The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14 The practical denial of God the root of all evil A. Maclaren, D. D. The heavy fact of widespread corruption presses on the Psalmist, and starts a train of thought which begins with a sad picture of the deluge of evil, rises to a vision of God's judgment of and on it, triumphs in the prospect of the sudden panic which shall shake the souls of all the "workers of iniquity," when they see that God is with the righteous, and ends with a sigh for the coming of that time. The staple of the poem is but the familiar contrast of a corrupt world and a righteous judge who judges, but it is cast in very dramatic and vivid form here. We listen first to the Psalmist's judgment of his generation. Eras of great culture and material prosperity may have a very seamy side, which eyes accustomed to the light of God cannot fail to see. The root of the evil lay, as the Psalmist believed, in a practical dental of God, and whoever thus denied Him was a "fool." Practical denial or neglect, of His working in the world, rather than a creed of negation, is in the Psalmist's mind. The biblical conception of folly is moral perversity rather than intellectual feebleness, and whoever is morally and religiously wrong cannot be in reality intellectually right. The practical denial of God lies at the root of two forms of evil. Positively, "they have made their doings corrupt and abominable" — rotten ill themselves and sickening and loathsome to pure hearts and to God. Negatively, they do no good things. The next wave of thought (ver. 2) brings into his consciousness the solemn contrast between the godless noise and activity of earth and the silent gaze of God that marks it all. The purpose of the Divine Guest is set forth with deep insight as being the finding of even one good, devout man. Other Scriptures present the gaze of God as for other reasons, this one in the midst of its solemnity is gracious with revelation of Divine desires. What is to be the issue of the strongly contrasted situation in these two verses: beneath, a world full of godless lawlessness; above, a fixed eye piercing to the discernment of the inmost nature of actions and characters? Ver. 3 answers. The Psalmist's sad estimate is repeated as the result of the Divine search. But it is also increased in emphasis and in compass. This stern indictment is quoted by St. Paul in "Romans," as confirmation of his thesis of universal sinfulness. But this baffled quest cannot be the end. If Jehovah seeks in vain for goodness on earth, earth cannot go on forever in godless riot. Therefore, with eloquent abruptness the voice from heaven crashes in upon the "fools" in the full career of their folly. The thunder rolls from a clear sky....Finally, the whole course of thought gathers itself up in the prayer that the salvation of Israel — the true Israel, apparently — were come out of Zion, God's dwelling, from which He comes forth in His delivering power. The voice of the oppressed handful of good men in an evil generation is heard in this closing prayer. It is encouraged by the visions which have passed before the Psalmist. The assurance that God will intervene is the very life breath of the cry to Him that He would. Because we know that He will deliver, therefore we find it in our hearts to pray that He would deliver. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) The practical atheist J. J. Stewart Perowne, B. D. Thus the Bible ever speaks of those who have cast off the fear of God. They are those whose understanding is darkened, who, professing themselves to be wise, become fools. Such men, who make a boast of their reason, and would fain walk by the light of their reason, prove how little their reason is worth. The epithet is the more cutting because persons of this kind generally lay claim to more than ordinary discernment. There is here rather a practical than a theoretical atheism; not so much a denial of the being of a God as a denial of His moral government of the world ( cf . 10:5); and this evinced in their actions rather than in their words. Their lives show what the thought of their hearts is. The "fool" is not the philosophic atheist with his arguments ("subducta ratione vel formatis syllogismis" — Calvin ); but the man who by the practice of wickedness so stifles and corrupts within him the knowledge of God that he virtually acknowledges no God. South, in his sermon on this verse, lays a stress on these words, as implying that the atheist dare not avow his atheism, lint only cherishes it within. But the occurrence of the phrase elsewhere — e.g. 10:6, 10, 13 — does not justify this stress. ( J. J. Stewart Perowne, B. D. ) The character reasonings, and folly of the fool George Townsend, M. A. I. THE CHARACTER The "fool" in Scripture is the man who makes a wrong choice of good; who, when two objects are placed before him, one a lesser good and one a greater good, chooses the lesser in preference to the greater. Preferring the future life to the present is wisdom, preferring the present life to the future is folly. Why must the poor fool say in his heart — "No God. I wish there were no God"? The reason is, that when a man makes the wrong choice, his heart is miserable within him. The world cannot make him happy. The soul is immortal, and nothing short of immortality can content it. The soul is spiritual, and nothing but a spiritual God can bless it. The soul is sinful, and nothing but a Saviour can give it peace. The fool knows all this, yet will not come to God that he may have peace. So he says in his heart, "Oh, that there were no God to judge me!" II. THE REASONINGS. The reasonings of the spiritual fool! Alas! there can be none. There is no infidelity in the world but that which proceeds from ignorance or from sin. If you are the character described you have no reasonings by which to justify yourself; and I cannot therefore waste your time by attempting to refute what does not exist. III. FOLLY. The wish which you form in your heart — the wish that all religion were false, the wish that there were no God to judge you at the last — is utterly and totally impossible. Is it not wisdom to put away your foolish hope, that God will not call you to judgment, and to turn to God, and to thank Him that He has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who, with a true penitent heart and lively faith, turn to Him? ( George Townsend, M. A. ) The folly and wretchedness of an atheistical inclination J. Balguy. All nature so clearly points out, and so loudly proclaims, a Creator of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, that whoever hears not its voice and sees not its proofs may well be thought wilfully deaf and obstinately blind. Every faculty, every object of every faculty, demonstrates a Deity. Can a man possibly conceive that such wonderful order and perfect beauty should be ever formed by the fortuitous operations of unconscious, unactive particles of matter? The expression in the text may denote, not the man's real opinion or persuasion, but his inclination and desire. He secretly wishes that there were no God, and