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Psalm Fourteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 14
To the chief Musician, cf15I a Psalm of David. The
argument of this psalm, according to Theodoret, is Sennacherib's invasion of
Judea, when he sent Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, with menaces and curses; upon which
Hezekiah implored divine help, and obtained it, and the Assyrian army was
destroyed by an angel; of all which he thinks this psalm was prophetic.
Psalm 14:1 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.
YLT
1To the Overseer. -- By
David. A fool hath said in his heart, `God is not;' They have done corruptly,
They have done abominable actions, There is not a doer of good.
The fool hath said in his heart,.... This is to be
understood not of a single individual person, as Nabal, which is the word here
used; nor of some Gentile king, as Sennacherib, or Rabshakeh his general, as
Theodoret; nor of Nebuchadnezzar, nor of Titus, as some Jewish writersF25Vid.
Jarchi, Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. interpret it, making one to be here
intended, and the other in the fifty third psalm: the same with this; but of a
body, a set of men, who justly bear this character; and design not such who are
idiots, persons void of common sense and understanding; but such who are fools
in their morals, without understanding in spiritual things; wicked profligate
wretches, apostates from God, alienated from the life of God; and whose hearts
are full of blindness and ignorance, and whose conversations are vile and
impure, and they enemies of righteousness, though full of all wicked subtlety
and mischief: these say in their hearts, which are desperately wicked, and out
of which evil thoughts proceed, pregnant with atheism and impiety; these
endeavour to work themselves into such a belief, and inwardly to conclude, at
least to wish,
there is no God; though they
do not express it with their mouths, yet they would fain persuade their hearts
to deny the being of God; that so having no superior to whom they are accountable,
they may go on in sin with impunity; however, to consider him as altogether
such an one as themselves, and to remove such perfections from him, as may
render him unworthy to be regarded by them; such as omniscience, omnipresence,
&c. and to conceive of him as entirely negligent of and unconcerned about
affairs of this lower world, having nothing to do with the government of it:
and thus to deny his perfections and providence, is all one as to deny his
existence, or that there is a God: accordingly the Targum paraphrases it,
"there
is no שולטנא, "government" of God in the
earth;'
so
Kimchi interprets it,
"there
is no governor, nor judge in the world, to render to man according to his
works;'
they are corrupt; that is, everyone of these fools; and it is
owing to the corruption of their hearts they say such things: they are corrupt
in themselves; they have corrupt natures, they are born in sin, and of the
flesh, and must be carnal and corrupt: or "they do corrupt", or
"have corrupted"F26השחיתו
"corruperunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus;
"corrumpunt", Junius & Tremellius; "corrumpunt se",
Piscator. : they corrupt themselves by their atheistic thoughts and wicked
practices, Judges 1:10; or their works, as the Chaldee
paraphrase adds; or their ways, their manner and course of life, Genesis 6:12; and they corrupt others with
their evil communications, their bad principles and practices, their ill
examples and wicked lives;
they have done abominable works: every sinful action is
abominable in the sight of God; but there are some sins more abominable than
others; there are abominable idolatries, and abominable lusts, such as were
committed in Sodom; and it may be these are pointed at here, and which are
usually committed by such who like not to retain God in their knowledge; see Romans 1:24;
there is none that
doeth good; anyone good work in a spiritual manner; not in faith, from love,
in the name and strength of Christ, and with a view to the glory of God: nor
can any man do a good work without the grace of God, and strength from Christ,
and the assistance of the Spirit of God: hence, whatsoever a wicked man does,
whether in a civil or in a religious way, is sin; see Proverbs 21:4. Arama takes these to be the
words of the fool, or atheist, saying, there is no God that does good, like
those in Zephaniah 1:12.
Psalm 14:2 2 The Lord looks down
from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand,
who seek God.
YLT
2Jehovah from the heavens
Hath looked on the sons of men, To see if there is a wise one -- seeking God.
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men,.... As he did
when all flesh had corrupted its way, and before he brought a flood upon the
world of the ungodly, Genesis 6:12. This is said in direct
opposition to the atheistic thoughts and reasonings of wicked men, in Psalm 14:1. There is a God, and he takes
notice of the children of men, and of what is done by them; though his throne
is in the heavens, and his dwelling there, yet he looks down from thence, and
takes cognizance of all human affairs. This must be understood consistent with
the omniscience and omnipresence of God; it is an anthropopathy, or a speaking
after the manner of men; and denotes the exact notice which God takes, and
distinct observation he makes, and the perfect and accurate knowledge he has of
men and their actions; see Genesis 11:5;
to see if there were any that did understand: not things
natural, civil, and moral, but things spiritual as the Apostle Paul interprets
the words, Romans 3:11. For though man has not lost
the natural faculty of his understanding, and may have an understanding of the
things of nature, yet not of the things of God, until a supernatural light is
put into him; not any spiritual experimental knowledge of God in Christ, nor of
the way of salvation by Christ, nor of the work of the Spirit of God upon the
heart, nor of the doctrines of the Gospel, nor any true sight and sense of his
own state and condition;
and seek God; that is,
"after God"; as the apostle in the same place explains it; after the
knowledge of him and his ways, and communion with him; after the things of God,
his interest and his glory: they do not seek after him in prayer, or by an
attendance on his worship and ordinances; at least with their whole hearts,
earnestly, diligently, constantly, and in the first place; nor do they seek
after him in Christ, where he is only to be found; nor under the influence, and
with the assistance of the blessed Spirit.
