Psalm 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. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Here is a condemnation of atheism. Even in David’s day it is
possible it was acknowledged that there were people who believed in no god. However,
it is also entirely possible in this very religious world where Greeks and
Romans were called atheists who did not believe in the gods of the state that
this is, in David’s context, a condemnation of the heathen who follow Baal and
other gods. This could very well be about people who do not seek after God,
capital G, the Creator of the universe and the Lord of all eternity. From my
study, and this is my conclusion only, in the world of the Ancient Near East it
is unlikely that people would believe in no god at all but we have the evidence
I just stated that people were called atheists who did not believe in the gods
of the state or in the Ancient Near East even the god of the city as we have
learned that individual cities were religious entities in their beginning
consisting of people who worshipped the same god or gods which were perhaps
different from another city.
Prophetically, Paul will say bring out these points consistently. First,
in the religious history of mankind, which is worth reading, he goes over this
general concept.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
truth in unrighteousness;
19 ¶
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath
shewed it unto them. 20 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: 21 Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, 23 And changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and
fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
bodies between themselves: 25 Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile
affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is
against nature: 27 And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves
that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not convenient; 29 Being
filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they
which commit such things are worthy of
death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do
them.
Paul quotes this passage in the context of showing that we are all
sinners, lost without Christ;
Romans 3:9 What then? are
we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and
Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God.12 They are
all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none
that doeth good, no, not one.
And David’s words are repeated again in Psalms;
Psalm 53:1 «To the chief
Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.» The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity:
there is none that doeth good. 2 God
looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that
did understand, that did seek God. 3
Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there
is none that doeth good, no, not one.
In one way of looking at it, to reject Christ is to be an atheist,
even if you believe in another god or gods because the God who created you must
be believed in or you are lost.
For us personally, we should keep in mind this idea when we are
witnessing that it doesn’t matter what someone believes, what their final
authority is, if it is not Christ and His Bible, which in a manner of speaking
is Him in written form then we are undone forever. They are lost, in the same
boat as atheists who don’t believe in God the Creator. They are the same as a
functioning atheist, a Unitarian, Hindu, Muslim, or Christian who doesn’t
believe Christ was and is the visible image of the invisible God.
Psalm 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. 5
There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of
the righteous. 6 Ye have shamed the
counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. 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.
David complains about the workers of iniquity lacking in
knowledge, presumably the knowledge of God as per the context in the previous
passage, committing cannibalism metaphorically unless you believe it is a
reference to the heathen physically eating Israelites at the time. However,
such a thing is not referenced except in cases of a famine where desperation
drives people to kill and eat their infants but we will see that later. I
believe this is a metaphorical statement as making this first verse
contain a simile linking two unlike things with as or like. We
used phrases like, “what’s eating you?” or, “He’s eaten up with hate,” or
something else. This is a reference to David and God’s enemies.
The question begs itself, what is a worker of iniquity? That
phrase is used by the Holy Spirit speaking through the writers of the Bible in other
places. They are linked to the wicked in Job 31:3, to the foolish in Psalm 5:5,
evildoers in Psalm 37:1, persecutors of the Jews in Psalm 53:4, bloody men in
Psalm 59:2, and in the context of Luke 13:27 and Matthew 7:23 Jesus uses it to
refer to hypocrites, false followers, false apostles, and general all-around
fakers who can do seeming works in His name but are not of Him. But in David’s
context one would assume they are the heathen nations or tribes that surround
Israel.
Verse 6 seems to be saying that the enemy’s reason for attacking
the poor is because God is his, the poor’s, refuge. This is in keeping with the
first verses of this Psalm. David looks for salvation, physical deliverance for
God to reverse the harm done to God’s people, the Israelites, to turn the
tables so to speak.
Prophetically, David is giving us a picture of the Tribulation at
the end. Perhaps there really will be cannibalism. After all, our culture is
degenerating each decade with things we never thought imaginable. This sentiment
continues in Psalm 53 as mentioned before.
Psalm 53:4 Have the workers
of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not
called upon God. 5 There were they in
great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that
encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised
them. 6 Oh that the salvation of Israel
were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Bringing back the captivity of his people is
suggestive of several things. First, there is the return of the Jews who went
back to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity, then were dispersed
again under the Romans, and roughly 2000 years later established Israel in
1948. Examine Deuteronomy 30:1-5.
Deuteronomy 30:1 ¶ And it
shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and
the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among
all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and
shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and
thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy
captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from
all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the
outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and
from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And
the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and
thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy
fathers.
Second, there is a resurrection, whether meant to be figurative or
real that suggests a return from the captivity of death or it is a metaphor for
the political return of the Jew to their homeland.
Ezekiel 37:1 ¶ The hand of
the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me
down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about:
and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very
dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these
bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones;
Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye
shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I
prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came
together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered
them above: but there was no breath in them. 9
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the
breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an
exceeding great army. 11 Then he said
unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they
say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and
cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD,
when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your
graves, 14 And shall put my spirit in
you, and
ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall
ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
Personally, this passage has many possible meanings. I’m not
talking about just political or social opposition to institutional churches’
social or political stances. I am referring to the individual Christian’s
suffering of persecution at the hands of atheists or simply followers of other
religions or even other Christian groups. We don’t have it bad in America due
to our Constitutional protections and the rule of law but in some parts of the
world; in communist countries like Vietnam, parts of Hindu or Islamic India,
and in secular Europe those who trust Christ are eaten like bread. The workers
of iniquity have no knowledge or interest in knowledge of the God of the Bible.
They hate you if the God of the Bible is your refuge. You are a
pariah to them and it is not enough that they disagree with you. In their
weakness you must be blotted out and your name and faith eliminated from the
earth. As we say in current speech, you must be cancelled.
Luke 18:8 I tell you that
he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he
find faith on the earth?
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