Foolishness

Psalms 14:1 KJV

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Psalm fourteen is especially tragic in mood. No one knows the occasion of David's composition and that is very likely God's intent. What is written here may be written concerning any era and any people.

Barnes Notes says of the passage:

"It would seem to have been composed under the influence of an affecting conviction of the depth and extent of human depravity, and in view of prevalent impiety and neglect of God; but such a state of things was not confined to any one period of the life of David, as it is not to any one country or period of the world. Unhappily there has been no country and no age in which, in view of existing facts, such a psalm as this might not have been composed... "

David's conclusion concerning these who are so depraved is well described by Gill:

"…though they do not express it with their mouths, yet they would fain persuade their hearts to deny the being of God; that so having no superior to whom they are accountable, they may go on in sin with impunity... "

Christian people are unfortunately as prone to this sort of foolishness as is any lost man. The depths of sin that even preachers are capable of:

·         Twisting truth to convince a group to do as they believe they should

·         Ignoring doctrines they once claimed to believe for gain of financial support

·         Cannibalizing other churches for their own growth, and these, not to mention the well documented

·         Sexual sins of men who were once considered leaders in the Christian world

We could easily apply Gill's interpretation of the Psalm to the Christianity of today

It is a gracious thing indeed that God included verse five that we might be reminded that even in the midst of such depravity, God is in the generation of the righteous. He is with the righteous. Regardless of

·         The era

·         The age or

·         The generation

God is with those who seek Him.