Psalm 14:3 3 They have all turned
aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No,
not one.
YLT
3The whole have turned
aside, Together they have been filthy: There is not a doer of good, not even
one.
They are all gone aside,.... As bankrupts, having
run out their whole stock, and into debt, and have nothing to pay, nor make
composition with, and are obliged to abscond, as Adam, Genesis 3:8. The words in Psalm 53:3 are, "everyone of them is
gone back"; from God; have revolted from him, and turned their backs upon
him, and have gone back from his commandment, despised his law, and cast away
his word. The Apostle Paul interprets it, "they are all gone out of the
way"; out of God's way, into their own way; out of the path of truth,
righteousness, and holiness, into the way of sin, error, darkness, and death;
and with this agrees the interpretation of Aben Ezra, who adds, "out of
the right way"; and of Kimchi and Ben Melech, whose gloss is, "out of
the good way"; which is God's way, or the way of his commandments;
they are all together become filthy, or
"stinking"F1נאלחו
"faetnerunt, putruerunt", Pagninus; "aut putruerunt",
Vatabulus; "putidi vel foetidi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Gejerus, Michaelis. , like putrid and corrupt flesh; see Psalm 38:5; and so
"unprofitable", useless, and good for nothing, as the apostle renders
it, Romans 3:12. Mankind are universally filthy
and unclean; they are all of them defiled with sin, both in soul and body, in
all the faculties of their souls and members of their bodies; and they are
originally and naturally so; nor can anything cleanse them from their pollution
but the blood of Christ;
there is none that
doeth good, no, not one: this is repeated partly to asseverate more strongly the
depravity of mankind, and partly to express the universality of it; that there
is no exception to it in any that descend from Adam by ordinary generation.
Here follows in the Septuagint version, according to the Vatican copy, all
those passages quoted by the apostle, Romans 3:13; which have been generally
supposed to have been taken from different parts of Scripture; so the Syriac
scholiast says, in some ancient Greek copies are found eight more verses, and
these are they, "Their throat", &c.
Psalm 14:4 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?
YLT
4Have all working iniquity
not known? Those consuming my people have eaten bread, Jehovah they have not
called.
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?.... Of the
being of God, of the nature of sin, and of the punishment due unto it? This
question is put either by way of admiration, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra observe;
the psalmist, or rather God speaking after the manner of men, wondering that
there should be such ignorance and stupidity among men, as before expressed; or
rather, as denying this to be the case, and affirming that they have knowledge,
notwithstanding they think, and say, and do, as before related, as in Romans 9:21. Do not they know that there is
a God? and that they are accountable to him for their actions? Verily they do:
for this is said, not of sinners of the Gentiles; though even they, by the
light of nature, know there is a God, and show the work of the law written in
their hearts; and have a consciousness in them of good and evil; but of sinners
in Zion, of the profligate part of mankind among the Jews, who had a divine
revelation, by which they knew the one God of Israel; and a law, by which was
the knowledge of sin, and whose sanctions were rewards and punishments. And it
seems to design the chief among them, who had power over others, to eat them up
and devour them; even their political and ecclesiastical governors see Micah 3:1, who, though they had no
spiritual understanding, nor experimental knowledge of things, yet had a
theoretical and speculative one; so that their sins were attended with this
aggravation, that they were against light and knowledge, particularly what
follows:
who eat up my people as they eat bread: not David's
people, but the Lord's people: see Psalm 14:2; whom he chose for his people,
who were his covenant people, and who professed his name, and were called by
it; these the workers of iniquity ate up, devoured, and consumed; see Jeremiah 10:25; by reproaching and
persecuting them, doing injury to their persons, property, and character: they
devoured their persons, by using them cruelly and putting them to death; they
devoured their substance, by spoiling them of it, and converting it to their
own use, as the Pharisees are said to devour widows' houses and they destroyed
their good names and characters with their devouring words: and this they did
with as much ease, delight, and pleasure, and without any remorse of
conscience, and as constantly, as a man eats his bread. Or the words may be
rendered, "they eat up my people, they eat bread"; that is, though
they act such a wicked and cruel part, yet they have bread to eat, and fulness
of it; they are not in straits, nor afflicted and punished; and because they
are not, they are hardened in their impiety and iniquity: or "they eat
bread", after they have persecuted and devoured the Lord's people, with
peace of mind, without remorse of conscience, as if they had done no iniquity,
like the adulterous woman in Proverbs 30:20;
and call not upon the Lord; or pray to him, or serve
and worship him; for invocation includes the whole worship of God; and this
they do not, though they know him, and are daily supplied by him, and eat his
bread. Some read this clause with the former, "they eat bread, and call
not on the Lord"; as if their sin was, that when they eat bread, they did
not ask a blessing upon it, nor return thanks to God for it, which ought to be
done; but the accent "athnach" under לחמ,
"bread", will not admit of this sense, though it seems to be
countenanced by the Targum.
