The Song of the Fool (Version 1)

Psalm 14 is nearly identical to Psalm 53, and while it’s not the only time that the Psalms duplicate material, it’s one of the most obvious. There are slight differences between them, which I’ll cover in the episode on Psalm 53, but a common view is that 14 is the original form that was adapted later in 53 for a specific purpose and situation. In the titles for the podcast, I’ve called them “The Song of the Fool (Versions 1 and 2).” And indeed, the fool shows up, bold and brash, in the first verse: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” The word “fool” here means someone whose judgment of life can’t be trusted, who has worthless ideas, who has nothing to offer, and who gives no help to others. His claim isn’t so much about atheism; it’s unlikely that those in this part of the ancient world would have denied divine existence in philosophical terms. Rather, the fool is voicing an attitude of practical or functional atheism, the kind of life in which people act as if there is no God. To the fool, God doesn’t matter at all. This is a gesture of defiance and independence, like the scoffers of Psalm 1 who declare the power of their own autonomy and authority. David immediately names the outcomes of this rejection of God: “They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” Notice that David is talking in the plural now, because the fool in the first line is just an example and representative of human beings in general. We are all fools. We are inwardly corrupt and immoral, and we do terrible things in our selfishness and sin. And so David’s conclusion in verse 1 becomes the refrain of this lament: “There is none who does good.” This theme reminds us of similar prayers in the laments that have come before, especially psalms 9-13, where David feels alone and abandoned because although he is trying to worship God and so choose the way of blessing, it feels like everyone around him is recklessly choosing the way that leads to evil and death.

After hearing the declarations of the fool, the perspective shifts in verse 2: “The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” We’re meant to picture the LORD carefully scrutinizing and analyzing each human being, weighing their heart. The terms used here are often used in wisdom literature, so God is searching for those who are wise rather than foolish, where wisdom is defined as the fear of the LORD, reverence and obedience for God. Putting moral categories into these terms tells us something important: every sin implies that we are acting as if we know better than God, as if we are wiser, which is the old lie of the garden that human beings can define good and evil ourselves. But the survey is conclusive in verse 3: “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt” (which one scholar says contains the idea of milk turning sour). David’s assessment was that there is no one who truly lives a God-centered, holy life, and then God emphatically agrees: “There is none who does good, not even one.” Verse 4 concludes this depressing diagnosis with a horrible image of evil’s effects: “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?” David is under no illusion that the fool’s words only affect himself and his relationship with God; a rejection of God also leads to hurting others. With an unconcerned complacency and ravenous appetite, the evildoers sit down to eat a meal, pick up their utensils, and devour God’s people, those who reject the falsehoods of the fool. There are echoes here of Genesis 4 and 6, a time just before the flood when humanity’s wickedness was growing worse and worse and it seemed like no one had compassion or care for each other. David here has a tone of pleading not only with the evildoers to wake up and see how their sin was leading to harm but also with God to do something. He is calling on the name of the LORD to act and fix the systemic effects of the fool’s influence. How could God fix a whole society that rejects him and worships only themselves? That is what the conclusion of the psalm seeks to answer.

Just as suddenly as the fool speaks out, God steps in: “There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge.” David is describing a day when the arrogance of evildoers will be turned to terror because God is with the righteous and is their refuge. Just like the beginning of Psalm 14 alludes to the beginning of Psalm 1, so the end of Psalm 14 alludes to the end of Psalm 2, where God is the refuge, the fortress, the hiding place. In a moment of horrible clarity, the fool sees just how wrong he has been, and all of his unbelief turns into dread at the revelation that the true and living God is holy, that he cares for the poor, that he protects his people who call on his name and seek after him. C.S. Lewis wrote, “In the end that Face which is the delight or the terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us…, either as conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised.” This is a common theme throughout the Bible: when God acts to save his people and judge evil, our response will either be humble joy or dreadful fear. The day of the LORD is either the best day or the worst day, depending on whether the LORD is your refuge. David concludes the psalm by breaking out in a song of hope: “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.” It’s a prayer for the LORD to make all things right again, to renew the world, to save his people from being devoured and return them to a place of safety. It pictures a world that is the opposite of what the fool said; rather than a life lived without any reference to God, the life of joy and gladness comes from God and God alone. There’s another way that David makes this point, but it’s extremely subtle. In Psalm 14, there are seven direct references to God or the LORD, and since seven is one of the most common numbers in the Bible to represent fullness and completeness, David has crafted this Psalm so that it begins with the absence of God (the fool saying, “There is no God”) but ends with the comprehensive fullness of God’s presence. Not everything is as it appears. It may look like God doesn’t see or doesn’t care, but he is very present to save his people and make a fool of the fool.