled). The speaker assumes God’s steadfast goodness should keep showing up in the lives of those aligned with him, including in the speaker’s immediate conflict with hostile people.
Literary Context
Psalm 36 moves from a dark description of the wrongdoer’s inner talk and harmful path (Psalm 36:1–4) to a wide-angle celebration of God’s vast love, dependability, and care for all kinds of creatures (Psalm 36:5–9). Verses 10–11 function as the closing appeal: what has been praised is now requested. The scope narrows from God’s care for many to God’s care for “those who know” him, and then narrows further to the speaker’s own situation, asking that arrogance and violence not succeed.
Historical Context
The psalm comes from Israel’s worship tradition and uses common ancient prayer-language for danger: enemies are pictured as a “foot” stepping on someone and a “hand” forcefully pushing them away. Such imagery fits social realities where the powerful could threaten the vulnerable through intimidation, expulsion, or violence. The text does not name a specific event, so it can fit multiple settings in Israel’s history, including times when a person’s safety depended on patrons, courts, or community standing and could be destabilized by hostile, status-seeking rivals.
Theological Significance
Questions
Keep Studying
These verses close Psalm 36 by turning earlier praise into a request. The speaker asks God to keep extending loyal love (a committed, ongoing care) to “those who know” him, and to give “righteousness” to the “upright in heart” (explicit textual claims). Then the prayer narrows to personal danger: the speaker asks not to be trampled by “the foot of pride” or pushed out by “the hand of the wicked” (explicit textual claims).
The passage assumes a moral contrast already developed in the psalm: arrogant, harmful people threaten others, while God’s dependable goodness is a refuge. The prayer’s logic is that God’s steady goodness should continue and show up as real protection.
Two phrases invite more than one reasonable reading.
“Those who know you”: Some read this mainly as covenant loyalty—people who align themselves with God and his ways. Others read it more as personal familiarity—people who genuinely recognize and relate to God.
“Your righteousness”: Some take this as God acting fairly and setting things right for his people (faithful help). Others take it as God fostering or recognizing right living in them (moral rightness). In practice, many interpreters see both ideas overlapping: God’s “rightness” is shown both in what he does and in the kind of people he supports.
Why the disagreement exists The key terms are broad enough to cover connected ideas. “Know” can describe relational loyalty as well as personal recognition, and “righteousness” can refer to fair action and to rightness in character. Also, the images in v.11 (“foot,” “hand,” “drive me away”) are poetic and can point to different concrete threats: social removal, forced displacement, or decisive defeat.
What this passage clearly contributes The text clearly links God’s ongoing loyal love with people described as knowing him and being upright inside (without spelling out all the mechanics). It also shows that prayer can move from general claims about God to specific requests for protection against arrogant and violent pressure. The threat is portrayed as oppressive power (“foot of pride” and “hand of the wicked”), and the desired outcome is continued stability and safety rather than being forced out.
lovingkindness (ḥas·də·ḵā)