Feelings and thinking in Psalm 14: Implicit and provoked.
Psalm 14
1 Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!
4 Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the LORD.
5 Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey him.
6 The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the LORD will protect his people.
7 Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel? When the LORD restores his people, Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.
If you have been around Christians, the church and the Bible even a little bit, then I would be surprised if you didn’t know Romans chapter three. There are a string of one liners in that chapter that sum up Paul’s (God’s?) anthropology, his view of humanity. It’s not particularly positive humanist manifesto material. And interestingly you can see Paul’s teacher of mankind 101 is David.
But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!
Psalm 14:3
All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”
Romans 3:12
I think we are meant to ask, “Who, me? Really? And everyone else too? Even my grandma and even the pastor at church?” To which Paul and David would say, “Yes sir!” And so you might wonder then, who is David talking about in verses 5, 6 and 7? Who are these people who obey God, are called His people and who rejoice at God’s rescue?
Paul explains a bit more about these people. In Romans 3:22, Paul says,
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.”
When I read the Psalms (the whole Bible for that matter), I’m provoked to ask questions and to change my thinking about myself and about others. I don’t think the Bible allows us to believe that anyone is born loving God with all their heart. If we had a priority chart with self, others, the world (earth/creation) and God, Paul explains in Romans one that no one gets that list correct.
The Prophet Nathan rebukes King David between 1866 and 1931
Which of these is correct? And where does your enemy fit in the list? You might think that it does not come down to a ‘me or them’ choice, but we know better. Everyone feels they are faced with choices, my kids’ needs or me time? My spouse's desires or my rest? The broken world or my vacation? Church or my hobby? My ageing family or my freedom and privacy? On and on. And everyone is faced with these choices every step or every day of life. What do you feel when someone refuses to let you merge on the highway? How do you respond when you have been waiting for over an hour for a bus or flight or ride and then a whole group arrives
at the last minute and forces in front of you leaving you with no seat? Did you lose sleep because of someone else? Whoever is first in your list above will determine how you feel and respond. You may say that you have put yourself at the bottom of the list, but if that doesn’t make you happy, then you probably haven't really (Paul addresses this misconception in 1 Corinthians 13).
If you are like me, then you will wonder if I am mischaracterizing Psalm 14 and you’ll go back and read it again. And you see I am actually being rather light-handed compared to David. And if you really want a thump to your point of view, then go to Romans.
The Bible implies a lot and that provokes a lot of response. Like calling the atheist (functional or self-declared) fools. That doesn’t go down well in this world today. That’s because in the list of love priorities suggested above, God is pretty much eliminated. That is, people live and think as if God is irrelevant so to insert Him back into the equation is a jolt to the ego and a shock to our pride. It completely throws our worldview into disarray. No one likes confusion, guilt and shame thrown over them. I sure don’t. I want to defend myself. But if I fail to pray, I am living as if there is no God and I am a fool. And that messes with my thinking and makes me feel bad. If I put my interests before the interests of others, I become the oppressor and show my lack of love for God and others and sit alone defending myself. Once again I am not obeying or praying and I am a fool. David is ruthless. But to be fair, David is just the mouthpiece of God, just like Paul in Romans.
So what does God feel? Have you asked that?
“The LORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race…”v2
“Terror will grip them…”v5
Do these two statements have anything to do with each other? Why are the prayerless people who live as if there is no God gripped in terror? Now that is a feeling on overdrive! Does that make God a terrorist? Or does our selfishness make us the oppressor? Are we in me-first world just little terrorists to anyone who dares frustrate our plans? Now how are we meant to feel? What did God, David or Paul want us to feel? I think remorse and repentance. Jesus’ brother James, he is clear that we need to feel bad.
“Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. “
That is not the message you will often hear. But it is the message of the Bible. At least that what I think, and I feel okay about it too.
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