For Sermon Central researchers: I have posted a series of 15 sermons on the Psalms. In recent personal studies I have found the psalms to be richer and more thought-provoking than I had fully appreciated. I had too often swept swiftly through psalms without slowing down to inquire as thoroughly as I might have into the depths of meaning and feeling that are expressed by the psalmists. Upon deeper examination and reflection, I find the psalms to be highly relevant to Christians in every age. My most recent foray into the psalms led me to present a series of studies of selected psalms in a class environment.
In my classes I did not examine every psalm, or every verse of the ones I did. Rather, I presented selected psalms that I believe to be representative of the collection in the book of Psalms. The studies were held in a class environment suitable for pauses for questions and discussion, and to pose “thought questions” where the meanings are not readily apparent, as is often the case in poetry. My notes include suggested points for such pauses, and I have not removed them in Sermon Central posts.
I developed the material with the view in mind that the series may be well used as sermons. There is an introductory sermon that describes what psalms are (whether they are in the 150-chapter book or elsewhere) and explains my approach to the series. The psalms I selected were presented in no particular order in the classes; however, I suggest that anyone using this material as a series begin with the introductory sermon and follow it with Psalms 1 and 2 in that order, as the first two psalms function as a pair. Beyond that, the selected psalms may be presented in any order.
To get as much enjoyment as we could from our study, I did some of the reading from the KJV, which I believe is the most beautiful of the English bible translations. For clarity we also used other versions, mainly ESV, which I have used for several years and the one I have come to prefer.
Psalms 14 and 53
Read the psalms
I. Introduction
We will study the two psalms in parallel instead of one after another.
As always when we inquire into the sacred writings, we will be looking for our take-away - what are we intended to get from this?
In so doing, we will not analyze every word and phrase but will examine a couple of potentially confusing or ambiguous ones.
In addition to those, we need to figure out who the people are in this psalm.
To help with that, we will try to unravel some of the pronouns.
In our studies of the scriptures, we often come to verses that have pronouns which - by their nature - tend to be indefinite and must be resolved for us to understand what is being said.
I counted 18 pronouns in Psalm 14 and 23 in Psalm 53.
Most of the pronouns (37 out of 41) are in the third person (they, them, those, his people); i.e., someone other than you and me.
II. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Does anyone here believe there is no God? Are there any atheists here?
No. So none of us are fools.
We do not need to spend time convincing any of you that there is a God, which you already believe.
But these psalms still have a lot for us to discuss, pertaining to those who do foolishly say, “There is no God.”
III. God looked down to see if any “understand and seek after God.”
None.
A breathtaking fact! Today the earth’s population is a little less than 8 billion.
At the time David lived there’s little reason to believe there were fewer than a few billion worldwide.
But there are none who “understand and seek after God.”
Is this different from the state of the world before the flood, as described in Genesis 6:12:
And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Rampant sin led to a worldwide flood destroying all but Noah and his family.
Why should God save even those? The bible tells us:
Genesis 7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
After the floodwaters subsided, God put a rainbow in the clouds signifying a promise:
Genesis 7:1 - Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.
We know why God repented of making man, and destroyed world’s people, save a few.
God looked down on the earth and saw corruption.
But do we know God’s thinking about re-booting the earth’s population, knowing – as he surely did – that the conditions described in these two psalms would simply return?
Something must have been different after that first destruction, or it seems God would have just stayed with his initial method and destroyed the world’s population again and again.
But destroying the earth’s population is not the divine plan, and it is not the historical pattern.
Here’s what did happen:
• Genesis 11 – The builders of the tower of Babel sinned by trying to thwart God’s plan, and were confounded by languages.
• Numbers 14 – The nearest thing I find that loosely resembles the global drowning (but on a narrower scale) was the destruction of the entire nation of Israel as each one died in the wilderness – except the 2 faithful spies.
• Judges - God set judges to guide the people in the right way. When the people sinned, calamity struck - repeatedly – but no global destruction.
Ultimately, sin led to captivity, repentance, and a return of some to Judah.
• David’s time – we see it in Psalms 14 & 53 - “There is no one who does good, not even one.”
• John 19:11 - Jesus’ time – It was the religious people of the family God had chosen to bestow the richest blessings on, who bore the greater guilt.
Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
• And the Romans! As I have often noted, Roman culture was every bit as foul as anything we see today, and more.
But hardly more so than the Greeks before them, and the Egyptions before that (as evidenced by the revelry at Mt. Sinai), and others.
• In the apostles’ time – Romans 1:18-22
Romans 3:10-12 “As it is written [in these psalms], “None of is righteous, no, not one…”
(This is part of Paul’s case that the Jews, for all their fervor in maintaining the outward practice of their religion, were no better than the gentiles they despised.
Both were under sin.
• 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – Paul wrote that a time was coming when people would not endure sound teaching, but would turn away from the truth and wander off into myths.
Beyond the apostles’ time and beyond sin would continue the pattern we have been describing.
All these times, God’s method of dealing with rampant sin was not to destroy all living except a few chosen people.
Isn’t this psalm descriptive of every time?
God’s plan was for his people to live uprightly in the midst of their ungodly neighbors.
When his people became corrupt as their neighbors were, he dealt with them.
But that does not appear to have been the case in these psalms.
God’s people are not rebuked here.
But obviously, they weren’t sinless.
They were much like us.
We’re all a mixture – we do some good and some not so good.
What about the people the bible represents as upright seekers of God, who turn away from evil?
• Abraham
• Joseph
• Moses
• Elijah
• Jeremiah
• Daniel and other prophets
• Job
• John the baptizer
• All the heroes of faith in Hebrews (with Rahab in the list)
• What about David himself?
These were God’s approved people. They were on his side in the great conflict of evil vs good?
