Psalms 14:1 - Meaning and Application

If we apply our hearts, as Solomon did, to search out the wickedness of folly, even foolishness and madness (Ecclesiastes 7:25), these verses will help us in that search. They show us that sin is deeply sinful. Sin is the disease of humanity, and here it appears as something dangerous and widespread.

See how harmful it is in two ways, as Psalm 14:1 shows. First, it shows contempt for God’s honor, because all sin has practical atheism at its root. “The fool says in his heart, There is no God.” We may sometimes think, “Surely there has never been so much godlessness as there is in our day,” but the former days were no better. Even in David’s time, some had reached such a level of evil that they denied God’s very existence and the first truths of religion.

Notice the sinner described here. He says in his heart, “There is no God.” He is an atheist, meaning he denies that there is a God who rules the world and watches over human affairs. He may not openly doubt God’s existence, but he questions God’s rule. He says this in his heart, not as a settled judgment, but as a wish and a thought he likes to entertain. He is not certain there is no God, but he would rather think there is none. He does not dare say it openly, for fear of being proved wrong, so he whispers it to himself to quiet his conscience and give himself courage in evil.

Notice also the character of this sinner. He is a fool, simple and unwise, and this shows itself in his thinking. He is wicked and ungodly, and that is part of the reason he thinks this way. Atheistic thoughts are foolish and evil thoughts, and they lie behind much of the wickedness in the world. God’s Word exposes such thoughts and rightly marks the person who holds them. His very name is like Nabal, for folly is with him. He thinks against the clearest light, against what he knows, and against the common sense of wise and sober people. No one says, “There is no God,” unless sin has hardened him so much that it seems to his interest that no God should call him to account.

Second, sin brings disgrace and shame on human nature. Sinners are corrupt, fully fallen from what man was in his innocent state. They have become filthy, rotten, as Psalm 14:3 says. All their powers are so disordered that they are hateful to their Maker and unable to serve the purpose for which they were created. They are truly corrupt. They do no good, but are a useless burden on the earth. They bring God no honor, and they do themselves no real good. They also do much harm. They have done abominable works, because all sinful works are hateful to God. Sin is the abominable thing he hates (Jeremiah 44:4), and sooner or later it will become hateful to the sinner too. It will be found loathsome, an abomination that brings ruin, like the desolating sin spoken of in Matthew 24:15. This follows naturally from saying, “There is no God,” because those who claim to know God, but deny him by their works, are detestable and unfit for any good work (Titus 1:16).

See how widespread this disease is. It has infected the whole human race. To prove this, God himself is called as a witness, and he sees everything, Psalm 14:2-3. The Lord looks down from heaven, a place that gives a full view of this lower world. From there, with his all-seeing eye, he examines all the children of men to see whether any understand their own duty and true good, and whether any seek God and keep him before them. The One making this search is not only able to find a good person, however hidden, but is also glad to find one and ready to take notice of him, as he did Noah in the old world.

The result of this search is clear in Psalm 14:3. All have turned aside. The rebellion is universal, and there is no one who does good, not even one, until God’s free and mighty grace changes the heart. Whatever good is found in any person, or done by any person, does not come from themselves. It is God’s work in them. When God made the world, he looked at his own work, and all was very good (Genesis 1:31). But later, when he looked at human works, they were all very bad (Genesis 6:5). Every thought of the human heart was only evil, and that continually. People have turned away from the right path of duty, the way that leads to happiness, and they have taken the road to destruction.

As we sing this, let us mourn the corruption of our own nature and see how much we need God’s grace. Since what is born of the flesh is flesh, we should not be surprised when we are told that we must be born again.