The Fool Hath Said

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."