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Psalms 14

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The Fool's Rejection of God 1–3

1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth good. ​
2
Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, That did seek after God. ​
3
They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Judgment on the Workers of Iniquity 4–7

4
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my peopleasthey eat bread, And call not upon Jehovah? ​
5
There were they in great fear; For God is in the generation of the righteous. ​
6
Ye put to shame the counsel of the poor, Because Jehovah is his refuge.
7
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of his people, Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 14

Verse 1

The fool hath said in his heart — 'Fool' is nabal, the impious, the man whose name Abigail turned on her husband: 'as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him' (1 Sam 25:25). 'Corrupt' is shachath, the word of Gen 6:12, 'it was corrupt'. Ps 53:1 repeats the verse, and Paul draws on this psalm in Rom 3:10, 'There is none righteous, no, not one'.

Verse 2

to see if there were any that did understand — 'Looked down' is shaqaph, to lean out and look, as when Abraham 'looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah' (Gen 19:28). 'Seek' is darash, the verb of Ps 10:4, 'will not seek after God'. Paul quotes the verse in Rom 3:11, and Heb 11:6 names who pleases God: those 'that diligently seek him'.

Verse 4

eat up my people as they eat bread — 'Workers of iniquity' is pa'al aven, the phrase of Ps 6:8. 'Eat' is akal and 'bread' is lechem, so the harm is done as a daily meal, as Mic 3:3 says of rulers who 'eat the flesh of my people'. 'Call not upon' is qara'; Ps 53:4 puts the same line with 'they have not called upon God'.

Verse 5

There were they in great fear — 'In great fear' is the verb and the noun of one root, pachad, 'they feared a fear'. Ps 53:5 adds 'where no fear was'. The cause is 'God is in the generation of the righteous', the 'generation of them that seek him' (Ps 24:6). The fear that fell on the nations at the Red Sea was also pachad (Ex 15:16).

Verse 7

the salvation of Israel… out of Zion — 'Bringeth back' is shub and 'captivity' shebuth, the phrase for a turning of fortune, as 'the LORD turned the captivity of Job' (Job 42:10) and 'turned again the captivity of Zion' (Ps 126:1). Ps 53:6 repeats the verse. Paul has Zion in view in Rom 11:26, 'There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer'.