Secondly, it is among the few Psalms that have little or no praise in them to be sung in the public worship services.
The worship services of the Jews were similar to ours today, in that they sang songs for many reasons. For example, some songs were sung for...
• COMFORT
• COMMITMENT
• THANKSGIVING
• GUIDANCE
And of course, some were sung for PRAISE!
But, there are times when we sing songs that do not have any praise in them. They are songs that ADMONISH us to obey the Lord and walk close to Him.
Paul said, in Col. 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
Many times God has used a song to admonish a lost person to come to Christ for salvation. Many songs have very little praise in them, yet they deliver a powerful message from God's Word.
Psalm 14 is a Psalm that was sung in the public worship service. It carries a powerful message.
Let me show you THREE things about this Psalm. First, look at...
I. THE OBNOXIOUS
The first verse begins, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God..."
The word translated "FOOL" is from the word meaning "SIMPLEMINDED," or "UNWISE."
The name "Nabal" means "a fool."
Of course that brings to mind Nabal of 1 Samuel 25. He was called a fool because HE WAS A FOOL! Nabal certainly lived up to his name.
In order to be able to best see what God had in mind when He spoke of a fool, we need to look closely at a fool's life.
Why? Because that fool is like many people today, who also could be called Nabal. Look at Nabal's life.
Illus: He was a wealthy man who lived in Maon.
• He had 3,000 sheep and goats
• He had a wife named Abigail
In verse 3 we read, "...and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance..."
Not only was Nabal a rich man, but he was blessed to have a BEAUTIFUL and UNDERSTANDING WIFE. However, Nabal, who was a descendant of Caleb, was known to be uncouth, rude, stubborn, and ungraceful.
This couple was a perfect picture of the "Beauty and the Beast."
For example, we see the foolishness of Nabal. When David and about six hundred of his men were in the wilderness fleeing for their lives, they befriended Nabal and his lovely wife, and protected Nabal's flock from thieves. David and his men could have robbed Nabal of all of his livestock at any given time. Instead, out of sheer kindness, David and his men kept thieves from stealing Nabal's flock, and did many things to assist Nabal.
Isn't that a good picture of God's watching over our lives? Do we deserve such treatment? Absolutely not. But God, in His kindness, watches over and protects every person He created.
Well, now David and his men were running short of food, so he sent ten of his men to ask Nabal for some of his livestock for his men. Remember, Nabal was rich, and could have easily afforded to help David and His men, especially since they had been so kind to him.
Instead of showing appreciation for what David had done for him, he insulted the men in the worst kind of way. The men came back and told David what he said. When David heard of Nabal's insulting remarks, David made a vow to God that Nabal and his men would be dead by the next sunup.
We read in verse 13, "And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man, his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff."
Someone in Nabal's household heard of David's intentions and went and told Abigail how Nabal had insulted David's ten men. This lady, who was known for her beauty and intelligence, took some wise actions.
1 Samuel 25:18 tells of it. "Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and laid them on asses."
She met David and his men who were on their way to destroy Nabal.
We read in verses 23-25, "And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send."
Nabal's own wife said of him, "FOR AS HIS NAME IS, SO IS HE; NABAL IS HIS NAME, AND FOLLY IS WITH HIM..."
She was saying that Nabal's name meant: "Fool," and he was a fool. Because of Abigail, David changed his plans. His plans had been to be sure Nabal and every servant he had would be dead by sunup.
Now why is this story important? Because Nabal, whose name meant "fool," was a fool and he is a picture of many today.
That is, God has been gracious to us, much more than David could ever have been to Nabal, and still people treat Him like Nabal treated David's men, and refuse to acknowledge His goodness.
Ungodly men, in their actions, are atheists.
Notice, God does not condemn a man who stands on the street yelling that he is an atheist, for such a man is clearly a fool and wants everyone to know he is.
In Psalm 14, God condemns the man who says in his heart, “I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE GOODNESS OF A LIVING GOD!”
The ungodly insult God the same way Nabal insulted David. Ungodly people insult God …
• By saying "We will take Your day of worship and use it for sleep, pleasure, and relaxation.”
• By saying “I will not acknowledge Your greatness”
• By taking God’s tithes and spending them on themselves
• By ignoring God
• By not recognizing the greatness of God in their lives
There are many who pride themselves on thinking they are not fools, because they have Ph D's, and may be teaching at some university.
However, did you know that you can be a fool and have a Ph D? All that title means is that in some area of your life, you are smart. That does not mean that in other areas you might not be a moron.
Illus: For example, the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee tells the story of how he used to play golf with a man who had a Ph. D., and taught at the college he had earned the Ph. D. from. He told that when it started to rain he would say, "What are we going to do now?" Dr. McGee said, "I wasn't a fool, I knew what to do when it began to rain. I got out of it."
Psalm 14 is a Psalm of admonition in which God looks down and sees the ungodly, and says of them, "THEY ARE OBNOXIOUS FOOLS!"
Also, God saw them as...
II. THE OPPOSERS
In the scriptures, we find that the ungodly not only OPPOSE GOD, they also OPPOSE THE SAINTS OF GOD. In verses 1-3, God tells us that evil men live their lives like fools. One thing is for sure. Men do not see themselves the way God sees them now, and did not back then either.
In verses 2-3, we read, "The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
As God looks down from heaven, it is His conclusion that, "...there is none that doeth good, no, not one..."
Notice again, David is not talking about a man who PUBLICLY proclaims that THERE IS NO GOD. He is talking about a man who says IN HIS HEART THAT THERE IS NO GOD. He is talking about a man that perhaps goes to church every Sunday, but lives his life as if there were no God at all. That is, he lives his life as if there is no Elohim:
• To govern his life
• To have a plan for his life
• To judge him
His whole life is built around this foolish thinking, and he lives his life accordingly. God says he is a fool, again, that means SIMPLE MINDED and UNWISE. In verse 4, we read, "Have all the workers of iniquity NO KNOWLEDGE?"
It is obvious that those who live in wickedness do not have knowledge of God, if they did, they would not live the way they are living. One day, evil men will have to face up to the truth that they are corrupt. In this life they can...
• DENY SIN
• JUSTIFY SIN
• EXCUSE SIN
But one day they will have to face God as having lived their lives like fools.
In verse 5 we read, "There were they..." HOW WERE THEY? "...in GREAT FEAR..."
Listen lost person, you can look back and try to think of the most fearful time in your life, and that will be nothing compared to what it will be like when you stand before the Lord, and give account for your sins to your Creator. Why?
We read in verse 5b, "...for God is in the generation (The word "generation" can be translated "company or "circle) of the righteous."
God can always be found where men seek Him, and desire to please Him. So, sinners will be fearful, not because they could not be saved, but because THEY WOULD NOT come to Him for salvation!
The wicked have not only rejected God for Himself, but they OPPOSE ALL THOSE WHO SERVE THE LORD.
In verse 6, we read, "Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge."
Illus: That is, the wicked taunt the righteous, by trying to make them think that only a FOOL would live according to the Word of God.
But, it is not the righteous who are the FOOLS. The people who are trying to make the righteous think they are fools, are the ones who are the real fools!
God said they do this, and to them it means no more than a man who greedily eats bread. In verse 4 we read, "...who eat up thy people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.”
III. THE OVERCOMERS
Remember, Psalm 14 is not a Psalm of praise, but of admonition, yet in the last verse we see one glimmer of praise.
In verse 7 we read, "Oh 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."
When David had to flee from his throne because of his wicked son, Absolom, David found comfort in knowing that God, in due time, would bring his enemies down, and restore to him the joy of his throne.
Also, we rejoice, as believers, because one day He shall come and deliver us, but all who lived like fools will realize how very foolish they were.
Conclusion:
I. THE OBNOXIOUS
II. THE OPPOSERS
III. THE OVERCOMERS
