To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Those who deny God’s existence are here by definition a fool. Because they deny God, they have become corrupt and vile and no one does good. God looks down on man to see if he can find anyone who is inclined towards him but man’s continual rejection of God means the entire human race is corrupt and not one person is without sin (Rom 3:10-12).
David considers those who persecute the righteous and sees with certainty the day when God will destroy them in judgement. David also yearns for the day when God will establish His kingdom, deal with the wicked and His people, Israel, will rejoice.
Even as believers we can go through moments when we return to that state of saying “there is no God.” When we fail to seek after God and do things in our own strength or based on our own, fleshly desires, then we become a fool and will suffer consequence. Do you need to make a small course correction in your life and return to walking completely with God?
In this passage, Christians are described as “fallen away”. I must not be a “fool” and fall away from God’s path.