endeavours to draw his belief that way as much as he can! To wish against the being of a God is to wish mankind the greatest mischief and distress that can possibly be conceived. Were there no awe of a supreme Being, no terrors of a future judgment to restrain us, what government on earth would be able to maintain itself, or find protection for its subjects? What wise man would choose, or dare to live in a community of atheists, if such a one could be found? Consider how the minds and conditions of private persons would be affected by the supposition of a forlorn and fatherless world. Under the tuition and government of infinite wisdom and goodness everything appears with a comfortable aspect. Men never need to want the purest comforts and most perfect satisfactions while God is their portion. On this account, whether the world frown or smile, the wise man is neither highly transported nor deeply dejected. Whatever be his lot, the peace of his mind is secured, and his heart is at rest. For his hopes are founded on a rock, and his treasure fixed where nothing can touch it. Without a God, a providence, and a future state there could be no such thing as prosperity, no satisfaction, no real enjoyment for rational beings; nor even any true peace or tranquillity of mind. What dismal effects atheism would produce in adversity. How inexcusably foolish and criminal are those men who believe and acknowledge a God, and yet live as if there were none! ( J. Balguy. ) The withered heart Joseph Parker, D. D. The word "fool" has been traced to a term which signifies the act of "withering." The sense would be represented by the expression — the withered heart hath said there is no God. Though in the Scriptures the term "heart" is often employed as signifying the mind or judgment, yet in this case, judging by the consequences that are detailed, the reference is evidently to the moral nature. A distinction is indeed made in the Old Testament between "mind" and "heart," as in the instance of the first and greatest commandment. The point to be observed then is, that the "heart" or moral nature has in this instance "withered"; affection is blighted, moral instinct is perverted, the natural and noblest aspirations of life are utterly extinct. A difference is to be marked between a purely intellectual scepticism and a corrupt moral aversion. There are speculative agnostics whose outward life may be unquestionable as to honour and faithfulness; but there are also deniers of the existence of God whose object is to get rid of responsibility and judgment It is not transgressing the lines of fact and observation to say that it is the "heart" which first and most truly believes in God. Where the "heart" or moral purpose is simple and constant, intellectual aberrations will certainly be rectified or rendered spiritually harmless. Everything of a religious nature depends upon the purpose and faithfulness of the moral nature. The heart feels after God. The heart is first conscious of the Divine absence. The heart soon becomes a medium of accusation through which the whole nature is assailed with just and destructive reproach. ( Joseph Parker, D. D. ) A fool indeed A. Roberts, M. A. What does he say? "There is no God." Why, everything he sees, hears, touches, contradicts him. The very worm he treads on, yea, every blade of grass, affirms "There is a God." We are all ready to admit that he who denies this is a fool. But stop; observe in what way he says it. Not with his lips, but in his heart. How many things are said there but never spoken out, God and ourselves only know. And it is not the mind or the understanding which says it, but the heart, the affections. His understanding may not deny, but his heart does. In his affections, his desires, his thoughts, his life, his conduct are all as if there were no God. If the life be taken as proof, how many of these fools there are. For they never pray, they never regard God as the orderer of their lives. They speak of chance, accident, but put God out of the question. And they never think of asking His direction in any of their actions; His book they throw on one side, and scarce ever look at it. They deem themselves quite able to direct their own steps. And they say the same who secretly sin, and think none seeth them, or that their sin will never find them out. If they escape human punishment they fear no other. In fact, what are all men saying who live after the flesh, or who neglect the gospel of Christ — but that "there is no God"? "The fool" told of here, then, is not so uncommon a person as might be thought. And is he not a fool? Let us each ask ourselves the solemn question the text suggests, "Are we or are we not amongst those foolish men who say in their hearts 'There is no God'?" If we are, may He turn us from darkness to light. ( A. Roberts, M. A. ) The folly of the fool J. O. Keen, D. D. The first great principle of the Christian religion, and the first announced fact of Divine revelation, is the being of God. We have, in the text, the solution of all practical atheism in the world. Infidelity is the root form of sin. I. THE BOLD ASSERTION. "No God." Such a denial involves tremendous difficulties. There are physical mysteries to be accounted for. There are intellectual phenomena to be explained. There are moral intuitions, soul out-reachings, spiritual instincts and aspirations to be satisfactorily interpreted. The universe evidencing marks of intelligent design, traces of omnipotent power, infinite skill, beauty, and beneficence must be the effect of an adequate cause — the work of a self-existent, independent, infinitely wise God. What shall we say of man — physically, mentally, morally? Can such marvellous beings have been raised out of nothingness by the revolving wheel of time, until its revolution shall crush them into nothingness again? This bold assertion is also in direct antagonism with the teachings of revelation. "In the beginning God created." Blot out God from your creed, and the Bible becomes at once a useless volume. It cannot be interpreted. The evidence of the genuineness of Divine revelation is overwhelming. It rests on four grand arguments, namely, the miracles it records, the prophecies it contains, the goodness of the doctrine, and the moral character of the penman. II. THE REGION IN WHICH THIS ASSERTION IS MADE. "In his heart." Man's great defect is a corrupt heart. It is the fruitful source of all evil, the centre of all impiety, and the seat of foolishness and infidelity. The atheism of the times, and of all times, has been and still is the sad effect of heart derangement rather than brain disorder. The intellect has often been blamed when it should have been the heart. It better suits the promptings and desires of the carnal nature to negative the existence of a Divine Ruler than to admit it. Let man be set right at heart, and the philosophy of fools would vanish into thin air. ( J. O. Keen, D. D. ) The fool's denial of God's existence John N. Norton. The folly of atheism is undeniable when we remember — I. THAT THE THING SO ARDENTLY WISHED FOR IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. The