Psalm 14 King James Version (KJV)

Psalm 14 King James Version (KJV)

14 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.

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.

For today's post I've just copied the 14th Psalm, and while it may appear to be of a rather downbeat tone by and large, there is a great blessing to be had by reading, and studying, and considering these words. Job told us something very integral in the 28th chapter of his book, and it goes like this: "And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding" (Job 28:28). One of my favorite Bible verses for sure, and the good news is that if we aren't like those who are described in the above Psalm, then that means we have understanding, and we have the fear of the Lord. Those are really good virtues, about as good as it gets in fact; so we can be abundantly thankful to God for bestowing such grace upon us. If we have wisdom enough, and understanding enough, to avoid being wicked like those referred to in the Psalm; we didn't give it to ourselves, and that is certain, as the scriptures continually show: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9). And again: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" (Rom. 9:16). This does not mean that God just chooses some people unto salvation, and decided to leave others out of the mix. He doesn't. If that were the case then the scriptures wouldn't tell us that it is God's will to save everyone, and that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. The scriptures do indeed tell us these things, so it is a matter of whether we let him do his work in us or not (I Tim. 2:4; I Jn. 2:2). Jesus has done it all, and paid for it all, so it's up to us if we want in on the glory.

We should note that in the cited Psalm, it was people who were in covenant with God that the writer was speaking of. What that means is that there are people who are in covenant with God today, meaning they've received his Spirit; who are like those mentioned in the Psalm. If we are not like that then we should receive the counsel of the apostle Paul, who said; "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" (Rom. 11:22). So there's a lot to be happy about, and a lot to be thankful about, in reading about the wicked among God's people; provided we are not in like case. There is also much to fear God about, and for the wicked there is much to repent about. So I'll finish with a profound statement of the prophets, that demonstrate the utter goodness and justice of God's heart, regardless of where we're presently at: "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die" (Ezek. 18:21-24). Wow! I just love the perfection of balance that is found in God's 'Spirit of truth.' Amen.