Is “does good” in v1 of both psalms to be understood in absolute or relative terms?
Does it mean no one does any good?
Or does it mean no one does only good?
When God looked down to see if there were any who “does good,” was he looking for perfectly sinless people in David’s day?
Discuss
My well water has arsenic in it – 7 times the maximum amount allowed.
You can wash a car or bathe or even brush your teeth, with the well water, but we must drink and cook with water only from RO (reverse osmosis) faucet, where the water has undergone a filtration system to remove the arsenic. Even then, the filtered water has a trace of arsenic in it, but not at a harmful level.
The water is fine for those purposes, but not safe to drink.
Until it is cleaned up.
Then it’s safe to drink.
When the psalmist says that none are righteous, he means that none are absolutely without sin. But various people, including those named a moment ago, are described as righteous, God-honoring people. Abraham was reckoned to be righteous on the strength of his demonstrated faith, but he was not absolutely righteous.
IV. With a couple of exceptions we will take the descriptions in Psalms 14:3-6 and 15:1b and 3-5 as a whole characterization, and not analyze each expression:
The people described in these verses:
• Have no knowledge
• All are evildoers
• Are corrupt – doing abominable iniquity
• Do not call upon God
• Eat up the people of God
Who are these people? And what was the current situation?
David and the Israelites now held the power of government in Israel.
Were they under persecution from the fragments of the Canaanites that didn’t get rooted out? Not really.
Who did the Lord look at to see if any understood and sought after God?
“Children of man” NASB says “sons of men”
Who are they?
There is a 100% possibility that you are a child of a man.
There is a 0% possibility that you are not a child of a man.
The expression “sons of men” occurs 43 times in the bible (an additional one says “sons of man”).
Who then is referred to by “children (or sons) of man?”
The expression refers to good and bad people.
• Genesis 11:5 – It refers to the builders of the tower of Babel
• 1 Kings 8:39 - …You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men…
• Psalm 11:4 - …the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test the sons of men
• Psalm 66:5 – Come and see the works of God, who is awesome in his deeds toward the sons of men!
• Psalm 107 - 4 identical verses give thanks to God for his steadfast love and wondrous works to the sons of men.
• Ecclesiastes 9:3 …the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity
• Mark 3:28-29 "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"—
The eternal sinner is counted among the sons of men.
But also are those God to whom gives his richest blessings.
“Children – or sons - of men” are humans, both good and evil.
God was looking at everyone.
But the descriptions of corrupt evildoers exclude some people. Those descriptions are not universally applicable.
How do we know that?
We can make no sense of these psalms is unless there are two classes of people.
There are oppressors and there are victims.
“My people” in 14:4 and 15:4 are clearly not the same as those who “eat up” or oppress “my people” in those same verses.
Similarly, the pronoun “you” in those verses cannot denote the same people as “those who camp against you” in 15:5.
And “the poor” in 14:6 cannot be the same is “evildoers” in 14:4.
God scatters the bones of him who encamps against “you.” Cannot be the same as “you” in the same sentence.
Perhaps I’m laboring this point, but to understand the psalm, we need to identify who it talks about and who it talks to.
The “you” to whom these psalms are addressed in those verses appears to be the same as the “generation of the righteous” in 14:5. There is a “generation of the righteous” although both psalms had already said there are none who do good, not even one.
Clearly, he does not include “my people” in v4 of both psalms, and the “poor” in 14:6 and “you” in 15:5 in the descriptions of evildoers in the foregoing verses. Rather, the ones called “my people” and the “poor” or “afflicted” ones are the victims of the “fools,” who “do not call upon the Lord.”
The point of all this is that while God looked down and found none righteous, HE SEES SOME WHO – LIKE ABRAHAM – HE ACCOUNTS AS RIGHTEOUS.
“Eat up my people” appears in v4 both psalms.
What does it mean?
Discuss
There is a principle observable in human relations and interactions that evil swallows and digests good.
• Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
• A new Pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” came (Exodus 1), and all of the good that was done through Joseph in saving Egypt – as well as his own family - from the ravages of famine, was swallowed up in the wicked schemes of the new Pharaoh.
• Coming out of Egypt to Sinai, they were told there:
Exodus 23:32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Exodus 34:13-16 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.
We saw earlier that we ourselves are a mixture of good and “not altogether good.”
We live, as we must, in a mixture of people.
In some of them, the bad far outweighs the good.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 – read
Bad people are around us.
The closer that association becomes, the more likely it is that the evil will devour the good.
But the principle is a tendency - not an absolute.
Romans 12:21 – Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So we have two classes of people. Rank sinners and the ones called here “my people,” and “the generation of the righteous.”
Well, what about Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned?”
We’re back in one class of people - sinners.
Discuss
While it is true that all have sinned, this psalm doesn’t appear to teach that – at least in the same meaning as Romans 3:28 - for it sets apart the generation of the righteous from those who “eat them,” or strive to.
So where are we now?
Are we a better people than those of Noah’s time?
The judges’ times? Jeremiah’s? David’s?
Are there none righteous on earth today?
We know that we are ransomed – the price for sins has been paid and our sins are removed and forgotten.
Many scriptures affirm this.
There’s nothing we did to deserve that.
Jesus didn’t die because we were righteous – but because we aren’t.
Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The take-away is this:
Although we aren’t perfect, we are better – and accounted as better - than the fools who deny God.
We are the “my people” of Psalms 14 and 53.
We aren’t perfect because of our goodness, but because Christ has perfected us by making his righteousness a priceless gift to us.
The solution that conquers evil was prophesied in both Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2 - the law and the word that went forth from Zion.
The gospel and man’s response to it.
As a result, in the worldwide attacks of evil against good in every age, God’s people, and so we, are on the triumphant side.
