Our Common Prayerbook 14 – 1

May 12, 2010 @ 11:44 By 1 Comment

If there is a god, and if a person knows there is a god, then to deny God is to be a fool. So Psalm 14′s famous opening line: “Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.”"  But there’s more to it than this.


Both of our companions, John Goldingay’s commentary (Psalms, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-41 (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms) and Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary , translate “fools” with “scoundrels” (nabal). I’m not so sure the point is the atheist as much as the one who lives with no conviction that God is watching, who contends God will not intervene, and who believes he or she can do whatever one wants. David’s sights are on the scoffer and not the doubter; on the arrogant and not the one shaken in faith. Goldingay points us to 2 Ki 18:29-30 and Isa 14:14.

And David does not have in mind a single person but a character in society: “They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.” One wonders if in our culture today David would have in mind the atheist or the irreligious who don’t care. Not the one who busies herself faithfully in her job and at home; not the one is wealthy necessarily but the one who violates the Eikon of God in others, the one violates the will of others, the one who climbs over others in order to acquire what one wants. Not so much the wounded as the wounder. More like those in Genesis 6:11-12.

For the music director; by David.

14:1 Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.”

They sin and commit evil deeds;

none of them does what is right.

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven at the human race,

to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.

14:3 Everyone rejects God;

they are all morally corrupt.

None of them does what is right,

not even one!

14:4 All those who behave wickedly do not understand -

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

14:5 They are absolutely terrified,

for God defends the godly.

14:6 You want to humiliate the oppressed,

even though the Lord is their shelter.

14:7 I wish the deliverance of Israel would come from Zion!

When the Lord restores the well-being of his people,

may Jacob rejoice,

may Israel be happy!

Filed Under: Psalms 1 Comment
About Scot McKnight

Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than thirty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.

  • http://restoringsoul.blogspot.com Ann F-R

    I agree with the commentators & you that this psalm points to the treatment of others as indicative of unbelief in God. When studying w/ Gerald Wilson at Fuller, my exegesis of this psalm, and particularly of the more difficult v. 4, pointed to that conclusion. The psalmist questions whether they “don’t know the LORD” because of their actions of eating up others as bread for their own gain.
    The Lord generously provides for us from his hand, and the gaping maw of the Mediterranean god devouring people opposes that faith. By not trusting the Lord’s provision, we seek provision through what others have and at the cost of others’ lives.
    I also appreciated the Hebraic superlative translated above as “absolutely terrified” which is “dread dread.” It seemed to me also to be a poetic device indicating that, instead of fearing the LORD and understanding that the LORD is with the righteous, the wicked fear fear itself.
    v. 7 is poignant with longing: the psalmist pleads that God reveal Godself to them and deliver the righteous poor. The parallels to our contemporary situation are striking.