The Fool

  Psalm 53 / The Fool

The first line to jump out at us in this Psalm is the statement that “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.”  That’s right, the one who created the world and all that is in it, describes the person who says there is no God as a fool.  But by the term fool, I might add this does not speak to a degree of intelligence, or lack of it, but rather to those who are foolish in their morality and without understanding in spiritual things.  This is confirmed by the very next sentence from scripture which states that such persons are corrupt and have done abominable iniquity, or abominable deeds as some translations put it.  

 

It would seem that this corruption and wickedness of actions is the natural result of a heart that treasures the thought that there is no God.  Looking at it from another angle, one could probably argue that the result of a man’s wicked and corrupt actions is a heart which claims there is no God.  Whichever of these is the cause, and which is the effect, it is clear that abominable deeds and a heart that claims there is no God, go hand in hand.

 

The world seems to have no lack of people who are corrupt and display it in their wicked actions, but do they really believe in their heart that there is no God, or do they merely keep repeating that to their heart in an effort to convince themselves?   I think there are many more who may say with their mouth that there is no God, but deep down they are unable to convince themselves.

 

When we read of this “fool who hath said in his heart , there is no God”, it would be instructive to consider him in the light of  Romans 1:18-20 which tells us this:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

 

So you see, those persons who say in their heart that there is no God, are only trying to fool themselves.  God has made his existence plain to them in the very creation and existence of the world around them. 

 

There is an example which I have often heard that goes like this.  I am wearing a wrist watch.  Where did it come from?  Most would agree that it was made by a watch maker.  But why wouldn’t you think that over the course of billions of years, it came into existence by the random aligning of atoms and molecules into the form of a watch. Ridiculous, right? And yet, there are people out there who claim that the world and all that is in it, came into being in exactly that way.  They would claim that the world, which is infinitely more complex than any wrist watch, doesn’t have a maker, yet they would scoff at the idea that my watch came into being the same way.  God rightly calls them fools.  But he also says that by their unrighteousness they suppress the truth that there is a God

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Closely related to this person who claims to be an atheist or one who says in their heart that there is no God, is the agnostic.  They are the ones who claim they just don’t know whether there is a God or not.   There might be, but they just can’t be sure.  The jury is still out.  They would like to see some proof.   But that person is under the same indictment as the atheist.  God says they are suppressing the truth by their unrighteousness.

 

Back to our text in the Psalm, we read in verses 2&3 that, “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.  Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

 

Since these lines immediately follow the verse stating that a fool says there is no God, we might be tempted to read these verses as applying only to that fool.  However, in the book of Romans, the apostlePaul quotes these verses as scriptural evidence that all mankind is under the condemnation of sin.  He quoted it this way in Romans chapter 3:

 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

 

This means that even if we are not numbered among those who say in their heart that there is no God, it does not mean that we are off the hook.  God may not call us fools, but there is a great distance between merely not being labeled a fool, and having wisdom. 

 

 In Proverbs it tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” That is only one of a number of places that the Bible links wisdom with fear of the LORD. 

 

The problem is that we tend to live our lives as though we are fools.  We act much the same as we would if we said in our hearts that there is no God.  We go through life not thanking God for the many blessing that he showers on us day by day.  We go through life not acknowledging his power and majesty and glory.  And we go through life not showing enough wisdom to fear God.  Because if we really believed that the Bible is describing us when it says There is none righteous, no, not one ... none that understandeth ... none that doeth good, no, not one, then we would be trembling under the prospect of the just condemnation and certain judgment that we deserve.  If we really believed that God is as Holy as the scripture tells us he is, then we could not help but be afraid when we consider how we have continually offended him, over and over and over.  And that fear, ...that fear would be the beginning of wisdom!

 

This Psalm ends by alluding to the solution for our abominable deeds and our utter lack of righteousness.  Verse 6 says this: " Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad."

  

That salvation is found in none other than the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who lowered himself to take on human flesh and perfectly fulfill God's law, and not only that, but who also took our sins and bore the punishment that we deserve on the cross at Calvary.  If only we will humble ourselves to turn from our sins and trust in him, then we too can rejoice and be glad!