Anatomy of a Fool
Psalm 14:1-7
Psalm 14 is one of two Psalms which begin with the words: “The fool has said in his heart: ‘There is no God.” The two very similar psalms each describe the characteristics of a fool. The Bible says that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. The contrast here is that the root of all foolishness is the rejection of God. The term here is the generic word for God “Elohim” rather than the covenant name “Yahweh.” This makes the application more broad than denying the existence of Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, even though do deny the Lordship of Yahweh is to deny the one and only God. So, one should see the opposite fruit develop from one who has this atheistic or agnostic view of the existence of God than the blessing the LORD bestows on those who fear Him. And this is just the case. One’s view about God has implications.
David had an encounter with a man named Nabal who refused Him hospitality. The name means “Fool” and is the same word here in this Psalm. Nabal did not recognize that the LORD had anointed David to be the leader of his people and treated David roughly. The result of this behavior is that Yahweh struck him down dead. Likewise, the fool who refuses to acknowledge God and show him the proper respect is marked for death. And this death is an eternal one. Jesus describes this place of the wicked as a place of eternal torment. What could be more foolish than going to hell?
The psalm states that the first fruit of atheism is corruption. This should come as no surprise. People who do not feel that they have to give account to God, or anyone else for that matter demonstrate this corruption. As soon as people think they can get away with something, their true character comes forth. I remember seeing an account of Providence Rhode Island during the aftermath of a great hurricane. The stores were all flooded. All law enforcement was busy trying to save lives. So the people went out and looted the shops. Some of the looters were even wearing suits. Corruption knows no social rank. The only difference might be in how this corruption is carried out. There is the corruption of street violence and mugging people. But the corruption also exists in human governments that deny God. They think they are gods, and that the laws they make do not apply to them.
God calls the deeds of men abominable. And the LORD does not just apply this to some people as if only some bad people do abominable things. The next sentence clearly states: “There is none that doeth good.” Paul uses this truth in his argument in Romans about the sinfulness of all humanity. This has enormous implications as it accuses all humanity of atheism. People might worship one god or idol, but if one is not worshiping the True God, then they are regarded as atheists and fools. Many may claim to be theists or even a follower of Yahweh or Jesus, but what does the LORD say? From His heavenly vantagepoint, as One who sees and knows everything, He declares all of humanity insufferably corrupt. Not a single person is excepted, no not one. They neither know God personally, and are ignorant of His way. This is true of everyone, whether Jew or Greek. Everyone is an atheist at heart in their unregenerate nature. All are filthy. All have turned their backs on the LORD.
But as we go along in this psalm, we see that there are some who are righteous before the LORD. The wicked consume God’s own people. So God does have a people whom He calls “My people.” These people must be other than what is described as the fool. These people are persecuted by those who refuse to call upon the name of the LORD. In a sense, the wicked are not atheists as far as textbook definition is concerned. Romans tells us clearly that God has impressed the knowledge of Himself indelibly upon every human heart. Rather they are atheists in the sense that they say “No!” to God. In particular, they are saying “No!” to the rule of Yahweh in their hearts. This rebellion against the rule of God is called “sin.” So there is a link between sin and atheism.
The atheist has shamed the counsel of the poor. In fact, the atheist despises the poor in general. This is true even among those who cry against the victimization of the poor while they live themselves in expensive houses. Instead they use the plight of the poor to their own advantage. One should also perhaps think differently than the world does about what poor actually means here. It seems the context describes those who are oppressed because they believe in Yahweh rather than people of one economic condition or another. The economic poor who do not believe in Yahweh are actually just as much fools as those who are rich and take advantage of them. All means all. The corrupt rich man who has opportunity grabs millions while the poor from limited opportunity grabs what he or she can. Again, corruption is at the center of everything man does, so even his or her acts of charity are tainted. This indeed is a miserable picture.
But as we have noted, there is a people of God. If everyone is a corrupt fool who denies the Lordship of God, how does one become wise. Well if the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, one should start there. This is no more than a statement of one’s own inadequacy. It demonstrates that he or she is going to have to give an account to the Lord for his or her actions. This is actually a statement of faith, because one has to believe in the LORD to fear Him. But this in itself is not enough. The bible says the devils have this fear and tremble. One must believe that the LORD is willing to forgive. This becomes the next step of faith. A God who forgives is one who desires to restore relationship with a person. When one is called “His people” it indicates a familial bond with God.
One has to go beyond the psalm itself to see more fully what the solution to the problem. We need a solution to this problem that is clearly stated and not just implied. We can cry our for the LORD to return us back from captivity. We might know that our salvation comes forth from Zion. These are all good steps.
Paul shows what the salvation that comes from Zion is in the book of Romans which quotes either this psalm or Psalm 53 in the 3rd chapter of Romans. Paul demonstrated the utter futility of any way of reconciliation that starts from sinful humanity. Good works cannot save. But Paul does refer to a man who can and does save. This is none other than the Lord Jesus who is equated to Yahweh of the Old Testament. He was born of a woman and declared to be the Son of God. This one dies for us on a cross and raised from the dead. We become the People of God by believing in what Jesus did in our place. Our hope is based upon what God has done, and not what we have done.
How we understand this psalm has an effect on how we present the gospel to unbelievers. What is really important is that God has revealed himself to everyone in both nature and the conscience. Those who present the gospel apologetically try to first convince the atheist of the existence of God. However, this psalm reveals that anyone who does not believe in the LORD does not believe in the God that scripture reveals. There are many religions and philosophies which posit the existence of some sort of god or gods. These people are still atheists though. Van Til is correct that we need to go directly to winning people to the God whom Scripture reveals. In particular, we need to present the gospel which reveals and is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. At the very least, trying to get people to believe in some sort of god, even a single god is unnecessary as everyone knows that God exists already. What has to happen is that they need to stop suppressing the truth that they already know. From there, the gospel of Christ can be presented. At worst, we build a false sense of security in unbelievers who think all one has to do is to confess some sort of vague belief in a vague god. We have no pother task than to present the gospel and leave it to God to convince the unbeliever. If God does not gift faith, then that person is blind to God.
On a practical level, I think we also learn that when we sin, we are acting as practical atheists. We are suppressing the truth of God in order to indulge ourself in sin. We have seen from this psalm that this kind of behavior is suicidal. It leads to death. We all too often get caught up in sin. And we die in this body as a result, sooner or later. It behooves us as God’s people, saved entirely by the grace and mercy of God, to reflect the new relationship, even if this means becoming poor in this world. We might be persecuted by the atheists, but all they do to us will be transformed by God into good, just like the evil Jospeph’s brothers did to him was changed for the good. We can only thank God who called us out of our self-caused darkness and into His marvelous light. So let us take courage and fight the good fight of faith. Salvation has come forth from Zion. Our captivity is now ended, even as we live in the community of our captors. We wait for the appearance of that glorious city of God.
