Psalms Chapter14

Psalm 14

The Bible says in Psalms 14:1, “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.” Just because someone says something does not make it true. In fact the truth may very well be the opposite of that. The fool says in his heart there is no God. But that doesn’t make it true. There is a God.

Romans chapter 1:19-20 says, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse.” The consciousness of God’s existence is inherent in every man. God made it thus. But it is something of which men can deny themselves and turn away from just as men sometimes abandon other natural affections. “Fool” is a strong word. It means stupid. Anyone who denies there is a God is a fool. Without God there could be nothing. And without God in your life your life is a waste. To deny yourself the awareness of God is the first step towards abandoning all that is good and pure. That is why this verse ends by saying, regarding such people: “they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

The word abominable can mean to abhor. Job 9:31 says, “Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.” The ditch is where all the refuse and filth is collected. This is an accurate description of what such men really are regardless of outward appearance. Consider again the words of Romans chapter 1:20, “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen.” It does not take great intelligence, and you do not have to be a scientist to understand and be aware that there is God. In fact it is so blatantly obvious that there is a God that for a person to reach the point where he has convinced himself there is no God takes great force of effort and will-power because the truth is everywhere. It is no wonder the Bible calls such a person a “fool”. The end results of such denial will only be abominable works.

Psalms 14:2-3, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, not one.” The eyes of the LORD are in every place beholding the evil and the good. God is looking. God is watching. God is paying attention to everything that you do. And what He is doing is looking for those who understand and seek after Him. The word “understand” means to give attention to, to consider. It seems strange the Bible says that Jesus is looking down from heaven to see if any are seeking Him. Because it then says in verse 3 that there are none seeking him. If Jesus knows that there are none seeking Him, then why is He looking down from heaven to see if any understand and seek God? The word “understand” used here in verse 2 is also used in the book of Genesis 3:6 and is translated “wise:” “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

In this situation Eve knew what was right and wrong and she had to make a choice. She understood but she chose to listen to the serpent. Of course, this is the same mistake that every human being has made. God is looking out to see if any understand and seek God because He is seeking us. The problem is just as it says in Psalms: we have all gone aside. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The Bible says, draw nigh God and He will draw nigh to you. This does not imply that God will not seek you until you seek him because God is seeking men before they are seeking him. But it means: what are you going to chose to do when you are faced with the truth? What are you going to do with the Words of God that are given to you? You have already failed to understand and to seek God. But God is still seeking you through His son Jesus Christ just as He did with Adam and Eve after they disobeyed him. They chose to repent. What will you choose to do?

Genesis 3:8-15, “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the tress of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel?” Just as the understanding that there is a God is put in men from the time of their coming into being, and just as creation itself witnesses to the invisible things, there is also the voice of the LORD which calls out to men. The LORD is looking down from heaven. You do understand. What will you chose to do? Will you listen? Will you heed the call of Christ?

Psalms 14:4, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.” This verse gives for us a vivid description. There is another place in the Bible where a similar phrase is said but it is used in a completely opposite way. In Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone by by every word of God.” This, of course, is a quote from the O.T in Deuteronomy 8:3, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” Bread is food. Food is something that we must eat every day both to grow and to maintain health and strength. Bread is the most basic kind of food. The body needs to be nourished every day. And so does the spirit. But it is going to do you much greater harm if you do not nourish your spirit for a day than it will do your body if you do not nourish it for a day. This is the reason Jesus fasted 40 days. To show how much more important the spiritual food is rather than the physical food. You are better off going 40 days without eating any bread than to go 1 day without living on the Words of God.

But here in Psalms 14:4, bread is talked about in a different way. Look first at the word iniquity. The word “iniquity” can be translated sorrow, affliction, idolatry, vanity, mourning, wickedness. Of course, a worker is someone who builds something and puts effort into something. In fact the word worker here simply means to do or to make. A lot can be said about right and wrong and iniquity. But in talking about the workers of iniquity here in this verse it is not the Ten Commandments that are listed. Rather here in verse 4 a worker of iniquity is defined as someone who does not call upon the name of the LORD. Colossians 3:23 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the LORD, and not unto men.” “LORD” here in Psalms 14 is the word Jehovah. And Jehovah is the Old Testament name for Jesus. It is possible to give all your goods to feed the poor and still be a worker of iniquity. Because in the end all you do is iniquity if you do not call upon the name of the LORD in what you do. Jesus said in Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” And not only this, but what is it going to profit others if you give all you have and call not upon the name of the LORD? If they never turn from their sins and turn to Jesus: then there is only iniquity, idolatry, sorrow, and mourning, and of course, the fire and brimstone of hell. This verse in Psalms 4 implies even more than this though, because it says the workers of iniquity eat up God’s people like they eat bread. In other words every day of their lives the most basic function and purpose of their lives: their most basic motivation is “to do” whatever they can to devour those that do call upon the name of the LORD.

