BackgroundReflection on systemic corruption in Israel; nearly identical to Psalm 53.
Psalm 14: The Fool
To the choirmaster. Of David.
By Bea Zalel
Psalm 14
To the choirmaster. Of David.
- The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.
- All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
- Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
- There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is in the company of the righteous.
- You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, yet the LORD is their shelter.
- Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!
Theme
Psalm 14 opens with a line that English readers often hear through later philosophical ears: "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" The Hebrew sits in a different world. "Nabal" is not the intellectually slow person, it is the morally foolish, willfully blind person, and it is the same name borne by Abigail's husband in 1 Samuel 25. The phrase "in his heart" is critical. This is not post-Enlightenment atheism, it is the practical denial of someone who lives as if God does not see and will not act. From there the psalm widens. God looks down from heaven to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God, and finds moral corruption that has spread through the whole community. Sin in Psalm 14 is shared, not merely individual.
Psalm 14 is almost identical to Psalm 53, with minor variations in divine names and a few lines. The duplication probably reflects the way psalms circulated in different collections before the Psalter was given its final shape, and it is a small reminder that these texts had a life in worship before they had a fixed place in a book. Paul knew this psalm well. He quotes verses 1-3 in Romans 3:10-12 to argue that all people, Jew and Gentile alike, stand in need of grace: "There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." In Paul's hands the psalm's diagnosis of the "nabal" becomes a description of the human condition that the gospel is sent to address.
Discussion questions
- What does it change to learn that "nabal" describes moral folly, not intellectual weakness, and that the same word names Abigail's husband in 1 Samuel 25?
- Why does the psalm locate the fool's denial "in his heart" rather than on his lips, and what does that suggest about how denial of God actually works?
- How does Psalm 14 understand sin as something communal rather than only individual, and how does that compare to how sin is often discussed today?
- What is the significance of God "looking down from heaven" in verse 2, and how does that image function elsewhere in the Old Testament?
- Psalm 14 is nearly identical to Psalm 53. What does the existence of two versions tell us about how the Psalter came together?
- Paul cites verses 1-3 in Romans 3:10-12 to argue universal need for grace. How does his use of the psalm depend on the original Hebrew sense of "nabal"?
- How does verse 7's longing for salvation "out of Zion" sit alongside the bleak diagnosis of the earlier verses?
- What is the relationship in this psalm between practical atheism (living as if God does not see) and the corruption of a whole community?
- Where in contemporary life do you see the kind of practical denial Psalm 14 describes, in yourself or around you?
- If Paul read Psalm 14 as describing every person, how does that reading shape the way a Christian should pray verse 1 today?
Read this psalm in another translation
The inline text above is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Open in a new tab to compare with a modern licensed translation: