Scripture Daily

Context No. 3554 of 4322 · Psalms

Context · Reflection

Psalms 14:1-7: in context

1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. 2The LORD looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God. 3They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one. 4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on the LORD? 5There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous. 6You frustrate the plan of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. 7Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

The psalm opens with a stark diagnosis: the fool says in his heart, there is no God, and the result is corruption, for a life lived as if God does not see leads to abominable deeds. And the psalm's verdict is sweeping: there is none who does good, not one, a verse Paul takes up to show that all have sinned.

But notice where the fool's error is located: in the heart, not the head. He says in his heart, there is no God. It is less a reasoned conclusion than a wish, the desire to live as though no one is watching and no one has to be answered to. This practical atheism, living as if God is not there, is the root of much evil, not because people have cleverly disproved God, but because they would rather he did not exist. And yet the psalm ends in hope: God is present with the righteous, and salvation will come out of Zion. The very One the fool wished away is the One who saves.

Do I live as though God truly sees and I must answer to him, rather than in the practical atheism of the heart that wishes him away, and do I set my hope on the salvation he brings?

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