Summer in the Psalms 2024
Psalm 14
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church?07-14–2024
Madilyn Murray O’Hair, visited the campus of the University of Memphis when I was a freshman.
There was a huge police presence on campus and she had bodyguards because she had received so many death threats.
I wanted to see her talk and try to understand what the fuss was about but my mother begged me not to go, fearing that violence would break out.
What message did she deliver that night? That is there is no God and that atheism is the only logical belief.
She filed the lawsuit that led the US Supreme Court to ban teacher-led prayer and Bible reading in public schools.
I was a freshman in college and had decided that all religion was stupid. Here was a woman who claimed that there was no God and those who disagreed with her were threatening to blow up the building in which she would be speaking.
When I said that to my brother, who had become a Christian, he said something I’ve never forgotten. He said, “Don’t look at Christians. Look to Christ. He will never disappoint you.”
This morning, I’m going to try to answer the question, “What would Jesus say to an atheist?”
My short answer is that Jesus doesn’t believe in atheists. He loves them enough to die for them.
Please turn with me to Psalm 14.
Prayer.
Psalm 14
Psalm 14 has been called the “atheist psalm” because it addresses atheism head-on.
It is a song that David wrote in his journal and one that Jesus would have sung growing up in the synagogue.
Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are nearly identical and Paul quotes Psalm 14 in Romans 3.
Defining our Terms
Before we get into the text, I need to define some terms.
First, when the Bible uses the word “fool,” it is not speaking of any intellectual deficit. Fools aren’t stupid. Fools don’t have a head problem but a heart problem.
Second, the term atheism means “no God.”
Atheists are people who believe that God doesn’t exist.
Leading the charge are people like Richard Dawkins who wrote “The God Delusion” and Christopher Hitchens who wrote, “God is not Great.” They believe that religion is not just weird but it is evil.
They both advocated that atheists should “come out of the closet” and be proud that they haven’t fallen prey to the poison of religion.
And come out of the closet they have! The “new atheism” has become cool in our culture.
According to a January 2024 Pew Research Center report, 28% of U.S. adults identify as "nones", or religiously unaffiliated people:
Atheist: 17%
Agnostic: 20%
Nothing in particular: 63%
Mark Zuckerburg, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Brittney Spears, Bill Maher, Johnny Depp, Jodie Foster, Seth McFarland, Carl Rainer, Julianna Moore, Ricky Gervais, and Penn Jillette all identify as atheists.
People who identify as “nones” are not all serial killers and terrible people. Many of them are caring and love their families and see the world as a place to do good to others.
The third term we need to define is agnosticism.
This word means “not knowing.” Agnostics are on a continuum.
On one end of the continuum are people who say, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Then some people have doubts and questions and are curious about Christianity.
Brian Warner, who grew up to be the industrial rock icon, Marilyn Mason, was an extremely bright kid. In Sunday school, he asked a lot of questions and he said that one of his teachers yelled at him, “Just shut up and believe!” He never attended church again.
Along the spectrum of agnosticism are people who have been hurt in churches, who are horrified by the hypocrisy they have witnessed, and who, according to research find Christians mean, judgmental, and more interested in politics than the Gospel.
If that describes you, I want you to know that I’ve been deeply hurt by church people. I’ve witnessed incredible hypocrisy by those who claim to be Christians. And some of our non-Christian friends are kinder than many of the so-called Christians we have known.
But, like my brother said to me, “Look past Christians. Look to Christ. He will never disappoint you.”
The psalm addresses atheists, not those who doubt or who have questions.
I hope by the end of this sermon, I’m going to show that true atheism is intellectually untenable and help you to move to a more honest position.
The Atheist’s Refusal
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.
A story is told of an evangelist who visited Harvard. A Christian student took two of his dorm mates, who said they were atheists to the lecture. On the way back home, he asked if the evangelist made the case for the existence of God. They both said that he was brilliant and had made a compelling case.
When he asked if they wanted to go back the next night, they both said no. When he asked them if his lecture had changed their minds, they laughed and said no.
He was very confused by this and waited in line to talk to the evangelist after his talk. He told him the story and the evangelist smiled and said, “There is nothing wrong with your friend’s brains. It’s not a matter of intellect but a matter of will.” If they were to admit there is a God then they would be accountable to him.”
And that’s what the first line of this Psalm says.
The words “there is” aren’t in Hebrew so it reads, “The fool says no God.”
It’s like the soup nazi from Seinfeld. No God for me!
They don’t want a God, or as Christopher Hitchen’s calls Him the cosmic dictator in the sky, to run their lives. They want to be the captain of their souls.
