Psalms · psalm 14 of 150
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Psalm 14 describes a humanity that has gone astray: the fool says in his heart that there is no God, and there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven and sees that all have become corrupt; evildoers devour his people, but God is the refuge of the poor. The psalm ends longing for Israel's salvation to come out of Zion.
It is a psalm of David with an almost identical parallel in Psalm 53, with small variations. It is a wisdom psalm with traits of lament. Paul quotes it in Romans 3 to show that all, Jews and Gentiles alike, need the gospel. Here the fool is not someone lacking intelligence but someone who lives as though God did not exist.
The psalm begins with a blunt statement: the fool says in his heart that there is no God. They are corrupt and have done abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The word fool in the Bible describes a person who refuses to live under God's authority, and the unbelief it describes is practical.
Then the Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand and seek after God. His verdict is that all have turned aside and become corrupt together; there is none who does good, not even one.
David asks whether the evildoers have no knowledge, those who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord. There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. They would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. The psalm ends with a longing: oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The fool says in his heart that there is no God, and his life becomes corrupt. It is less an intellectual denial than a life that ignores God and therefore strays from what is good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if any understand and seek God. The psalm shows us a God who draws near to look, not a distant God.
All have turned aside and become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 3:10-12 to show that all are under sin.
Though the evildoers try to frustrate the plans of the poor, the Lord is his refuge. The psalm ends with a pastoral truth: God is the refuge of those who have no other defense.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That there is no God. — Psalm 14:1
Answer: He looks on the children of man to see if any understand and seek after God. — Psalm 14:2
Answer: That all have turned aside and become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. — Psalm 14:3
Answer: They eat them up as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord. — Psalm 14:4
Answer: His refuge. — Psalm 14:6
Answer: That salvation for Israel would come out of Zion. — Psalm 14:7
Psalm 14 challenges us to evaluate our own lives honestly. The fool is not only the declared atheist: so is anyone who lives in practice as if God did not matter. A useful question is in which areas we decide without counting on God even though we confess him with our mouths.
At the same time, the psalm prepares the ground for the gospel. If all have turned aside, no one can save himself, and salvation comes from God. Paul uses the psalm that way in Romans 3, and the hope of verse 7 is fulfilled in Christ, who comes to save those who have no refuge outside him.
Psalm 14 ends with a longing for salvation to come from Zion. Psalm 15 asks a question that follows naturally: who may dwell in God's presence, and what is the life of the person who does?
In Romans 3:10-12 Paul gathers several Old Testament texts, this psalm among them, to show that Jews and Gentiles alike are under sin. With that he prepares his explanation that justification comes by faith in Christ.
They are nearly the same and differ mainly in verse 5 and in the divine name used. Psalm 14 uses the name the Lord, and Psalm 53 the title God. They are probably two versions of the same poem.
The psalm describes the state of a humanity that has rejected God. The Bible recognizes acts of kindness, but it teaches that no one is righteous before God on his own, which is why everyone needs his grace.