all-seeing God can no more shut His eyes to the conduct of mortals than He can cease to exist. As His superintending care is necessary for the preservation of the universe, so is the constant exercise of His moral government required for the vindication of His own honour. It is told that a Frenchman once visited a castle in Germany where dwelt a nobleman who had a good and devoted son, his comfort and his pride. In the course of conversation the Frenchman spoke in such unbecoming terms of God that the baron said, "Are you not afraid of offending God by speaking in this way!" The foreigner announced, with cool indifference, that he knew nothing about God, for he had never seen Him. The next morning the baron pointed out to his visitor a beautiful picture on the wall, and said, "My son painted that." "He must be a very clever youth," courteously replied the Frenchman. Later on the baron took his visitor over his gardens, which were of rare beauty and contained many choicest plants. On being asked who managed the garden, he replied, "My son, and he knows almost every plant, from the cedar to the hyssop." "What a happy man you must be," said the Frenchman, "to have such a son!" "How do you know I have a son?" asked the baron, with a grave face. "Why, because I have seen his works; and I am sure he must be both clever and good, or he never could have done all you have shown me." "But you have never seen him!" returned the baron. "No, but I already know him very well, because I can form a just estimate of him from his works." "Well, then, if you are able to judge of my son's good character by seeing his various works, how does it happen that you can form no estimate of God's goodness by witnessing such proofs of His handiwork?" If the fool could have his way, and banish the Almighty One from His own dominions, it would — II. BE AN UNSPEAKABLE DAMAGE TO ALL EVEN IN THIS WORLD. If men would put an end to the beneficent rule of our heavenly Father, what would they offer as compensation for so irreparable a loss? Should any have reached this extreme point in foolishness that they have wished there were no God, let them ponder these thoughts. 1. Before you are again drawn so far within the dreary region of unbelief, ask this question: Have I a sincere desire to know the truth? I put the matter in this shape, because thousands have really hated the truth, when they fancied that they loved it. 2. In order to strengthen your feeble faith, make diligent use of the light which you already possess. 3. Be willing to ask God, in humble prayer, to give you light, and to guide you into all truth. One of the fiercest of the French revolutionists said to a simple peasant, "I will have all your church steeples pulled down, that you may no longer have any object to remind you of your old superstitions." But, returned the peasant, with an air of triumph, "you cannot help leaving us the stars." Instead of the blank, cheerless lot of such as would fain believe that "there is no God," the wise in heart will rather be disposed to adopt the language of the great philosopher, Sir Humphrey Davy, as their own, "I envy no qualities of the mind in others — nor genius, nor power, wit, nor fancy; but if I could choose what would be most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing." ( John N. Norton. ) The folly and impiety of infidelity R. Shittler. Consider the text — I. AS AN IMPIOUS WISH. This is what he would desire: it would gratify and gladden his heart if it were so. II. AS A BOLD DECLARATION. This goes much further. He has come to this pitch of daring, to affirm "There is no God." Not believing in God, he does not believe he has a soul and a hereafter. No wonder that he becomes abominable. True, all do not go to such lengths. Some would only say, "There is no such a God as people who believe the Bible say there is." There is some God, but He either takes no notice, or He is far too good to punish men for their little deviations from virtue here. This is deism. And there is yet another kind of infidelity. Men who will not go so far as either the deist, and certainly not as the atheist, yet they deny that God interferes with the affairs of men, or that He has given us in the Bible a guide for our conduct and a measure for our expectations. At the judgment, for they believe there will be a judgment, they say that men's good actions will be found to outnumber their bad ones, and so they hope to escape. Nor does infidelity stop even here. It stalks abroad under the guise of liberality of sentiment, or the dominion of rationalism. Truth to them is but the handmaid of reason, and no one is bound to believe what he cannot understand. They say a man is no more accountable for his faith than he is for the colour of his skin and the shape of his body. Let a man do the best he can, let him live up to the light of nature, and let him never fear any hereafter. These are the most dangerous people of all, for whilst many would shun an atheist or deist or Socinian, the theologian can spread his sentiments, like a deadly poison, unchecked. This is why the Gospel is so scorned and neglected. Men are taught that they can do without the Gospel, they do not want a Saviour. III. BUT THE WORD OF GOD CALLS ALL THESE MEN "FOOLS." Think of their unutterable folly. For see the evidence of creation — heavens, earth, man in body and mind. Does not reason bid them believe? And if there be no God to whom we must answer, whence the curse that is upon the world? How came the certain fact of the universal deluge? What is the meaning of conscience? Why must all die? He strikes, too, at the very root of the honour of God. The controversy is not as to whether there be any God, but who shall He be? "Who is Lord over me?" is the principle of infidelity. The man wishes to be his own lord. It is the very spirit of devilism. Reflect, then, what a horrible creature man is. How needful it is that man should learn humility. How just will be the judgment of God upon all atheistical and unbelieving sinners. How cheering and consoling to the true Christian are the very truths which infidels ridicule and scorners deny. ( R. Shittler. ) The heart speech of a fool F. Tucker, B. A. The Christian faith, like the Christian man, has to pass through many a conflict. In every age of its existence it has had to fight, not only for its final developments, but also for its first principles. The Bible is not passive in this conflict. It strikes as well as bears — assails as well as defends. And when scepticism has run its usual course to atheism, and the man who began with doubting Revelation goes on to deny the Revealer, it comes forth with the lofty sarcasm — "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Observe the scope of the utterance. I. AS TO ITS MATTER. The Bible all through tells us of God. "In the beginning God." And it tells of Him as a Personal Being of the highest attributes. But the "fool" denies it. II. THE MANNER OF THE UTTERANCE. It is private rather than public; he saith "in his heart," that is, when alone. It may lie the breathing of a wish rather than a conviction. III. THE CAUSES OF THE UTTERANCE. We shall find them in our hearts. 