^{Ps 10 3} He boasts of the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD . ⁴ In his pride the wicked does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
⁵ His ways are always prosperous;
he is haughty and your laws are far from him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
⁶ He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me;
I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
⁷ His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
⁸ He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent,
watching in secret for his victims.
⁹ He lies in wait like a lion in cover;
he lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
¹⁰ His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
he covers his face and never sees."


God implanted His law in man when he was created. He made man with the motives to act according to that law.  All men relate to the environment by creating images according to that perfect implanted law. When man fell into sin , he began to redefine that implanted law. The apostle teaches that mans thinking process becomes twisted because he excuses himself while condemning other people.  The law of God prevents man from acting beyond the boundaries of relationships. It contains the perfect order and symmetry of creation. The law address mans relationship with God and others. The horizontal and vertical dimension of the law of God are the cause and effect of all that transpires in creation. When man fails to think correctly about God, he destroys the unity and symmetry of creation. Because the violation is a offense toward God it must be punished with eternal retribution. God demanded death for the smallest offense according to His eternal judgements. The law is Gods instrument of cursing.

 The Psalmist describes the behavior of the wicked in the context of blessing and cursing. Mans sin brought death to all of Gods creation. The consequences of the curse prevented man from coming to God with his own righteousness. God demanded perfect righteousness according to His eternal judgements. Gods judgements could only be satisfied in Himself. The curse had to be applied to the object of His judgement. The apostle teaches that Christ became a curse so that God could impute righteousness to His elect. Our sin was imputed to Christ. We received His righteousness.

 This imputation is the means by which we become definitively sanctified. Before we are saved we are alienated from God. The Psalmist describes the responses of the man who is in this hostile relationship with God as thinking desiring and acting to set himself up as god. He describes the terrible acts of the wicked as an attempt to destroy Gods perfect kingdom in order to rule with impunity and violence. Gods law is justified against all sin and corruption in His eternal judgements of death to all violators. So the smallest offense is put in the context of the most vengeful curse.All sin and corruption are put in the context of Gods eternal vengeance.

Because the Psalmist describes the desires and the actions of the wicked in the most sever terms, he is teaching the ot principle in the context of Romans to "count yourselves dead to sin." We must count ourselves dead to sin by pronouncing the law. The law curses the wicked by producing guilt and shame.Instead of the law being the standard of obedience it is the condemning power that kills the opposition in order to enable Gods elect. The perfect description of creation is imaged on the foundation of His law. One of the commandments contain the entire government of God. One word of God is the spirit of His entire government. When the apostle teaches the origins of salvation are birthed in death, he is teaching that in the pronouncement of the curse God destroyed the kingdom of man and began the renewal of all things.To count yourselves dead to sin is to pronounce the law, covenants, curses, decrees, statutes and promises. It is to pronounce the death to the kingdom of man and thus render the wicked powerless. 

 ¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.
¹⁶ The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.