Psalm 14:5 5 There they are in great
fear, For God is with the generation of the righteous.
YLT
5There they have feared a
fear, For God [is] in the generation of the righteous.
There were they in great fear,.... This, shows that
they had some knowledge of God, and consciousness of guilt, which they
endeavoured to banish out of their minds by their fears of punishment; and
these fears men of the most atheistic principles cannot get rid of. In Psalm 53:5 it is added, "where no fear
was": that is, any cause or reason for it: such men are often frightened
at their own shadows, afraid to be in the dark alone, as Hobbes the atheist
was. The wicked flee when no man pursues, and are chased by the sound of a
shaken leaf; see Proverbs 28:1; or where there was no fear
of God before their eyes, nor on their hearts, as well as no regard to men; or
where before there were perfect peace and security, and no apprehension or
dread of any calamity, ruin, and destruction;
for God is in the generation of the righteous, or "of
the righteous One"F2צדיק
"justi", Montanus, Gejerus. ; which some understood of Jesus Christ
the righteous: and though the age or generation in which he lived was a very
wicked one, yet God was with him; as was seen by the doctrines he taught, and
the miracles he wrought; and which filled the Jews with panic fears, lest the
Romans should come and take away their place and nation: but rather this is to
be understood of the generation of the saints, who are righteous through the
righteousness of Christ, and have the new man in them, which is created in
righteousness and true holiness, and live soberly and righteously; these are
sometimes called the generation of the upright, and of the children of God, and
of them that seek him, Psalm 112:2; in the midst of these God is,
among them he affords his gracious presence, and is with them, for their help
and assistance against their enemies: and as this makes them fearless of them,
it fills their enemies with dread and terror; see Joshua 2:9. The Targum renders it,
"the
Word of the Lord is in the generation of the righteous.'
Psalm 14:6 6 You shame the counsel of
the poor, But the Lord
is his refuge.
YLT
6The counsel of the poor ye
cause to stink, Because Jehovah [is] his refuge.
You have shamed the counsel of the poor,.... The poor
saints, the Lord's people, the generation of the righteous, who are generally
the poor of this world; poor in spirit, and an afflicted people: and the
counsel of them intends not the counsel which they give to others, but the
counsel which they receive from the Lord, from the Spirit of counsel, which
rests upon them, and with which they are guided; and this is to trust in the
Lord, and to make him their refuge; and which is good advice, the best of
counsel. Happy and safe are they that take it! But this is derided by wicked
and ungodly men; they mock at the poor saints for it, and endeavour to shame
them out of it; but hope makes not ashamed; see Psalm 22:7;
because the Lord is his refuge: he betakes
himself to him when all others fail; and finds him to be a refuge from the
storm of impending calamities, and from all enemies.
Psalm 14:7 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.
YLT
7`Who doth give from Zion
the salvation of Israel? When Jehovah doth turn back [To] a captivity of His
people, Jacob doth rejoice -- Israel is glad!
O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!.... By whom
is meant the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, of all the elect of God, whether
Jews or Gentiles; and who is so called, because the salvation of them was put
into his hands, and he undertook it; and because he is the Captain and Author
of it, and it is in him, and in no other. He was to come out of Zion, out of
Judea, from among the Jews; Zion being, as Kimchi observes, the head of the
kingdom of Israel; see Romans 11:26. Accordingly Christ did come
of the Jews, and salvation was of them, Romans 9:4; and for his coming from hence,
or for his incarnation, the psalmist most earnestly wishes: he was one of those
kings, prophets, and righteous men, that desired to see the days of the
Messiah, Matthew 13:17. And what might move him so
vehemently to wish for it, at this time, might be the sad corruption and depravity
of mankind he had been describing, and the afflicted and distressed state of
the saints;
when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people. The people of
God are, in their unregeneracy, in a state of captivity to sin, Satan, and the
law; the work of the Messiah, when he came, was to proclaim liberty to the
captives, to set them free, to deliver them from their spiritual bondage: and
this Christ has done; he has redeemed his people from all their sins, and from
the curse of the law, and from the power of Satan, and has led captivity
captive; and which has justly occasioned great joy in the redeemed ones,
according to this prophecy:
Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad; that is, the
posterity of Jacob and Israel; not his natural, but spiritual seed, such who
are the true sons of Jacob, Israelites indeed; these having faith and hope in
the plenteous redemption of Christ, rejoice in the view of their interest in
it; they the song of redeeming love now, and these ransomed ones will hereafter
come to Zion with joy, and everlasting joy upon their heads. The Jews refer
this to the times of the MessiahF3Baal Hatturim in Numb. xxv. 12.
& Midrash Tillim in loc. .
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》