In Scripture, the heart is not the center of emotions but the thinking part of who we are. The part that makes decisions.
The fool knowingly and intentionally commits themselves to a life that denies God.
There is nothing new or novel about this position. Despite the evidence that God has provided in natural revelation, what has been made, and what can be seen, these people are said to suppress the truth of God's existence.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this line of thought in Romans:
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)
In his book called, “The Reason for God,” Timothy Keller states that the real challenge is not to prove that God exists, but to recognize that people already suspect that God exists.
He’s revealed Himself in nature and we know about Him by nature. And because He is the Creator, He is greater than that which He has created. It’s not that people can’t know God; it’s that some don’t want God.
They suppress the truth. They hold it down like holding a spring. That eventually gets exhausting.
But, this natural revelation of God is limited. We can know the power of God by observing His creation, but we can’t know His love. For that, we need His Word and we need the gospel.
David said that the inner effect of denying God is they are corrupt, which means “to spoil, like milk.” Their corruption is infectious, just like one bad apple corrupts the whole bag.
He then says outwardly they are vile, which means “rotten fruit.”
In a cover article from the Atlantic entitled, “Can We Be Good without God?” The author writes:
“If Christianity declines and dies in coming decades, our moral universe and the relatively humane political universe that it supports will be in peril.”
My friend Brian Bill writes:
“The implications of atheism are crucial because everything crumbles with God out of the picture. There is then no basis for morality, no purpose in pain, no reason for existence, and no hope for the future.”
When I was about 20 years old, I was an angry atheist. (I was just mad at the God I didn’t believe in.). I understood very well that if there is no God there is no purpose and if there is no purpose, there is no point.
I thought of suicide a lot during that time because if we just cease to exist when we die what does it matter if I died that day or 70 years from then?
There are many different ways to approach atheism and to argue for the existence of God. I find Dr. William Lane Craig gives the following arguments, to which I’ll add two more.
The cosmological argument – the universe came from something rather than nothing.
The atheist must believe the miracle that existence comes from non-existence.
2. The teleological argument – the complexity in the universe presents the case for an intelligent designer.
The second miracle that atheists must believe in is that order comes from chaos.
If I were to find a watch on the sidewalk, I would not assume that it spontaneously appeared. I would know there was a watchmaker that created it.
Even Sheldon had to acknowledge this. [Video clip of Sheldon talking to his mother about God]
Another miracle that atheists must believe is life comes from non-life.
If we evolved randomly and by chance out of a primordial ooze, then there is no purpose to our lives.
3. The moral argument – true morality comes from God.
Christopher Hitchen said that this is an insult to the goodness of humans.
This doesn’t mean that atheists can’t be moral. But if there is no God, then the rules for what defines good and evil are up to my interpretation.
4. The life and impact of Jesus.
“The famous essay, "One Solitary Life," states:
"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executors gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth — his coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
"Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever were built; all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.”
5. The resurrection of Jesus – the evidence of the resurrection has not been refuted.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the best-attested facts on record. There were so many witnesses to behold it, that if we do in the least degree receive the credibility of men's testimonies, we cannot and we dare not doubt that Jesus rose from the dead.”
And Billy Graham proclaimed:
"There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three."
When I’m talking to people who claim to be atheists, here are two ways I approach it.
The quiz. I asked them if I could give them a quiz.
What’s the third largest city in Liechtenstein?
What’s the cube root of pi?
What was King George’s first wife’s name?
What’s the state bird of Idaho?
What song was number one in August of 1956?
Most people, even Phil, would have trouble with this quiz. ?Why? Because there are a lot of things we don’t know.
Is it possible there is a God and you just don’t know it yet?
Purple Cow. I ask if there are any purple cows. When they say no I ask them how they know. To know with 100% certainty, they would have to have knowledge of every cow in the world, which they obviously don’t.
Is it possible that there is a purple cow and you just don’t know it?
Recently, I had a young man tell me that his brother was an atheist but he wasn’t smart enough to be an atheist because there are a lot of things he doesn’t know or understand.
To say with 100% certainty there is no God is the ultimate in human arrogance and foolishness.
Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, said that the question isn’t whether isn’t there a God but as a scientist, he posits it this way - Is it more or less likely that God exists?
He leans toward the less likely option but he said that as a scientist he can’t say with 100% certainty there is no God.
The most important thing you can do is love and listen to people. Many times we are terrible at listening to people’s stories without judgment.
But if you identify as an atheist, can I challenge you in two ways?