1. We do not like the mystery of God. It is so humbling to us to believe in a being whom we are utterly unable to understand. 2. We do not like the authority of God. Now we come nearer home. We could bear with the mystery if it had nothing to do with us. But the claims of God upon us are infinite and endless. His hand is ever upon us. It is as much as I can do to submit to the ordinary laws of social life; but a law that pursues me everywhere and always, and sends its mandates into the secrecy of my mind and heart — that is more than I can bear. I wish there were no such law. 3. We do not like the prospect of meeting Him. To most men it is most unwelcome. IV. THE CHARACTER OF SUCH AN UTTERANCE. It is the fool that says it. See how gross his folly. ( F. Tucker, B. A. ) Atheism J. H. Hitchens. D. D. The Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God. Atheism, which is the denial of Him, is either practical or spiritual. The former has always and everywhere been. But speculative atheists are fewer in number. "I had rather," says Lord Bacon, "believe all the fables in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame was without a mind." The burden of proof rests with the atheist. I. HIS FOLLY MAY BE SEEN BY GLANCING AT THE UNANSWERABLE ARGUMENT FROM EXISTING OBJECTS. See all the phenomena of nature. And there is the moral evidence. II. BY ITS UNWARRANTABLE ASSUMPTIONS. How can a man know that there is no God? III. BY ITS INJURIOUS CHARACTER. "No atheist, as such, can be a true friend, an affectionate friend, or a loyal subject." See what came of it in the French Revolution. IV. BY ITS INADEQUACY TO ENCOUNTER THE HOURS OF TRIAL AND OF DEATH. In an Alpine village is the peaceful grave of one who died upon the Riffel-horn: over his grave is the significant inscription, "It is I, be not afraid." The good man, and only he, is not afraid. ( J. H. Hitchens. D. D. ) The being of a God T. Mortimer. I. GENERAL EVIDENCES FOR THE BEING OF A GOD, INDEPENDENT OF SCRIPTURE. 1. That it has been acknowledged by all nations in all ages. Polytheism does not deny but confirm the truth. Only individuals, never nations, have denied it. And the lives and the end of these men show that their opinion has often been shaken. Hobbes, one of the chief of them, said that be could not bear to be left for a moment in the dark; and just before he died he told the spectators that he was about to take a leap in the dark! So it was indeed. A few such individuals, rejecting an important doctrine, can form no argument against the doctrine itself. And even of these, some have, at particular seasons, confessed their folly. Thus Volney, in a storm at sea, called upon the very God whose existence he had denied. Thus Voltaire, when dying, confessed the Christian religion to be true, and had the audacity to partake of the Christian sacrament as a sort of passport to heaven. 2. All creatures manifest and declare it. Look at their production, their preservation, their adaptation. Look at the nature of man also, body and soul. 3. The extraordinary occurrences that have taken place. II. THE SCRIPTURE NAME OF THOSE WHO DENY THIS TRUTH. III. PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENTS OF THE DOCTRINE. But we must know God in the heart. ( T. Mortimer. ) The folly of atheism R. South, D. D. That any should say this, is not easy to imagine were we not forced to believe it possible. History tells us of such, and we have no cause to have so much better opinion of the modern age as to doubt that it has those who are ready enough to vent the same impiety. I. THE ASSERTION MADE. "There is no God." By which — l. We may understand absolute denial of His existence or a denial of Gods providence. Epicurus was of this opinion. He confessed there was a God, but as for His interposing and concerning Himself in our affairs, this he utterly denied; and the reason he gave was that such superintendence would interfere with the Divine ease and felicity. We take the text in both these senses. 2. The manner of the assertion, "said in his heart." It wears the badge of guilt, privacy, and darkness; and as if it were sensible of the treason it carries in its own bonds. The atheist will not speak out, but in his heart he can and does say what he likes. 3. What is implied in this saying. An inward wish that there were no God. His seeking out arguments to persuade himself it is true. A readiness to acquiesce in such arguments. It is a sign that a man is falling when he catches at straws. For why should there not be spiritual substances? And if there be disorder and seeming chance now, do we not look for a day of retribution? The man's placing his trust and dependence for his good on other things than God. This is a loud denial of God. It may not be a verbal denial, but it is no less real. II. THE AUTHOR OF THIS ASSERTION. "The fool." For — 1. He contradicts the general judgment of mankind. The notion of God is one that a man is not catechised but born into; his mother's womb was the school he learned it in. Now it is morally impossible for any falsity to be universally received and blessed, both as to all times and places. 2. He lays aside a principle that is reasonable, for one strange, harsh, and, at best, highly improbable. 3. His motives show his folly. These are, great impiety and great ignorance. 4. From their instability. They will not stand to them in tithe of great danger, or when death draws near. Affectation expires upon the death bed. It is not in any man's power to extinguish the witness for God in himself. But they may do so for a while. Great and crying sins such as waste the conscience — sensuality and discontent with God's providence — lead to this. Therefore, beware of them. ( R. South, D. D. ) The existence of God S. Charnock, B. D. The Psalm describes the deplorable corruption of universal human nature. It begins by declaring that the faculties of the soul are corrupt. "The fool hath said in his heart," and then it goes on to show the evil streams thence issuing — "abominable works." "The fool" signifies a vicious person, a wicked man. The speaking in the heart means his thoughts. "There is no God" does not so much deny His existence, though it amounts to that, as deny that there is any living ruler and governor of the world. This is to strip God of all His glory. And the motive of them who make the denial is evil — that they may be the more free to sin. Now, it is a great folly to deny the existence of God. For he denies what is attested on every hand, and what is made clearly known. Of old, men had many gods, now they say there is none. But the existence of God is the foundation of all religion. And it is well to be able to give reason for our belief, and to put down that secret atheism which lurks in us all, and to confirm in the faith those that love God. But, more particularly, note the atheist's folly. I. HE DENIES THE SENTIMENT OF ALL NATIONS BOTH IN THEIR JUDGMENT AND PRACTICE. 