THERE IS NO GOD
1 The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating bread;
they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad
(Psalms 14:1-7)
The purpose statement that I would find in this song is:
“No one does good; but those who know of God, even those who claim to be children of God and who follow the religious rituals, yet continue in the ways of the world while ignoring those in need, are fools whose actions say, ‘There is no God’”
There are many things written in the Bible that I wish the American church would grab hold of; this is one. Look at the Psalm and let’s let the truth travel to the American church.
In verse one, David calls those who say, “There is no God” fools. The church tends to see this and point the finger to the world; but notice that David is not talking about belief but rather the lives that are lived; their “deeds”. While he mentions God looking on all mankind, the focus of this song is not talking about those who are Muslim, Hindu, atheist, and the likes. Notice in verse 3 that he talks about those who “turned away, and do not do good”; they are “evildoers” (vs 4). He talks about those who “devour” the people of David.
When we read the account of David’s kingdom, we see how David, and his men, conquered any army they came up against. Yet, it was during the reign of David that the kingdom of Israel was divided into Northern and Southern portions. The Northern portion was called Israel while the Southern portion was called Judah. Israel adapted worldly living and constantly came up against the Southern kingdom. The subject here is Israel; which is why we see a cry out for their salvation in verse 7.
Let’s look at some timeless truths here. We have a people who are called children of God. They follow through with all the religious rituals of going to church, praying, singing praises, and giving offerings; yet they have entered into an idolatry. When we think of idolatry, we think of gold, silver, or wooden carvings. In America, we have our own idols: work, sports, TV, movies, Facebook, video games, and the likes. This is not too far off from the idolatry of Israel. In talking about Israel, Paul tells the church in Corinth, “…do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play’” (1 Corinthians 10:7).
What we see then is, those who say, “There is no God” is not a reference to a verbal proclamation but rather the acts of a people who claim to be children of God while living in their affluence, fattening themselves on a multitude of food, while ignoring the poor. The people who say, “There is no God” are people who claim to be children of God but who gladly play in their entertainment while ignoring the more than 2,000 people groups who have never heard the Gospel of Christ.
God, don't let us be a people who don't see the severity of sin. Don't let us be a people who don't see the severity of sitting back and doing nothing. Let us be a people who don't make excuses and who don't rely on comfortable cliche's to help themselves feel better about their sin. Let’s wake up to the truth of God’s Word and let us fall on our faces in repentance before a God who cares deeply about the lost and poor.
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