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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 14

Psalm 14: the fool says there is no God, and none does good

General context

The psalm reports that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God, and states that they are corrupt, have done abominable works, and none does good. The Lord looked down from heaven on the children of men to see if any understood and sought God; all have gone aside and become filthy together, and there is none who does good, no, not one. The speaker asks whether the workers of iniquity have no knowledge, who eat up his people as they eat bread and do not call on the Lord. There they were in great fear, because God is in the generation of the righteous. The speaker tells them that they have shamed the counsel of the poor because the Lord is his refuge. The psalm ends with a wish that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion, and that when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

Cited passages: Psalms 14:1, Psalms 14:2, Psalms 14:3, Psalms 14:4, Psalms 14:5, Psalms 14:6, Psalms 14:7

Psalms 14 (KJV)

1The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

2The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

3They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.

5There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.

6Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.

7Oh 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed carries no heading, so no author or instrument is stated in this source. "The fool" is a type, not a named person, and his saying is placed "in his heart". Whose voice says "my people" in verse 4 is not marked; it may be the Lord's or the speaker's, and the English leaves it open. Verse 5 says "There were they in great fear" without saying where or when. Israel, Jacob and Zion are named in the last verse, and the psalm speaks of the Lord bringing back "the captivity of his people" as a hoped-for event; it does not say which captivity or when. Verses 1-3 are quoted in Romans 3:10-12, "There is none righteous, no, not one", "there is none that seeketh after God", "there is none that doeth good, no, not one", where they open a chain of citations. There is no Selah in the text.

Cited passages: Psalms 14:1, Psalms 14:4, Psalms 14:5, Psalms 14:7, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:11, Romans 3:12

Literary context

The psalm is built on a survey and its result. The fool's inward saying opens it, and the Lord's looking down from heaven is the answering action; the search for one who understands finds none, and the refrain "none that doeth good" is stated in verse 1 and repeated with emphasis in verse 3, "no, not one". The address then shifts: verse 4 asks a question about the workers of iniquity, verse 5 describes their fear, and verse 6 speaks to them directly, "Ye have shamed". Eating is the image for oppression, the wicked consume people "as they eat bread". The generation of the righteous and the counsel of the poor are set against the corrupt generality of verses 1-3, so the sweeping "all" is qualified by a group whom the Lord shelters. The last verse changes to a wish, "Oh that", and to national names, Israel, Zion, Jacob, ending on rejoicing rather than on the fool.

Cited passages: Psalms 14:2, Psalms 14:3, Psalms 14:6, Psalms 14:4, Psalms 14:5, Psalms 14:7

Key moments

  1. The fool's inward saying (Psalms 14:1). The fool says in his heart that there is no God, and none does good.
  2. The Lord looks down (Psalms 14:2). The Lord looks from heaven to see if any understand and seek God.
  3. No, not one (Psalms 14:3). All have gone aside and there is none who does good.
  4. Eating up the people (Psalms 14:4). The workers of iniquity eat up the people as they eat bread.
  5. God with the righteous generation (Psalms 14:5). The wicked were in great fear because God is in the generation of the righteous.
  6. Salvation out of Zion (Psalms 14:7). The psalm ends wishing for Israel's salvation and the return of the captivity.

For reflection

The psalm says none does good, no, not one, and then speaks of the generation of the righteous and the poor whose refuge is the Lord; how do those two statements sit together in the poem?

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