Introduction
"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" In a single line, David sets the scene for Psalm 14. This psalm stands apart from the ones we've walked through so far in the Psalter. It isn't a personal prayer, or a hymn to God's greatness, or a cry of distress: it's an exhortation, almost a prophetic conclusion to the psalms before it.
Study Bibles often classify it among the wisdom psalms, carrying a note of prophetic exhortation. It's as if David paused to speak directly to his reader. He isn't just addressing his contemporaries. He's speaking to you, today, in a world where the question of God is still burning, and where atheism often presents itself as the default wisdom.
Commentator Warren Wiersbe points out that Psalm 14 is closely tied to Psalms 9 through 13: the denial of God, the vile deeds of the wicked, God's gaze on humanity, God as refuge, joy in the Lord's salvation. This psalm closes a cycle, and it opens the door to Psalm 15 (the portrait of the righteous) and Psalm 16 (the path of life). Take a moment to read it slowly before going further.
Study Outline
1. The Structure of Psalm 14
Three movements shape this short but dense psalm. Verses 1 to 3 paint the portrait of the fool, we'll see what that word truly means. Verses 4 to 6 give voice to the fool and to God's judgment on him. Verse 7, finally, opens onto the great day to come: the deliverance of Zion.
This Psalm 14 will be echoed almost word for word in Psalm 53. The first duty of love is to listen to what your spouse is telling you. It's the same with God: what God repeats, you must take with the utmost seriousness. Two psalms saying the same thing is no accident.
2. Who Is This Psalm Really Talking About?
One of the challenges of Psalm 14 is understanding who it's actually about. The fool of verse 1 · who is he? Many people go through their days never thinking about God, simply uninterested in spiritual things. But that's not who David is describing here.
Commentators are fairly unanimous on this. The description in these verses isn't one of indifference toward God, but of a virulent, unrestrained atheism, pushed to its extreme. This isn't a quiet, reflective statement like "I don't think there's a God." It's a slogan: "No God. No God."
The man of Psalm 14 is Nietzsche and his "God is dead," his "no God, no master." He's those Swedish humanists who, in 2009, paid to put up billboards reading: "God probably doesn't exist." He's the "new atheists" who did the same on buses in the UK. A militant proselytism, virulent in its posture.
That said, this psalm has something to say to anyone indifferent toward God, and it also has something to say to Christians. The apostle Paul will quote the first three verses of Psalm 14 in Romans 3:10-18 and apply them to all of humanity: "There is no one righteous; no, not one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God." The seeds of the atheism described in this psalm are present in every one of our hearts.
3. First Marker: Ignorance
So what does God think of such militant atheism? The psalm doesn't mince words: it's a condemnation, and David calls it folly. The way he flips the situation is striking. After all, most militant atheists are intelligent, and in their eyes, it's our beliefs that are foolish. What folly, they say, to live for a God whose existence can't be proven. What folly to believe that God became flesh, died, and rose again. What folly to lose two hours every Sunday going to church.
David completely turns the tables, or more precisely, God himself does. Verse 2: "The LORD looked down from heaven on the children of men." What this psalm states is an assessment God himself makes, a condemnation God himself pronounces. These people believe themselves wise, enlightened, intelligent. In reality, in God's eyes, they are foolish, senseless.
In biblical Hebrew, the word "fool" doesn't primarily point to intrinsic intelligence. One of the synonyms for "fool" is "wicked." For the Bible, whoever consciously chooses evil is a fool. The fool is also the one who chooses to ignore reality. The atheist chooses to ignore the reality of God.
True intelligence is described in verse 2: "to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God." Intelligence, in this psalm, is the intelligence that seeks God. The senseless man can be brilliant, a gifted speaker, a master of rhetoric. But his folly shows in his rejection of God.
These people think they know, but in reality they know nothing. They live in a world created by God without seeing the Creator's fingerprints in creation. It is Jesus who holds all things together (Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3). It is he who renews their breath, day after day, moment after moment. The God of the universe is at work giving them life, and yet they deny the existence of the very one who lets them exist. What blindness.
4. Second Marker: Intolerance
The second unavoidable marker of atheism is intolerance. Look again at verse 4: "Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don't call on the LORD?"
