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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》