First, many of the atheists I watched on video were smug, arrogant, self righteous and mocking? Could you just listen respectfully as we share with you?
Second, I was to challenge you to follow what I call the “Twilight rule?”
When I was a youth pastor, I made an offhand comment about the book and movie series, “Twilight.” Afterward, a student approached me and asked if I had read the book. When I said no, she said, “Don’t you think you ought to read the book before you make fun of it?”
She was right. I read the book and it was just as stupid as I thought it was!
Many people who mock the Bible have never read it. I challenge you to read the Bible and if you have questions DM me and we can talk about it.
Karl Marx called religion an “opium for the masses.” Christopher Hitchens makes the point that the higher your IQ, the more likely you are to not believe in God.
But my brother, who has three master's degrees, including one in theoretical physics, is a born-again pastor in Pennsylvania.
Rosiland Pickard, MIT professor and tech pioneer, lived the first part of her life and career as an atheist. But then she read the Bible and something happened.
I’ve been reading, studying and teaching the Bible for 35 years. I’ve read it cover to cover over 40 times. I’ve asked the hard questions and dove deep into the mystery. And I am more convinced of the Bible’s trustworthiness than I was 35 years ago.
The Terror
Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on God.
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.
David writes that these fools attack and mock Christians as causally as they would eat a PB&J sandwich.
Many of these atheists “worship” the “flying spaghetti monster,” who is said to have created the world after a night of heavy drinking.
They never call on the Lord. They don’t want God, seek God, or know God.
These people often have power:
“Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people’s flesh strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?” (Micah 3:1-3)
But, in the end, they will have nowhere to hide while the poor will be kept safe by their God.
There is deep existential dread in these people’s hearts.
Pascal, the mathematician, and theologian, suggested what we know as Pascal’s wager.
If I’m wrong and there is no God, then what have I lost? I have tried to live my life with integrity, love my wife and children, and sacrificially serve others.
If you are wrong, what have you lost? Everything. You have missed the point of this life and the next.
Asaph admits in Psalm 73 that he was often jealous of the wicked. But then his jealousy turned to sorrow:
“When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply
till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” (Psalm 73:16-17)
There is a heaven, whether you believe it or not. There is a hell, whether you believe it or not. We all will be judged, whether you believe it or not.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)
Not One
As you have listened to this, you may have felt some pride in your heart. I’m not like those atheists. I’m in church most
Sundays.
But there is a practical atheism that has infiltrated our churches. People affirm with their mouths on a Sunday their love and loyalty to Jesus and then live Monday through Saturday as if He doesn’t even exist.
David continues:
“God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
God is not absent or on vacation. David writes that He is actively scanning the children of Adam to see if anyone’s heart is turned toward him.
Paul quotes these verses in Romans:
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
Did you hear that? It’s the same wording as when God decided that all mankind was corrupt and decided to flood the earth.
Not even one.
In 1908, the Times asked several authors to write on the topic, “What is wrong with the world?”
G.K. Chesterton’s response was the shortest submitted.
He simply wrote:
Dear Sirs:
I am.
Sincerely yours,
G.K. Chesterton
Wait? You may say that you are better than a serial killer or the woman down the street who smokes the devil’s lettuce.
But as I have said before, we can not hop higher for God’s holiness. The standard is perfection and we don’t come close.
If we all tried to jump over the Grand Canyon, some of us would jump farther than others but we would all end flat on the canyon floor.
Our sin separates us from God. If you sin one time a day, that’s over three thousand sins in a decade. We can’t do enough good deeds to make up for that.
We are hopeless and helpless and can’t do anything to save ourselves.
Where is Jesus?
Each week, we have asked the question, where is Jesus in this Psalm?
Well, listen to how David finishes this psalm:
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
David looks around at the state of mankind without God and ends with a fervent prayer of longing for the Messiah.
Zion is associated with Jerusalem and it is where Yahweh rules.
Notice he doesn’t write “if God restores His people” but when. God has not forgotten His people.
Out of Zion will come a Davidic King that will restore Israel and bring great joy to the people.
The word “salvation” in this verse is the Hebrew word, “Yeshua.” Translated into Greek, this is Jesus! The New Testament says it this way, “Come Lord Jesus.”
While we were yet sinners, God sent Jesus to die in our place to pay the penalty for our sins to restore us to God.
An atheist once said, “If there is a God, may He prove Himself by striking me dead right now.” Nothing happened. “You see,” he said. “There is no God.” To which his friend replied, “You’ve only proved that He is a gracious God.”