1. No nation has been without this belief. Idolatry, the worship of many gods, does not weaken this argument, but rather confirms it. The existence of God was never disputed, though nearly all things else were. 2. And it hath been a constant and uninterrupted consent; for —(i) In all the changes and vicissitudes of governments, states, and modes of worship this has been maintained.(ii) Men's fears and anxieties would have led them to destroy it if possible; there has been no want of will to do so.(iii) The devil deems it impossible to destroy it. When he tempted Adam, it was not to deny God but to become as God. 3. Such sentiment is natural and innate. For —(i) It could not be by mere tradition. For then we should have had told us not only the existence of God, but the right mode in which to worship Him. Why have men remembered this if it were tradition, and forgotten all the rest? But even if it were, it was not an invention of the first man. If it had been, his posterity would soon have found it out. And why should he have invented it?(ii) Neither was it by agreement and consent amongst the rulers of men. Why should they do so? How could they so long maintain the imposture?(iii) Nor was it man's fear that first introduced it. His fear did not create God, but God was the cause of his fear. II. HE DENIES THAT WHICH ALL THINGS IN THE WORLD MANIFEST. The Scriptures assert this ( Romans 1:19, 20 ). St. Paul does not say "are believed," but are "clearly seen." The world is like a large mirror which reflects the image of God ( Psalm 8:1 ; Psalm 19:1, 2 ), etc. Now, the world does manifest God. 1. In the production of the creatures it contains ( Isaiah 40:12-19 ). They could never have been their own cause. The world and every creature had a beginning ( Hebrews 11:3 ). The matter of the world cannot be eternal Nor time; for all motion hath beginning, therefore the revolutions of our earth. Nor the generations of men and other creatures; for no creature can make itself. Nothing can act before it be. That which doth not understand itself nor order itself could not make itself. If the first man made himself, why did he not make himself better? why is he so limited and faulty? If we made ourselves we can preserve ourselves, which we know we cannot. And why did not man create himself earlier, if he did so at all? Therefore we accept the Scripture as giving us the most rational account of the matter. Then, further, no creature could make the world, no creature can create another. For if it create of nothing, then it is omnipotent and not a creature. If of matter, who formed the matter? We are compelled to go back to a first Great Cause. Man cannot create man. If he could he would understand him, which he does not. There is, therefore, a first cause of things, which we call God. And this first cause must necessarily exist, and be infinitely perfect. III. HE DENIES THAT WHICH MAN'S OWN NATURE ATTESTS. 1. His bodily nature does. For see the order, fitness, and usefulness of every part — heart and mouth and brain, car and eye and tongue. And see, too, the admirable differences in the features of men. No two are Mike. What vast advantage comes from this? 2. His soul does. For consider the vastness of its capacity, the quickness of its motions, its union with the body, and the operations of conscience. But all this proves the existence of God. The vastness of the desires in man is in evidence. For the desires of other creatures are fulfilled. "They are filled with good." Then shall man not be? IV. THEY DENY WHAT IS WITNESSED BY EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCES. 1. Judgments ( Psalm 9:16 ; Acts 12:21 ), which occurrence Josephus also relates. 2. Miracles (Psalm 70:11, 18). "Who only doeth wondrous things." The truth of the Scriptures stands or falls with the miracles of which it tells. They must have been, or else the records are a pack of lies. 3. Accomplishment of prophecies ( Isaiah 41:23 ; Isaiah 46:10 ). V. USES OF ABOVE ARGUMENT. 1. If atheism be a folly it is a pernicious one; for it would root out the foundations of all government and introduce all evil and villainy. The two ever go together ( Jeremiah 3:21 ; Ezekiel 22:12 ). To the atheist himself ( Job 18:7 to the end). 2. How lamentable that atheism should be so common. But sin

Benson Commentary Psalm 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 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. Psalm 14:1 . The fool hath said in his heart — In his secret thoughts, or within himself, what he is afraid or ashamed to utter with his lips; There is no God — Or none that concerns himself with the affairs of mankind, none that governs the world, and observes and recompenses men’s actions according to their quality. And a fool indeed he must be who says or thinks so, for, in so doing, he speaks or thinks against the clearest light, against his own knowledge and convictions, and the common sentiments of the wise and sober part of mankind. Indeed, no man will say, There is no God, till he is so hardened in sin that it is become his interest there should be none to call him to an account. What St. Paul says of idolaters is equally true of atheists. Their foolish heart is darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they show that they are become fools, utterly destitute of true wisdom, as devoid of reason as of grace. They are corrupt — In practice as well as principle. “Infidelity is the beginning of sin, folly the foundation of infidelity, and the heart the seat of both.” — Horne. There is none — None of the fools here spoken of, and none of mankind by nature, none without supernatural grace; that doeth good — From a right principle, to a right end, and in a right spirit. None of their actions are really and thoroughly good and pleasing to God. For if some of them be good, as to the matter of them, as when they do an act of justice or charity; yet those actions are corrupt in their principles or ends, not being performed out of love to God, and a conscientious desire and care to please him, or with a view to his glory, for then they would do other good actions as well as these: but in hypocrisy, or vain glory, or for some other sinister and unworthy design. Psalm 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. Psalm 14:2 . The Lord looked down from heaven — God knows all things without any inquiry: but he speaks after the manner of men. Upon the children of men — Upon the whole Israelitish nation, and upon all mankind; for he speaks of all except his people, and the righteous ones, who are opposed to these, Psalm 14:4-5 . If there were any that did understand, &c. — That did truly know God, namely, so as to fear, love, trust in, and obey him, (all which particulars are frequently included in the Scriptures, under the expression of knowing God, ) and seek God — Did diligently endeavour to learn his mind and will, that they might do it, and to seek his grace and favour. Psalm 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Psalm 14:3 . They are all gone aside — From God and the rule he hath given them to walk by, from truth into error, and from duty into sin; from the paths of wisdom and righteousness. They are altogether become filthy, loathsome, and abominable before God. Psalm 14:4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. Psalm 14:4 . Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? — Have they lost their senses? Have they neither religion nor common discretion, either of which might teach them not to fight against Omnipotence, not to seek death, everlasting death and destruction, in the error of their life, not to rush voluntarily into the wrath of God, and provoke the vengeance of eternal fire. Who eat up my people — Who devour and destroy them, meaning God’s people, the poor and godly Israelites; as they eat bread — With as little regret or remorse, and with as much greediness, delight, and constancy also, as they use to eat their meat. They call not upon the Lord — They are guilty, not only of gross injustice toward men, but also of horrid impiety and contempt of God, denying his providence, and wholly neglecting, if not despising, his worship. Strange! that they should all be thus senseless, as not only to injure and oppress my poor innocent people, but to be cruel and void of all pity toward them, and to throw off likewise all religion! Psalm 14:5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. Psalm 14:5 . There were they in great fear — In the place, or upon the spot where they practised these insolences: or, then, that is, in the height of their tyranny and prosperous impiety, when they seemed to have no cause for it, God struck them with a panic fear. Hebrew, ???? ??? , pachadu pachad, they feared with fear, that is, vehemently, namely, from their own guilty consciences and the just expectation of divine vengeance. Or, they shall be greatly afraid, the past tense being put for the future prophetically. Thus Bishop Patrick understands it, whose paraphrase on the words is, “What a terror will it be to them to see the divine vengeance seize on them when they think themselves most secure!” For God is in the generation of the righteous — He, who is the righteous Judge, will not desert those that are faithful to him, but will graciously deliver them. Or, God is for the generation, &c., as the Hebrew particle ? , here used, often signifies: that is, God is on their side, and therefore their enemies have great cause to tremble. Psalm 14:6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. Psalm 14:6 . You have shamed the counsel of the poor — Ye have desired and endeavoured to bring to shame, or to disappoint, the course which the godly poor man takes, and the resolution which he adopts, which is to trust in God, call upon his name, and proceed on in his way, which is a course and counsel very different from yours. Or, ye have reproach ed, or derided his counsel, as a foolish thing. Be cause the Lord is his refuge — This was the ground of their contempt and scorn, that the godly man lived by faith in God’s promise and providence. Or, but the Lord, &c. You reproach them, but God will own and protect them, and justify their counsel, which you deride. Psalm 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Psalm 14:7 . O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion — These words, considered in connection with the context, do not appear to be intended of any mere temporal salvation of Israel, whether from the rebellion of Absalom, or any other calamity brought upon them as a punishment of their sins. They rather seem directly and immediately to refer to the deliverance of that people from those corrupt principles and practices which the psalmist describes and laments in the preceding part of the Psalm. This is evidently the salvation which he has first in his view, and which he prays might come out of Zion, where the ark then was, where God was wont, in an especial manner, to manifest his presence, and whence he was supposed to hear and answer his people’s prayers. The words, however, have certainly a further design: they ultimately and principally respect the spiritual redemption and salvation of all God’s Israel by the Messiah. Thus the ancient Jews understood them, as appears from Jonathan’s Targum, or paraphrase, which expounds the passage in this manner, with which agrees the Targum of Jerusalem. We know the ancient patriarchs and prophets in general, and David in particular, well understood, and firmly believed, the doctrine of Israel’s redemption and salvation by the Messiah; and ardently expected, nay, and comforted themselves under their troubles, with the expectation of this great event, which they termed the consolation of Israel. And thus David seems to have comforted himself now in this dark time of ignorance and vice, of infidelity and sin, which he here deplores. To this also agrees the mention of Zion, because the prophets knew and foretold that the Messiah, or Deliverer, should first come to Zion, and should set up his throne there, and from thence send forth his laws and edicts to the Gentile world; as is positively affirmed, Psalm 2:6 ; Psalm 110:2 ; Isaiah 2:3 ; Isaiah 59:20 , compared with Romans 11:26 , and in many other places. To this may be added, that the following words agree only to this event, in which he speaks of bringing back the captivity of the Lord’s people, with the universal joy of Jacob and Israel; which cannot agree to David’s time, wherein there was no such captivity of the people, but only a civil war and mutual slaughter, which is quite another thing, nor to the time of the Jews’ return from Babylon, when there was no such return of all Israel, but only of a part of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and some few of the other tribes; and the joy which the returning Jews then had was but low, and mixed with many fears, and dangers, and reproaches, as we see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And therefore these words of the psalmist must belong to the times of the Messiah, by whom this promise was fulfilled to the true Israel of God, who were delivered from that most dreadful of all captivities, the captivity of sin and Satan, as is declared Luke 1:68-75 ; Luke 4:18 ; Ephesians 4:8 . And they shall be literally accomplished to the natural seed of Jacob, or Israel, according to the expectation and belief of all the Jews in their several ages, and of most Christian writers. The Redeemer shall come to Zion by his Word and Spirit, by his gospel and his grace, as he before came in the flesh, and shall turn away all ungodliness from Jacob. For this time of universal reformation the psalmist longs and prays now in the time of universal corruption; as if he had said, Those will be glorious times, as the present are melancholy ones; for then Jacob, that is, the seed of Jacob, shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. The triumphs of the king of Zion will be the joy of Zion’s children. And at the second coming of Christ, finally to extinguish the dominion of sin and Satan, this salvation will be completed, which, as it is the hope, so will it be the joy, of every true Israelite. