Psalm 14

A Bible Devotion from Psalm 14

God is with the Generation of the Righteous

1 The fool has said in his heart,
         “There is no God.”
         They are corrupt,
         They have done abominable works,
         There is none who does good.

2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
         To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
3 They have all turned aside,
         They have together become corrupt;
         There is none who does good,
         No, not one.

4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
         Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
         And do not call on the LORD?
5 There they are in great fear,
         For God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You shame the counsel of the poor,
         But the LORD is his refuge.

7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
         When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people,
         Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
(Psalm 14, New King James Version)
Psalm 14:1-2, NKJV

We live at a time when it is considered quite rude to call someone a fool. God, however, has no such inhibitions. Those who are not true believers are fools. When you think about it more carefully you begin to understand this rather strong language from God.

Everyone who does not believe in God lives in a different world . . . a parallel universe, so to speak. What happens when a person is not a Christian? How do they view the circumstances of life around them? How do they view calamities? Life to them is a life of chance as well as a life totally bound by the decisions that people make each day.

Solomon had a lot to say about the fool in his many Proverbs. Here are just a few of them.

How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.
Proverbs 1:22

For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Proverbs 1:32

The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will fall.
Proverbs 10:8

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.
Proverbs 12:15

A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.
Proverbs 14:16

Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
Proverbs 17:24

How do Christians view life? Even though we do not know what will happen to us or what events will happen in the world, we live in the confidence that God will take care of us. Does that mean that God is responsible for bad things that happen to good people? No, God does not cause evil, but many times He does not stop the wickedness of man. We are not robots; we do make choices every day.

I must admit that I do not completely understand how that all fits together. Some things are left to understand only when we are in Heaven with God. I do know, however, that God has determined all things even before time began. God is God, and I am not. (That's a good thing to post on your refrigerator.)

Psalm 14:7 is a rather interesting end to this Psalm. As in other psalms, David makes a statement that has ramifications that he did not really understand. Yet, by God's providence David wrote what he did.David yearns, in Psalm 14, verse 7, for the salvation of Israel that would come when the LORD brought the people back from captivity. Amazingly, David wrote this over 200 years before Israel was taken into captivity, much less brought back from captivity. Do you think he understood that He was actually speaking of Christ, the Savior? Probably not, yet here we have a reference of David longing for the coming of Christ. Indeed, the Lord did bring the people back from captivity and salvation did come out of Zion through the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's Word is amazing. Written over centuries by a multitude of writers, prophecy after prophecy has been fulfilled, to the very day God said it would be fulfilled. Many writers, like David, made references to Christ, though they often did not know it at the time of their writing it.

God's Word's are like silver tried in the furnace of fire: pure, holy, and true. As Christians, we trust in God who will not fail to bring to pass one promise that He has given to us. He will lead us and guide us all of the days of our lives, and will then take us to be with Him forever!

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

Next: Psalm 15, Lord, Who May Abide in Your Tabernacle?

More Devotions from Psalm 14

Verses 1-3, The Fool

Verses 4-6, No Knowledge?

Verse 7, When the Lord