Summary
What does it mean to be a fool? If you ask the average person on the street, then they will probably respond that it is someone who behaves or acts in ways that are silly and have bad outcomes for themselves or others. For instance, a fool may run out in front of a bus, or spend all their money as soon as they are paid, without leaving some aside for bills.
While these might be valid descriptions of someone who behaves or acts foolishly, the Bible considers the key sign of foolishness as someone who refuses to acknowledge God and worship him. Psalm 14 expands on this idea, lamenting a world which foolishly rejects God. The psalm provides a description of a fool, the fate of the fool, and the hope of the righteous compared to the fool.
Our passage explained
v1-3
Psalm 14 opens in verses one to three with a description of the fool. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good” (v.1). The characteristic of a fool is that they speak and live as if God does not exist, they lack the fear of God which is the beginning place of true wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Their foolishness overflows in the way they act: their actions are corrupt and disgusting to God.
Verses two and three expand on this description. In verse two we read that God “looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” Despite the fool’s denial of God, God still observes all people to see if they seek him in prayer and worship.
Instead God sees “they have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one” (v.3, quoted in Romans 3:10-18). What God sees is complete moral corruption, an inability to do good absolutely with a desire to motivate God (as opposed to relative good, which we all still do to varying degrees). He does not see good which saves, but the sinfulness of man.
v4-6
Verses four to six direct us to the fate of the fool. In verse four, the psalmist asks rhetorically “have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?” The fools who think and live as if God does not exist, persecute and exploit God’s (and the psalmist’s) people easily and guiltlessly like someone who devours food. Their behaviour suggests a lack of knowledge of what awaits them.
Verse five indicates that despite their behaviour, fools live in fear of their coming judgment. “There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.” Though the evildoers oppress and persecute God’s people, God is with them and will come to their aid, punishing the evildoers. For this they live in fear of what awaits them. The wicked “would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge” (v.6). God will protect his covenant people, and ultimately defeat the wicked oppressors.
v7
The psalm concludes with an emphasis on hope for the righteous already demonstrated by contrast in verses five and six. Verse seven offers a prayer: “ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.”
The psalmist prays that the promised day of salvation for God’s people would come, when God will save his covenant people and restore their fortunes which were harmed by the wicked. The prayer is expressed hopefully, as the psalmist prays for “when” not “if”, and encouraged all of God’s people to be glad at the promised salvation.
Our passage applied
We live in a world where people increasingly openly speak of Christians as foolish, actively seeking to exclude us and the Gospel from the public sphere. Yet this psalm teaches that it is those who accuse us of foolishness who are themselves fools. As Paul says in Romans 1:22ff, the wicked “claiming to be wise… became fools” and exchanged the worship of God for worshiping idols. We should not be surprised and ashamed of the Gospel and of God, for “the wisdom of this world is folly with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
We should not let our superior knowledge be an occasion for pride, but instead for witness. We have not figured these truths out ourselves, but God has revealed them to us (1 Cor. 2:10-12). God uses the folly of preaching to save those who believe, for the folly of this world is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” for salvation (1 Cor. 1:24).
Instead, we should rejoice that God has revealed his wisdom to us, that we may learn to walk in it. And we can rejoice that in a world of folly, the fate of the fools is judgment, while we will enjoy salvation and good fortune from God, our covenant king.
Resources
Questions? Please contact us. Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.
