If you have spent any time in church, you will have heard the first verse of psalm 14…

… that is familiar, but the rest of the psalm unpacks it nicely.

Let’s take a look…

Interested in knowing Why? this series on Psalms…
check out the 1^st post.

Psalm 14

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.

² The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

³ They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

⁴ Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread
and do not call upon the Lord?

⁵ There they are in great terror,
for God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶ You would shame the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is his refuge.

⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

My 3 Thoughts

1. The Wicked or… the fool: So… did you see what I mean when I said that you’d likely heard v.1 before? “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”
   • The psalmist goes on to give a few more descriptors about those he considers to be foolish, but the first and foremost is that they readily affirm “There’s no such thing as God” or… “God doesn’t exist.”
   • It has less to do with intellectual capacity and more to do with the person’s willingness to accept (or reject) Godly wisdom, or the fact that God is interested / involved in the daily affairs of this life.
2. True Understanding:
   • In opposition to foolishness or the fool of v. 1, v.2 presents a person of true understanding as someone who seeks after God. We can understand many things in this life; our school lessons, how to accomplish various tasks at work, even how to deal with people. I dare say, however, that there is a level of understanding that is more important yet: The question of God and eternity.
     • What do I understand about God?
     • What do I understand about his dealings with me?
     • How have I come to those conclusions? …based on past hurts or disappointments? … based on someone else’s actions? … based on comparison of those things to the experience of those who lived during the times and events depicted in the Bible?
   • When I make decisions about common everyday things, I try to get as many facts as possible, to be able to make an informed decision. Why would I treat God or the things of eternity any differently?
   • If you are someone who is on the fence about a relationship with God, please don’t try to make a final decision without studying the Bible… We need true understanding and Jesus said “I am the way, the TRUTH and the life.” (John 14.6)
3. Real Reality:
   • V.4 talks about the evildoers (another word for fools) as people to “eat up” God’s people (who take advantage of, abuse, trouble them). The child of God who is undergoing such difficulty, at the hands of unbelievers, can be tempted to become despondent, discouraged and doubtful… but Psalm 14 presents what’s going on behind the scenes.
   • Those who are doing the persecuting are often themselves doing it out of ingrained / embedded hurt, fear… terror. It could be the result of a recent event or something that has been with them for a long time. But David says… despite the appearances, “God IS with the generation of the righteous”, present tense.
   • Try not to fret. Things may look bad, but if we pursue righteousness we have the promise of his presence.

Food for Thought…

This Psalm contrasts those who reject God and those who pursue God. Life isn’t always easy, but the Bible says that if we “seek after God (v.2)”, “call upon the Lord (v.4)”, and seek to be part of “the generation of the righteous (v.5)”, the Lord will be our refuge (v.6) and we have the promise of his salvation (v.7).

Thanks for spending these moments together today,
God bless your day!