GLEANINGS IN THE PSALMS
(Psalm 14)
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| GLEANINGS IN THE PSALMS(Psalm 14) |
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There is a peculiar mark put upon this psalm, in that it is twice in the Book of Psalms. The 14th psalm and the 53rd psalm are the same, with the alteration of one or two expressions at most. It contains a description of a most deplorable state of things in the world – ay, in Israel; a most deplorable state, by reason of the general corruption that had befallen all sorts of men, in their principles and their practices, and in their opinions. It was a time when there was a mighty prevalent PRINCIPLE of atheism got into the world, got among the great men of the world. It is true they did not actually profess it, (i.e. their atheism), but it was the principle whereby all their actions were regulated, and which they conformed into. Whatsoever else they were divided about, they were all agreed in this – "there is no God". "They are all a company of atheists," saith the psalmist, "practical atheists". John Owen |
Verse 1. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God". It is remarkable that the assertion "there is no God" is here said to be made in the HEART of the fool; that is, to flow from his wishes and not from his understanding.
John Howe
Verse 1. "The fool hath said … " This folly is bound up in every heart. It is bound, but it is not tongue-tied; it speaks blasphemous things against God; it says, "there is no God". There is a difference indeed in the language: gross sins speak this louder; but though lesser sins speak it not so loud, they wiser it. But the Lord can hear the whisperings of the heart as plainly as we hear one another in our ordinary discourse.
David Clarkson
Verse 2. "The Lord looketh down from heaven upon the children of men". As from the watchtower, or other elevated place of observation, the Lord is represented as gazing intently upon men. What condescending interest and impartial justice are here imagined! The case of Sodom, visited before it was overthrown, illustrates the careful manner in which divine justice beholds the sin before it avenges it, and searches out the righteous that they perish not with the guilty.
C.H. Spurgeon
Verse 3. "They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy". Thus the Roman satirist describes his own age …
"Nothing is left, nothing, for future times
To add to the full catalogue of crimes;
The baffled sons must feel the same desires,
And act the same mad follies as their sires,
Vice has attained its zenith".Juvenal
We feel constrained to comment that in these first three verses of this psalm we have what must surely appear a vivid description of our own day. "Crime" has indeed "attained its zenith" as lawlessness more and more pervades the whole of our society. Men are rising up against men; "nation against nation; kingdom against kingdom", as our Lord Jesus revealed as a pointer to the end times. But, the crimes against humanity must stand in a secondary position to the crimes against Divinity. This is an age when even the professed leaders of the visible Church are saying - and not in their hearts, like the men of David's day, but - in all boldness with their tongues … "There is no God:" No God of the Bible; no God of our fathers in the faith; no God of the Reformation. A god of their own folly, yes; but, no God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we sum up the whole situation in the light of God's Word, we must seriously give consideration to the possibility that the "end" is drawing near.
Is their any comfort, then, for the believer in these times? Read the remainder of the psalm and you'll see that we have all comfort in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(1) In these evil times, as in all times, god's people are A POSSESSED PEOPLE. Verse 4. "Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up MY people as they eat up bread … " In God's sight they are MY people – possessed by Him. (2) They are A PEACEFUL PEOPLE Verse 5. "There were they in great fear; for God is in the generation of the righteous". When the world will tremble at the end, the righteous will be at peace through dwelling in God, and He in them. (3) They are A PROTECTED PEOPLE. Verse 6. "Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is HIS REFUGE." (4) They are A PRIVILEGED PEOPLE. Verse 7. "… the Lord bringeth back the captivity of His people …"
"In Christ redeemed,
In Christ restored."
This Page Title – Gleanings in the Psalms – Psalm 14
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