Psalm 14

The fool—“has said in his heart, ‘There is no God” (v. 1). Atheism leads to people to be “corrupt” and to do “abominable works.” But the skeptic is not the only one. David seems to move from the specific to the general: “There is none who does good” (v. 1). “They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt, there is none who does good, no, not one” (v. 3). Paul quotes this verse in Romans 3:10 to indicate that all of us have fallen short of the glory of God and in need of salvation through Jesus Christ. Yet, while men deny Him, “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God” (v. 2). That verse makes me a little sad. There are so many down here on earth denying that God even exists, while the Lord is in heaven, watching, hoping. He’s there, and the one who denies Him is a “fool.” Verse 4 asks a great question: “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?” Not necessarily, but ignorance will lead to disobedience and ultimate destruction. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). “Therefore my people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge” (Isaiah 5:13). The “workers of iniquity” in Psalm 14:4 oppress God’s people and do not call upon Him. But the Lord is with the righteous (v. 5), and eventually those who oppose Him will be “in great fear;” David writes as if it is already so, and perhaps it is: Clarke thinks he is referring to the Canaanite nations who were in fear of the Israelites. Perhaps so. But the allusion seems to be the rich and powerful oppressing the poor. Verse 6 reads “you (the workers of iniquity) shame the counsel of the poor”—this is just another indication of the lack of concern that many have for the needy. “But the Lord is his refuge" (v. 6). We can always turn to Him, no matter what may afflict us. The psalm ends on relatively happy note: when God restores His people, let them be glad and rejoice (v. 7). The verse speaks of “the captivity of His people,” but this surely cannot mean Assyria or Babylon, not if this is a psalm of David, as the heading indicates. “Captivity” may simply be a poetic reference to the wicked’s attempts to tyrannize God’s people—something they always try to do. And at which they will ultimately fail.