Nietzsche saw this himself, in Twilight of the Idols: "When one gives up the Christian faith, one thereby deprives oneself of the right to Christian morality... Christianity is a system, a consistent view of things all bound together. By breaking one main concept out of it, the faith in God, one breaks the whole thing to pieces." If God is dead, then everything is permitted.
Nietzsche himself had spotted the problem: the collapse of morality as a consequence of the death of God. His answer was to try to hold back the rising tide of nihilism. But if God is dead, then justice, integrity, and goodness serve no purpose. On what foundation can a life be built, if there is no lasting, divine, eternal foundation?
Dostoevsky wrote in The Brothers Karamazov: "Nothing has ever been more insufferable for a man and a human society than freedom." Freedom is alluring, but detached from any God, it becomes devastating. That same Dostoevsky wrote in a letter: "Suppose there is no God and no immortality of the soul. Now tell me, why should I live righteously and do good deeds, if I must die entirely on earth? And if that's the case, why shouldn't I cut another man's throat, or steal, if I can rely on my wit and skill to avoid being caught by the law?"
His reasoning is telling: if there's no God, there's no good and evil, only self-interest. That's exactly what the new atheists claim. Richard Dawkins, their figurehead, writes in The God Delusion: "In truth, the only valid principle is that of natural selection." If there's no God, life has no value. So why not permit euthanasia? Why not carry out natural selection ourselves by eliminating the weakest?
Psalm 14 is clear-eyed about the consequences. And unfortunately, history has proven it right. Which political regime that made atheism its state religion has not committed the worst crimes? The worst genocides were carried out by regimes that officially denied God's existence. Between 40 and 80 million dead under Mao in China. 70 million dead in peacetime under Stalin. North Korea today. Six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
Vasily Grossman wrote in the introduction to Life and Fate: "They all talk about free men... according to them, [they are] intolerable, guilty of wanting to remain individuals acting by their own free will and setting as the goal of their actions the happiness of other individuals. On this basis, terror becomes legitimate. That's why concentration camps become the emblem of this regime."
And don't put words in my mouth, I'm not claiming the opposite. Christianity has not always been exemplary. Yes, appalling acts have been committed in the name of the faith, and God will not leave those crimes unpunished. But let's be honest: which militant atheist regime hasn't ended in bloodshed?
"Oh, but that was before, we new atheists are more enlightened now." Richard Dawkins has stated that he believes Christians should be forbidden from teaching Jesus to their children, calling the sharing of faith a form of abuse. These new atheists can't tolerate anyone thinking differently from them. Intolerance is the only response known to those who reject God.
And this intolerance is foolish even by purely human standards. Why work so hard to convince others of something you believe doesn't exist? If God doesn't exist, if this life is all there is, why spend your life proving God's non-existence? Isn't that a waste of time? Why not instead follow what those same atheists recommended on London buses: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life"?
5. The Denial of God Meets the God Who Acts
Read again verses 5 and 6: "There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous. You frustrate the plan of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge." God is in the midst of the righteous. The LORD is the refuge of the afflicted.
Even today, Christians are persecuted. The 2021 World Watch List recorded 4,761 Christians killed for their faith, and 4,270 imprisoned. One in six Christians in Africa faces persecution; two in five in Asia. In all, 340 million Christians are experiencing persecution right now. Those who persecute the Church believe themselves wise, intelligent, superior. But this truth still stands: God is in the midst of the righteous, the LORD is a refuge for his Church.
The Christian life isn't lived victory after victory. But it rests on a wisdom that looks like foolishness to the world: righteousness, justice, and the presence and support of God. Take China as an example. Since 1966, Christianity has been officially persecuted there. The regime has never stopped tightening its grip. What became of the Church, insignificant as it was in 1966? It grew exponentially. An estimated 33 million Christians lived in China in 2010. The Lausanne Movement now estimates 100 million. If the trend holds, there will be 250 million Christians in China by 2030, making it the largest Christian nation on earth.
