2025 07/06 Psalm 14; The Fool; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250706_psalm-14.mp3

Psalm 14 is a wisdom Psalm. What does it mean to be wise? Often the easiest way to define something is by its antithesis. What does it mean to be wise? Don’t be a fool. But that word may not mean what you think it means; ‘fool’ might mean something different than you think. What is a fool? How does the text define a fool?

The Fool’s Relation to Self, God, and Neighbor

Psalm 1 began by contrasting the blessed man, the fruitful one, who delights in and meditates on the instruction of YHWH, and the wicked, the sinners, the scoffers, blown by the wind, empty like chaff.

How does Psalm 14 define a fool?

Psalm 14

To the Choirmaster. Of David

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none who does good.

2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the LORD?

The fool refuses to acknowledge God. He boldly asserts ‘there is no God’, but this is more than a philosophical or existential assertion; at its root it is a moral one. The text goes on to describe the fool as one who is corrupt, morally decayed, corroded. Something once good has turned rotten. This is what the fool is.

Abominable deeds is what the fool does out of that corrupt heart. ‘Abominable deeds’ describes deeds that are offensive to a holy God. This is not merely the objective findings of an impartial judge; this describes emotional revulsion, things that are abhorrent to him, detestable, things that stir up his hot and holy hatred. In himself, the fool is decayed. In relationship to the God he denies, he is detestable.

In his relation to others, he fails to do the good he ought to do. We were created with moral obligations, moral responsibility, with purpose. When Jesus answers the question:

Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 ​On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 to sum up the righteous requirements of the law; love God and love neighbor. The fool does what is abominable in God’s sight, and fails to do good to his neighbor. He fails to seek God, he turns aside from the good path; he is without true knowledge and understanding. The fool is an evildoer; he builds himself up at the expense of others; he feeds on God’s people. He fails to see his own need and call upon YHWH for rescue.

The fool is not a fool because of any lack of intelligence, but of covenant faithfulness, covenant love, doing good to others under God, in relationship with him, operating as his agent to do his good in this world. His is a moral, not an intellectual lack; it is a failure to know God, to live in relationship with God, to fear and to seek him.

The Wicked Fool of Psalm 10

We have met this fool already in the Psalms; in Psalm 10, it is the wicked man who renounces the LORD and says ‘there is no God’ (10:4). He is not denying the existence of God; instead he says three things to himself:

He says “I shall not be moved” (10:6). There will be no consequences for my actions.

He says “God has forgotten, he will never see it” (10:11). God is not paying attention, God doesn’t care what I do.

He says “God will not call to account” (10:13). There will be no justice, the evildoer will never be punished, God is not keeping record of wrongs, he will not defend the helpless and innocent, or bring vengeance on the perpetrators and oppressors.

The issue is not primarily intellectual, it is moral wickedness. The one who denies God is living for self at the expense of others, with the hope that he will never be held accountable for his wickedness.

The Lord Looks Down

Psalm 14

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none who does good.

2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

The fool says, but YHWH looks. YHWH stoops down to investigate. We see this kind of language several times in Genesis; before God sent the flood to blot out mankind:

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. …11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Again before he dispersed the people from the tower of Babel:

Genesis 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.

Mankind united in rebellion against the Lord building a massive tower to reach to the heavens, and God as it were had to bend down to be able to see it. Again before he destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah:

Genesis 18:21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

The fool of Psalm 10 says ‘God will never see, he will not call to account. But The Lord does see. He looks down on the children of man, he is acquainted with all our ways (Ps.139:3).

Hebrews 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The Lord is not only aware, but he will hold all mankind accountable.

Good Authority Under God

Psalm 14 is a Psalm of David. Many of the Psalms were written from the perspective of the anointed king. Kings and rulers were meant to exercise God’s authority under him, to uphold justice, to protect the innocent and punish lawbreakers. But human authority is always limited, and always rules imperfectly; sometimes because of corruption in the leader, sometimes simply because of human limitations. God is the ultimate King, who knows all, sees all, is perfectly good and just, who never takes a bribe and will never be deceived, who has all power and authority to punish and to protect. To say ‘there is no God’ is to deny any ultimate authority to whom I will be held accountable.

YHWH Protects the Righteous; Punishes the Fool

Psalm 14

4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the LORD?

5 There they are in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is his refuge.

This is the knowledge the fool lacks; the long-range knowledge that although for the moment it appears those who disregard God get away with it, and even get ahead, God is with the generation of the righteous, YHWH is his refuge. Justice will be done. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the LORD” (Deut.32:35,41,43; Rom.12:19; Heb.10:30). The fool is shortsighted and blind, thinking God will not hold accountable those who disregard him and feed on his people. They fail to recognize their own need and call upon YHWH for help. There, in that God-denying state, in their refusal to acknowledge their need and call out to YHWH for help, they are in great terror. Although they tell themselves ‘there is no God’, there is a nagging suspicion the God they deny will one day hold them accountable.

Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

God is with the righteous, and will be a refuge for the needy.

Who Is Righteous? No, Not One

This Psalm draws a contrast between the fool and the righteous, but we should ask ‘Who is the righteous?’ Who seeks for God? We could assume that this Psalm is written from the perspective of the poor, the helpless, the innocent oppressed one, the righteous; and we generally put ourselves in that category. But this Psalm excludes that possibility. It is explicit; did you miss that? From God’s perfectly holy perspective, leaning in to look at the sons of man, he concludes ‘there is none who does good, not even one’. No, not you, no not anyone. None seeks God, no not one. When it says ‘all have turned aside, together they have become corrupt,’ all means all. We desperately want to stand on the moral high ground and look down at those wicked oppressors who feed on the poor and helpless, but if we look carefully, we find we are looking in the mirror.

Paul quotes this Psalm in Romans 3(:9-20) to make his case that all mankind, both Jew and non-Jew together are guilty before God, under just condemnation for our sins, the whole world held accountable to God. We need to understand our place in this contrast, and we are not righteous, no not one. We are the fool, the corrupt, the oppressor, the wicked, the evildoer. We are those who do abominable deeds in the sight of God; even those things we consider ‘good deeds’ done to win God’s favor are considered ‘filthy rags’ in his sight (Is.64:6).

Who is Righteous? Only Jesus (and those who are in Him)

Then who is the righteous? This Psalm does say that ‘God is with the generation of the righteous’, so who is the righteous? There is only one ‘who knew no sin’ (2Cor.5:21), who

1 Peter 2:22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

1 John 3:5 …he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

Who is the generation of the righteous? 1 Corinthians 1 says:

1 Corinthians 1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Jesus is the only righteous one. If we attempt to stand on our own merits, we are part of the ‘all’ who are corrupt, who do abominable deeds, who do no good. But if we believe in Jesus, if by faith we come to be ‘in Christ Jesus’, then standing on his merits alone, we are ‘the generation of the righteous.’ Psalm 14:4 says the fool are those who do not call upon YHWH. But Joel 2 and Acts 2 and Romans 10 tell us “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If you will but acknowledge that you are not good, but are corrupt, condemned, and call on the Lord Jesus for rescue, you will be saved, you will come to be ‘in Christ’ and counted among the righteous.

How does this Psalm describe the one who is righteous? It is the one who acknowledges God, who seek after him, who does good, who calls upon the LORD, who take refuge in him, who rejoices and is glad in him.

Salvation Produces Great Joy

This Psalm ends with a prayer;

Psalm 14

7 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.

In those who see their desperate situation, their need, there is a longing for salvation. Not salvation from oppressors only, but from myself. From my sins. We know that salvation has come out of Zion, and his name is Jesus!

Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org