Psalms 14:5 says, “There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.” Righteousness of course is obtained only through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our righteousness. The congregation of the righteous is the church. The church is not a building but is the entire body of believers. Every person who trusts in Christ for salvation is part of the generation of the righteous. Where is the presence of God found on this earth? The presence of God is found among the generation of the righteous because it is the believers who have the spirit of God and who have a personal relationship with Christ. The dark will always fear the light. And the truth is that the workers of iniquity fear the believers because those that hate the truth fear the truth. The wrong kind of fear brings hatred. Men should love the truth. The lost people of this world fear the Christians because they fear the truth and Christians are the light of this world because it is through them that others have the opportunity to come to know Jesus. There is no need for you to fear the world because it is the world that fears you if you trust in Jesus. That is why it says in Psalms 14:5, “There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.”

Psalm 14:6, “Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.” Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor is to be in need of something. Everyone is poor spiritually and in need of righteousness which can only be obtained through Jesus. Jesus also said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Often times those that have great physical needs are more likely to see their spiritual needs. The more needs you have, and the more you are aware of your needs, the more likely you will make Jesus your refuge.

However those who are the workers of iniquity, who eat up the people of the LORD like they eat bread shame the counsel of the poor. “Counsel,” of course, is advice or wisdom. God’s council that He gives to those that look to Him for refuge is His Word. “To shame” can mean to put to silence. In other words the great opposition of the forces of evil and of evil men is to do whatever they can to silence God’s Word. The word “refuge” means shelter and it means hope. To hope in something can mean to have faith in something. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Instead of living on the daily bread of God’s Word, the workers of iniquity do everything in their power to oppose and destroy God’s Word and to silence the Words. The greatest efforts of the forces of evil and the wills of men that are opposed to Jesus will always be directed towards God’s Word. Jesus is the living Word and the Bible is the written Word. These two things are the counsel of the poor and the workers of iniquity will do whatever they can to shame it.

Psalms 14:7, “Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the LORD bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.” In this verse Jacob and Israel are mentioned. There are certain promises that God made to the nation of Israel. God always keeps His promises. If you are of Israel, if you are a Jew, it is good to think of these promises. But more importantly than these national promises are the promises that apply to everyone who comes to know Christ. When you think of Jacob, you should think of the birthright. And when you think of Israel, you should think these two things: Jesus Christ who is a Jew and The Word of God. Just as the Apostle Paul explained the book of Galatians; there are Jews who are Jews through the physical sense of circumcision and then there are Jews in the spiritual sense, those that trust in Jesus Christ. “Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!” Sometimes in the O.T when Israel is mentioned, it is referring to the nation of Israel. But at other times it can also mean all those who are of the people of God, those who are Jews spiritually through Christ. Because the workers of iniquity cause so much grief and sorrow, and trouble, sometimes there is little the people of God can do except look forward to the return of Christ. And that is what this verse is about. Psalms 14:7 also mentions captivity. In the spiritual sense all men are in captivity because of sin. That is why we need redemption through the blood of Christ. Even after accepting Jesus into our hearts, we still live in the captivity of a sinful world and a sinful flesh. This captivity will be done away with when “the salvation of Israel is come out of Zion.”

Regarding the return of Christ two words are mentioned here in verse 7: “rejoice” and “glad.” The word “rejoice” can mean to tremble. The idea is that of exceeding great joy. The day is coming when all the promises of God are going to be fulfilled. The captivity of sin will be done away with. Sorrow and suffering will be wiped out. There will be world peace. There will be no death, no disease, no famine. And there will be no workers of iniquity to devour the people of God.

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