One Day, God Will Rescue Us From Fools (Psalm 14:1-7) Series

We continue our very sporadic study of the psalms today, by reading Psalm 14. Let's start by reading part of verse 1.

(1) Of/for the director. Of/for David.

He has said-- a fool-- in his heart/mind,

"There is no God."

There's lots of kinds of stupid in life. You can act like an idiot when you're in love. Your brain shuts off, and you find yourself unable to think logically about anything. You see drivers sometimes doing stupid stuff-- burnouts at streetlights. I don't know if the TV show is still running, but "American's Funniest Videos was filled with people doing stupid stuff.

A different type of stupid, far more serious, is described in the book of Proverbs-- a young man, lacking sense, walks by the house of an adulterous woman at sunset. What will happen to him next? Nothing good.

This psalm is about a particular type of stupid person-- the "fool." What, exactly, makes someone a "fool"?

Let's turn to Psalm 74:18-22 (ESV). Here, the psalmist calls on God to remember what fools have said about Him:

Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,

and a foolish people reviles your name.

19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;

do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Have regard for the covenant,

for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;

let the poor and needy praise your name.

22 Arise, O God, defend your cause;

remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

"Foolish" people are those who scoff at God, and the idea of God. They see you placing your trust in God, being confident that God will rescue you out of all your distress, and they laugh. They mock. "God is going to save you? That's hilarious!"

And the psalmist asks God to remember their words. Don't let their words pass by; don't forget them. Remember those words.

We read another example of a fool in 2 Samuel 13:1-14. Let me say up front, that this is a dark, ugly story:

13 Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. 2 And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man. 4 And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.” 5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” 6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”

7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. 9 And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. 11 But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” 12 She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate[a] me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. 13 As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14 But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.