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 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. Psalm 14:1-7 THIS psalm springs from the same situation as Psalm 10:1-18 ; Psalm 12:1-8 . It has several points of likeness to both. It resembles the former in its attribution to "the fool" of the heart speech, "There is no God," and the latter in its use of the phrases "sons of men" and "generation" as ethical terms and in its thought of a Divine interference as the source of safety for the righteous. We have thus three psalms closely connected, but separated from each other by Psalm 11:1-7 ; Psalm 13:1-6 . Now it is observable that these three have no personal references, and that the two which part them have. It would appear that the five are arranged on the principle of alternating a general complaint of the evil of the times with a more personal pleading of an individual sufferer. It is also noticeable that these five psalms-a little group of wailing and sighs-are marked off from the cognate Psalm 3:1-8 ; Psalm 4:1-8 ; Psalm 5:1-12 ; Psalm 6:1-10 ; Psalm 7:1-17 ; Psalm 16:1-11 ; Psalm 17:1-15 , by two ( Psalm 8:1-9 ; Psalm 15:1-5 ) in an entirely different tone. A second recast of this psalm appears in the Elohistic Book, { Psalm 53:1-6 } the characteristics of which will be dealt with there. This is probably the original. The structure of the psalm is simple, but is not carried out completely. It should consist of seven verses each having three clauses, and so having stamped on it the sacred Numbers 3:1-51 ; Numbers 7:1-89 , but Psalm 14:5 and Psalm 14:6 each want a clause, and are the more vehement from their brevity. The heavy fact of widespread corruption presses on the psalmist, and starts a train of thought which begins with a sad picture of the deluge of evil, rises to a vision of God’s judgment of and on it, triumphs in the prospect of the sudden panic which shall shake the souls of the "workers of iniquity" when they see that God is with the righteous, and ends with a sigh for the coming of that time. The staple of the poem is but the familiar contrast of a corrupt world and a righteous God who judges, but it is cast into very dramatic and vivid form here. We listen first ( Psalm 14:1 ) to the psalmist’s judgment of his generation. Probably it was very unlike the rosy hues in which a heart less in contact with God and the unseen would have painted the condition of things. Eras of great culture and material prosperity may have a very seamy side, which eyes accustomed to the light of God cannot fail to see. The root of the evil lay, as the psalmist believed, in a practical denial of God; and whoever thus denied Him was "a fool." It does not need formulated atheism in order to say in one’s heart, "There is no God." Practical denial or neglect of His working in the world, rather than a creed of negation, is in the psalmist’s mind. In effect, we say that there is no God when we shut Him up in a far-off heaven, and never think of Him as concerned in our affairs. To strip Him of His justice and rob Him of His control is the part of a fool. For the Biblical conception of folly is moral perversity rather than intellectual feebleness, and whoever is morally and religiously wrong cannot be in reality intellectually right. The practical denial of God lies at the root of two forms of evil. Positively, "they have made their doings corrupt and abominable"-rotten in themselves and sickening and loathsome to pure hearts and to God. Negatively, they do no good things. That is the dreary estimate of his contemporaries forced on this sad-hearted singer, because he himself had so thrillingly felt God’s touch and had therefore been smitten with loathing of men’s low ways and with a passion for goodness. " Sursum corda " is the only consolation for such hearts. So the next wave of thought ( Psalm 14:2 ) brings into his consciousness the solemn contrast between the godless noise and activity of earth and the silent gaze of God, that marks it all. The strong anthropomorphism of the vivid picture recalls the stories of the Deluge, of Babel, and of Sodom, and casts an emotional hue over the abstract thought of the Divine omniscience and observance. The purpose of the Divine quest is set forth with deep insight, as being the finding of even one good, devout man. It is the anticipation of Christ’s tender word to the Samaritan that "the Father seeketh such to worship Him." God’s heart yearns to find hearts that turn to Him; He seeks those who seek Him; they who seek Him, and only they, are "wise." Other Scriptures present other reasons for that gaze of God from heaven, but this one in the midst of its solemnity is gracious with revelation of Divine desires. What is to be the issue of the strongly contrasted situation in these two verses: beneath, a world full of godless lawlessness; above, a fixed eye piercing to the discernment of the inmost nature of actions and characters? Psalm 14:3 answers. We may almost venture to say that it shows a disappointed God, so sharply does it put the difference between what He desired to see and what He did see. The psalmist’s sad estimate is repeated as the result of the Divine search. But it is also increased in emphasis and in compass. For "the whole" (race) is the subject. Universality is insisted on in each clause; "all," "together," "not one," and strong metaphors are used to describe the condition of humanity. It is "turned aside," i.e ., from the way of Jehovah; it is become putrid, like a rotting carcase, is rank, and smells to heaven. There is a sad cadence in that "no, not one," as of a hope long cherished and reluctantly abandoned, not without some tinge of wonder at the barren results of such a search. This stern indictment is quoted by St. Paul in Romans as confirmation of his thesis of universal sinfulness; and, however the psalmist had the wickedness of Israel in the foreground of his consciousness, his language is studiously wide and meant to include all "the sons of men." But this baffled quest cannot be the end. If Jehovah seeks in vain for goodness on earth, earth cannot go on forever in godless riot. Therefore, with eloquent abruptness, the voice from heaven crashes in upon the "fools" in the full career of their folly. The thunder rolls from a clear sky. God speaks in Psalm 14:4 . The three clauses of the Divine rebuke roughly correspond with those of Psalm 14:1 in so far as the first points to ignorance as the root of wrong doing, the second charges positive sin, and the third refers to negative evil. "Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?" The question has almost a tone of surprise, as if even Omniscience found matter of wonder in men’s mysterious love of evil. Jesus "marvelled" at some men’s "unbelief"; and certainly sin is the most inexplicable thing in the world, and might almost astonish God as well as heaven and earth. The meaning of the word "know" here is best learned from Psalm 14:1 . "Not to know" is the same thing as to be "a fool." That ignorance, which is moral perversity as well as intellectual blindness, needs not to have a special object stated. Its thick veil hides all real knowledge of God, duty, and consequences from men. It makes evil doing possible. If the evildoer could have flashed before him the