Day 29

Psalm 14 part 2 

We say that there is no God when we shut Him up in a far-off heaven, and never think of Him as concerned in our affairs. To strip Him of His justice and rob Him of His control is the part of a fool. There is a marked difference in moral behaviour between those who take God seriously and those who do not. 

David looked out over the landscape of humanity and concluded that ‘there is none who does good.’ He did not mean that there is no human good in this world; but that fallen man is so fallen that he does not by instinct do good, and even the good he may do is tinged with evil. We are born with both the will and the capacity to do evil; no one has to teach a child to do bad things. The path of least resistance usually leads us to bad, not to do good. (2-3) While people may wish to forget about God, God never forgets about humanity. He is always observing man, looking ‘down from heaven upon the children of men.’ These words remind us of God descending from heaven to observe the folly of those building the Tower of Babel (Genesis11:5) or looking down upon the wickedness of the race prior to his judgment by the flood (Gen6:5). All humanity is truly, profoundly, deeply fallen. 

David’s use of “there is none who does good” suddenly broadens the scope beyond the atheist to include us. In other words, the outspoken atheist of v1 is only one example of mankind in general. What a picture of our race is this! Save only where grace reigns, there is none that does good; humanity, fallen and debased, is a desert without an oasis, a night without a star, a dunghill.  

David knew the LORD was a refuge and sinners would not win in the end(v4-7) but this was not presently visible so he expresses anticipation for the victory & deliverance promised and calls the people to be joyful. Read how Paul used this psalm in Romans3:10-17 as a precursor to his presentation of the gospel.