Psalms 14

Psalms 14THEME: Depravity of man in the last daysatheistic, filthy, rebelliousThis psalm is linked to the other psalms, especially Psalms 12. In that psalm you will recall that we saw the corruption of the last days. The godly man had ceased, it seemed; and the godless were in control. Corruption, wickedness, and lawlessness abounded. You may think it is a picture of this day, but if I may use the common colloquialism of the street, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Wait until the Great Tribulation comes. By the way, I hope you don’t see it, because God’s ownthose who are in the body of believersare not going through the Great Tribulation.

He has already said that He would keep them from “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev_3:10). The church, by which I mean the true believers, will leave before that time. This psalm certainly sets before us the corruption and wickedness of the last days, the end of the age. Notice the marvelous arrangement of this psalm made by Bishop Horne. He divides this psalm into three parts: the corruption of the world, the enmity against the people of God, and the longing and prayer for salvation. This is the picture of Psalm 14. It is brief but very important.

Psalms 14:1

THE CORRUPTION OF THE WORLDThe Hebrew word for “fool” in this verse is nabal. This may ring a bell in your thinking, because there was a man by the name of Nabal who was married to a lovely woman by the name of Abigail. His story is told in 1 Samuel 25. His name certainly characterized him accurately. He acted a fool. The word nabal may be translated “simple, silly, simpleton, fool, or madman.” I have a very intelligent friend who has been very successful in dealing with atheists. He was in a group of men one day when an atheist said, “I don’t believe there is a God. Man doesn’t have a soul, and when he dies, he dies like a dog.” This man went on raving like a madman. My friend waited until the group began to break up and then approached this man. He said, “I understand you said that you are an atheist.” Upon hearing these words the man launched into another tirade about his belief that there is no God. My friend said, “I would like to ask you a question.

The Bible says, ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.’ The word fool means insane or mad. Either you were not sincere when you talked about God as you did and you were just talking for the benefit of the crowd, or you are a fool and a madman. I would like to know which one it is.” The man turned and walked away. Knowing what we do about the universe today, only a madman would say that there is no God. Man has found that the universe works more accurately than any clock or watch he has been able to make. And there is no watch running around that “just happened"some watchmaker made it.

The universe that is timed more accurately than a watch tells us that there is a universe-maker. The fool has said in his heart that there is no God, and now the fool begins to appear on the scene. We have already had a glimpse of him in Psa_10:4, where we read, “God is not in all his thoughts.” A better translation of this is, “All of his thoughts are, ‘There is no God!’” He exhibits the very depth of human depravity. There are many people with Ph.D.’s teaching in our universities today. Many of them are atheists. I want to say this carefullythe lowest that a man can sink in human depravity is to be an atheist. That is what the Word of God says. If you do not believe there is a God, you are a madman; you are crazy. You do not have any real sense.

Having a high I.Q. is not enough. I used to teach with a man who had a Ph.D., and he didn’t have sense enough to get out of the rain. I played golf with him one day when it began to rain. He looked at me and asked, “What shall we do?” He was really asking for information. What would any sensible person do when it starts pouring down rain? I said to him, “I think we had better get in out of the rain!” Even I knew that, but he didn’t seem to know.

So, you see, a scholastic degree doesn’t prove a man’s intelligence! “They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” I believe you will find that most atheists are also great sinners. Gross immorality is generally one of their characteristics. A man who mixes with the college set told me, “It is amazing the number of Ph.D.’s who claim to be atheists and who are living in gross immorality. And some of them actually live in filthand I mean material, physical filth.”

Psalms 14:2

And what did He find?

Psalms 14:3

Paul quotes this verse in Rom_3:12, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Paul is not only speaking about atheists; he is speaking about everyone. This is a picture of you and me, friend. I am not an atheist, and I don’t imagine you are, but we are sinners. We do not do good. The condition of man is corrupt, and the first three verses tell us the depths to which man can go.

Psalms 14:4

ENMITY AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF GODThey are not only against God, but they are against the people of God. There is a lot of pretense upon the part of rich politicians today. A college professor, who is a friend of mine and who is liberal in his theology and in his politics, calls these politicians “limousine liberals.” He said, “They don’t know anything about what the poor man goes through, and yet they pretend to be liberal.” They are like the rich man who always lets some crumbs fall off his table for the poor man to keep him satisfied (see Luk_16:20-21). I find no rich man today giving up his riches to help the poor. What little you and I accumulate he will tax to death; yet he somehow escapes taxation himself. God certainly knows human nature, does He not? This is a picture of them.

Psalms 14:7

THE LONGING AND PRAYER FOR SALVATIONNow here is a note of triumph. This verse looks forward in anticipation to that glorious day when out of Zion will come salvation for Israel. In that day Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad. You cannot misunderstand this verse. Anyone who says that God does not have a future purpose for Israel is admitting that he doesn’t know very much about the Psalms. He may try to avoid what is so clearly stated in other passages of the Word, but how can he deny that the heart cry and the joy of the psalmist is in the future when God establishes a kingdom on earth with Israel at the center?