January 19
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PSALM 14 A PICTURE OF FOOLS
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? 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. 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. – Psalm 14:1-7
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David writes this psalm to expose who fools are. In verse 1, he describes them as someone who doesn’t acknowledge God. They deny His presence. He also labels them as immoral and loves to do detestable things. They do not do the right thing. In verse 2, the psalmist describes how the Lord watches over man and see if anyone among his creation would seek him. Sadly, it says that all humans have turned him down and have become so dishonest and not even a soul does any good.
David is not wrong to expose the nature of man which is sinful. Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, we all have the DNA of sin. We are all filthy inside and we can’t do anything on our own efforts. It is only through God’s grace that we can. God solved this problem of sin by giving his own Son Jesus to cleanse us from it and be reconciled with God himself. Sadly, many religions have deceived many people to think that if they become a member of such groups, they can be good and be able to contribute to their salvation. It is deceptive to make people think they are someone that they really are not. It is dangerous to have a mindset that thinks that you can become good if you follow certain religious rules and yet have no real relationship with God.
David goes on describing the fools who think that they know things, when they really have no clue about anything. They do not see that everything in their lives come from God. When we forget to count our blessings and don’t praise the Lord, we are dangerously treading the path of fools. When we disbelieve or twists some bible truths to suit our needs, we are clearly fools. When we habitually cater to our desires and cravings and not think of others, we may be called fools.
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REFLECTION
• What other illustration of fools can you add to the mentioned in the description?