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Psalm 73:11

They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

9They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
10Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.
11They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.
13Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
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← Psalm 73:10Psalm 73:12 →
Notice

The title “Most High” stands within a challenge to God’s knowledge, spoken amid the troubling ease and growing wealth of the wicked.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you make of calling God “Most High” while questioning his knowledge?

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What, if anything, about the wicked being “always at ease” troubles you today?

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How do the opening words “They say” shape your reading of these questions?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.Both passages report mistaken judgments about God: questioning his knowledge in Psalm 73 and mistaking his silence for likeness in Psalm 50.
Hosea 7:2They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face.Psalm 73 records people questioning God’s knowledge; Hosea describes people disregarding God’s remembrance of their wickedness.
Job 22:13You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?Eliphaz attributes to Job a question about what God knows, echoing the question reported in Psalm 73.
Zephaniah 1:12It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “The …Both passages report people casting doubt on God’s involvement: his knowledge in Psalm 73 and his action in Zephaniah.
Isaiah 29:15Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from the LORD, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”Both passages report questions about who knows, with Isaiah naming the hidden deeds behind such speech.
Psalm 10:11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”Both passages report speech that casts doubt on God’s awareness of what people do.
Psalm 59:7Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?”Both passages connect hostile speech with questions about whether anyone knows or hears.
Psalm 94:7They say, “The LORD will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”Both passages introduce speech with “They say” and report doubt that God notices what happens.
Job 15:25Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,Psalm 73 records a challenge to God’s knowledge; Job 15 describes defiance toward the Almighty.
Ezekiel 8:12Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘The …Both passages report people questioning God’s awareness, with Ezekiel identifying elders who claim the LORD does not see them.
Job 24:15The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face.Both passages concern whether conduct is noticed, though Job’s adulterer speaks of unseen deeds without naming God.
Where this verse fits

Doubt. injustice and anger. envy and comparison.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Copy Psalm 73:11 with its opening words intact

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Encouragement

The words “They say” matter: Scripture records this challenge to God’s knowledge without endorsing it. The ease of the wicked gives no proof that God is ignorant.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 73:11. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 73 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).