Foolishness, Fearfulness, & Faithfulness Series

August 3, 2003

Sunday Evening

Title: Foolishness, Fearfulness, Faithfulness

Text: Psalm 14:1-7 (Psalm 53:1-6)

Introduction

1. As we continue our study of the Psalms, we come to Psalm 14.

A. Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are very closely related...having many of the Psalm verses.

B. So we will kill 2 birds with 1 stone by covering both Psalms this evening.

2. Read Text: (show side by side) Psalm 14:1-7; 53:1-6

A. Both Psalms can be nicely divided into 3 stanzas

i. And for our devotions tonight...

ii. we will cover the main though in each stanza.

iii. Stanza 1: (Psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3 both nearly identicle). We will title this stanza: "Foolishness"

iv. Stanza 2: (Psalm 14:4-6; 53:4-5 there is some variation here between the Psalms). We will title this stanza: "Fearfulness"

v. Stanza 3: (Psalm 14:7; 53:6, again, nearly identicle). We will entitle this Psalm "Faithfulness"

Body

1. Stanza 1: Foolishness: Vv. 1-3

A. Both Psalms start out by saying "The fool says in his heart, "There is no God".

i. David says it is foolishness for people to not believe in God.

ii. The word "fool" isn’t referring to someone who is simple-minded...or unintelligent...

iii. The word fool has the meaning of being "morally deficient" or "reprobate" or "immoral" or "sinful"

B. Someone who doesn’t believe in God is called an atheist.

i. Every once in a while, I will check out the website of some avowed atheist...

ii. and it never ceases to amaze me the almost hysterical methods and words that they use to try to prove that God doesn’t exist.

iii. And it is FOOLISHNESS

iv. It is important to note that they say IN THEIR HEART that there is no God (more about that in a minute)

C. Verse 1 continues to tell us that these people live corrupt and vile lives.

i. It is almost as if these people NEED to prove that God doesn’t exist...

ii. in order to feel free to pursue the wickedness

iii. because they know that if God DOES exist...

iv. they will be held accountable for their sin...

v. and they certainly don’t like the sound of that!

D. Verse 2 tells us that God is looking down from heaven...

i. looking to see if there are any who will try to seek God on their own...

ii. and the sad fact of the matter is...there is no one

iii. The KJV says, "They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy" Psalms 14:3 (KJV)

iv. That word "filthy" is derived from a word that means "tainted, gone bad, turned sour" depraved" (

v. The Beacon Bible Commentary says it quite well, "one of the most penetrating biblical insights into the nature of sin is its definition as corruption, the spoiling and misuse of what is or could be good"

vi. That paints a picture in my mind of a carton of milk...

a. when the milk turns sour...

b. it is nasty...

c. and corrupt...

d. and certainly not good to drink.

e. And that is what sin does to us.

f. It corrupts us...

g. turns us "sour" as it were...

h. rotten.

vii. And it is foolishness to live that way.

2. 2 Stanza: Fearfulness Psalm 14:4-6, 53:4-5

A. The next stanza indicates that these people are not only godless and vile people themselves...

i. but they try to "devour like eating bread"

ii. They see Christianity as a serious hindrance to their lifestyle...

iii. so they set their sights on Christians and try to destroy us.

B. Verse 5 indicates that these people are "overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread"...

i. In other words, they are fearful.

ii. But wait a minute...if God doesn’t exist...

iii. what do they have to be afraid of?

iv. Remember when I said, "It is important to note that they say IN THEIR HEART that there is no God"

v. They may try to tell themselves that there is no God...

vi. they may try to talk themselves into it...

vii. they may go through all sorts of verbal gymnastics to try to disprove the existence of God...

viii. but the bottom line is...they are AFRAID

ix. People can’t live morally bankrupt lives without feeling some sense of guilt...

x. and some sense of fear...

xi. and some sense of wonder..."What if"

xii. What if God really is real?

xiii. What if there really is a hell?

xiv. What if the Christians are right?

C. Verse 5 also picks up on the idea of God’s protective hand being upon His people...

i. We’ve see throughout the Psalms that God is a refuge for the righteous...

ii. God will take care of His people!

3. Stanza 3: Faithfulness: Psalm 14:7, 53:6)

A. There is a reward for faithfulness!