realities of things, his hand would stay its crime. It is not true that all sin can be resolved into ignorance, but it is true that criminal ignorance is necessary to make sin possible. A bull shuts its eyes when it charges. Men who do wrong are blind in one eye at least, for, if they saw at the moment what they probably know well enough, sin would be impossible. This explanation of the words seems more congruous with Psalm 14:1 than that of others, "made to know," i.e . by experience to rue. Psalm 14:4 b is obscure from its compressed brevity. "Eating my people, they eat bread." The A.V and R.V take their introduction of the "as" of comparison from the old translations. The Hebrew has no term of comparison, but it is not unusual to omit the formal term in rapid and emotional speech, and the picture of the appetite with which a hungry man devours his food may well stand for the relish with which the oppressors swallowed up the innocent. There seems no need for the ingenuities which have been applied to the interpretation of the clause, nor for departing, with Cheyne, from the division of the verse according to the accents. The positive sins of the oppressors, of which we have heard so much in the connected psalms, are here concentrated in their cruel plundering of "my people," by which the whole strain of the psalm leads us to understand the devout kernel of Israel, in contrast with the mass of "men of the earth" in the nation, and not the nation as a whole in contrast with heathen enemies. The Divine indictment is completed by "They call not on Jehovah." Practical atheism is, of course, prayerless. That negation makes a dreary silence in the noisiest life, and is in one aspect the crown, and in another the foundation, of all evil doing. The thunder peal of the Divine voice strikes a sudden panic into the hosts of evil. "There they feared a fear." The psalmist conceives the scene and its locality. He does not say, "there" when he means "then," but he pictures the terror seizing the oppressors where they stood when the Divine thunder rolled above their heads; and with him, as with us, "on the spot" implies "at the moment." The epoch of such panic is left vague. Whensoever in any man’s experience that solemn voice sounds, conscience wakes fear. The revelation by any means of a God who sees evil and judges it makes cowards of us all. Probably the psalmist thought of some speedily impending act of judgment; but his juxtaposition of the two facts, the audible voice of God and the swift terror that shakes the heart, contains an eternal truth, which men who whisper in their hearts, "There is no God," need to ponder. This verse ( Psalm 14:5 ) is the first of the two shorter verses of our psalm, containing only two clauses instead of the regular three; but it does not therefore follow that anything has dropped out. Rather the framework is sufficiently elastic to allow of such variation according to the contents, and the shorter verse is not without a certain increase of vigour, derived from the sharp opposition of its two clauses. On the one hand is the terror of the sinner occasioned by and contrasted with the discovery which stands on the other that God is in the righteous generation. The psalmist sets before himself and us the two camps: the panic stricken and confused mass of enemies ready to break into flight and the little flock of the "righteous generation" at peace in the midst of trouble and foes because God is in the midst of them. No added clause could heighten the effect of that contrast, which is like that of a host of Israel walking in light and safety on one side of the fiery pillar and the army of Pharaoh groping in darkness and dread on the other. The permanent relations of God to the two sorts of men who are found in every generation and community are set forth in that strongly marked contrast. In Psalm 14:6 the psalmist himself addresses the oppressors, with triumphant confidence born of his previous contemplations. The first clause might be a question, but is more probably a taunting affirmation: "You would frustrate the plans of the afflicted"-and you could not-"for Jehovah is his refuge." Here again the briefer sentence brings out the eloquent contrast. The malicious foe seeking to thwart the poor man’s plans is thwarted. His desire is unaccomplished; and there is but one explanation of the impotence of the mighty and the powerfulness of the weak, namely that Jehovah is the stronghold of His saints. Not by reason of his own wit or power does the afflicted baffle the oppressor, but by reason of the strength and inaccessibleness of his hiding place. "The conies are a feeble folk, but they make their houses in the rocks," where nothing that has wings can get at them. So, finally, the whole course of thought gathers itself up in the prayer that the salvation of Israel-the true Israel apparently-were come out of Zion, God’s dwelling, from which He comes forth in His delivering power. The salvation longed for is that just described. The voice of the oppressed handful of good men in an evil generation is heard in this closing prayer. It is encouraged by the visions which have passed before the psalmist. The assurance that God will intervene is the very life breath of the cry to Him that he would. Because we know that He will deliver, therefore we find it in our hearts to pray that He would deliver. The revelation of His gracious purposes animates the longings for their realisation. Such a sigh of desire has no sadness in its longing and no doubt in its expectation. It basks in the light of an unrisen sun, and feels beforehand the gladness of the future joys "when the Lord shall bring again the captivity of His people." This last verse is by some regarded as a liturgical addition to the psalm; but Psalm 14:6 cannot be the original close, and it is scarcely probable that some other ending has been put aside to make room for this. Besides, the prayer of Psalm 14:7 coheres very naturally with the rest of the psalm, if only we take that phrase "turns the captivity" in the sense which it admittedly bears in Job 42:10 and Ezekiel 16:53 , namely that of deliverance from misfortune. Thus almost all modern interpreters understand the words, and even those who most strongly hold the late date of the psalm do not find here any reference to the historical bondage. The devout kernel of the nation is suffering from oppressors, and that may well be called a captivity. For a good man the present condition of society is bondage, as many a devout soul has felt since the psalmist did. But there is a dawning hope of a better day of freedom, the liberty of the glory of the children of God; and the gladness of the ransomed captives may be in some degree anticipated even now. The psalmist was thinking only of some intervention oil the field of history, and we are not to read loftier hopes into his song. But it is as impossible for Christians not to entertain, as it was for him to grasp firmly, the last, mightiest hope of a last, utter deliverance from all evil and of an eternal and perfect joy. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.