There are also countries where Christianity seems on the verge of disappearing. The situation is deeply concerning for our brothers and sisters in Mali, and more recently in Burkina Faso. We don't know what God has planned. Perhaps in 10, 20, or 100 years, your children will bear witness to God's work there. But here's what persecutors fail to understand: even if a Christian is put to death, that is not the end for them. Death has been defeated by Jesus Christ. Death cannot hold the Christian. The LORD is our refuge, even in the face of death.
6. The Final Exhortation: Today
Verse 7: "Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." The day of deliverance is coming soon. The day when everything will be revealed is coming soon. God's people will move from tears of sorrow to tears of joy.
Some are working today to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. They will not succeed, because it is the Church of Jesus Christ. On the day of deliverance, the folly of our world will be exposed, and so will the wisdom of God. The day is coming soon when those who reject God will stand face to face with him.
We don't say this with a light heart or a spirit of vengeance. Quite the opposite. The message of the gospel is not for our own glory, but for God's glory. Ephesians 2:1-10 sums it up: "You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins... But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved." We were blind, rebellious, deserving of wrath. But Jesus Christ died in our place.
The day is coming soon when every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But on that day, it will be too late. God is coming to establish justice. So, one final, solemn exhortation, the very one God gives us in Hebrews 3:15: "Today, if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts." Today. Not tomorrow. The LORD is coming to our help.
Key Takeaways
- Psalm 14 doesn't describe mere indifference toward God, but a militant atheism that turns the denial of God into a slogan.
- In God's eyes, this atheism is folly, not because its defenders lack intelligence, but because they consciously choose to ignore the reality of God.
- True intelligence, according to verse 2, is intelligence that seeks God.
- Two markers reveal this folly: ignorance (failing to see the Creator's fingerprints in creation) and intolerance (history bears tragic witness to this).
- Even so, God is in the midst of the righteous and the LORD is a refuge. The day is coming soon when everything will be revealed. Today, don't harden your heart.
Personal Application
- When someone in your life rejects God with vehemence, are you tempted to stay quiet just to keep the peace, or do you actually pray for them?
- Where are you in your own pursuit of God? Are you truly seeking him in his Word this week, or are you, too, living in a kind of spiritual indifference?
- When you look at creation around you (a sunrise, a child's laugh, your own breath), do you still see the marks of God, or do you walk past them out of habit?
- When you hear news of Christians being persecuted around the world, what do you actually do: pray, give support, or look away because it's too heavy to face?
- "Today, if you hear God's voice, don't harden your heart." Is there a specific area of your life where you keep putting off an obedience God is asking of you today?
Verses Cited
- Psalm 14 · the central text of this study, the portrait of the fool and the promise of deliverance.
- Psalms 9 through 13 · the psalms Psalm 14 echoes (denial of God, deeds of the wicked, God as refuge).
- Psalms 15 and 16 · the natural continuation: the portrait of the righteous and the path of life.
- Psalm 53 · echoes Psalm 14 almost word for word.
- Romans 3:10-18 · Paul quotes Psalm 14 and applies it to all of humanity.
- Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3 · Jesus holds all things together.
- Ephesians 2:1-10 · the summary of the gospel for those who were dead in their trespasses.
- Hebrews 3:15 · "Today, if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts."
Further reading
FAQ
Does Psalm 14 call every atheist a "fool" in the intellectual sense?
No. The Hebrew word translated "fool" doesn't refer to intrinsic intelligence. One of the synonyms for "fool" is "wicked." The Bible is describing a conscious choice to ignore the reality of God, not a lack of IQ. Many militant atheists are, in fact, highly intelligent. The folly here is refusing to seek the one who gives you breath.
Why does Paul quote this psalm to describe all of humanity in Romans 3?
Because the seeds of the atheism described in Psalm 14 are present in every human heart. Paul broadens the psalm's scope: it isn't only the militant atheist who "doesn't seek God", it's every human being, by nature. Only in Christ is that situation reversed.
How do I respond to a loved one who doesn't believe in God, without hostility?
This psalm doesn't call you to look down on the atheist. It calls you to grasp the seriousness of the situation, to pray for them, and to live out the very wisdom that seeks God yourself. The exhortation of Hebrews 3:15 is aimed first at you: "Today, if you hear God's voice, don't harden your heart." A transformed life will speak louder than any argument.
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