Psalm 14 - No One Does Good

Podcast Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Hello, and welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. We are in Psalm 14 today, and this is another one of those Psalms that doesn't have a big inscription at the beginning. It just says this, for the music director, a Psalm of David.

And here in my Bible, kind of not in the inspired heading, but just as a general thought, it says foolishness and wickedness of people, which truthfully has been kind of the topic that we've looked at a lot over the past couple of days.

And kind of our response to that of realizing that we too can be the wicked or the foolish, realizing that God will bring justice, that we can call on Him to bring justice, that in our times of trouble and fear, when we're concerned about wickedness

affecting our own lives from perhaps what other people are doing, that we can call on God and that He hears us. And so lots of great thoughts already so far that we've seen as we've journeyed through Book 1 of Psalms.

But Psalm 14 says this in verse number 1. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. A fool in scripture is not just someone that's dumb.

It's not a, you can maybe think of a court jester where they're just kind of foolish. They're silly. That's not what the Bible is talking about when it says a fool.

It is someone that lives as though God does not exist or that not just behaves in such a way that is like God doesn't exist, but from here in verse number one, they actually say in their heart, there is no God. They are atheists.

It is not saying that an atheist has a low IQ, that they can't do math or that they can't do science-y things. But a fool in scripture is someone that denies God, that looks at the world around them and says, God does not tell me what to do.

I tell me what to do. A fool would be someone that would say, I do not have to answer for any of my actions to anyone other than man. And so if I can justify it in my own estimation or if I can justify it to other people, then it's okay.

Whatever I want to do goes, I do not answer to God. It continues, they are corrupt. They have committed detestable acts.

There is no one who does good. This would be one of the verses that Paul would mention in Romans 3 when he's trying to tell about the Jews and the Gentiles in Rome when he's communicating with them.

All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This is one of the verses that he quotes. There is no one who does good.

He says, Yahweh has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside. Together, they are corrupt.

There was no one who does good, not even one. I know as we look at that verse, we go, oh yes, there are so many wicked people out there, but we need to consistently remember as we read through scripture, we are not the hero. God is the hero.

And as we look at what He's written in His word about wickedness and sin, this is not something that primarily we look outside and say, look at all of the evil out there.

But just as Paul applies this to every single person, it's not just there is no one outside of us who does good, no not one.

He says, no, no, even the Jews, even those Gentiles that would have any sort of an idea about maybe who God is and have some passing interest in Him.

Paul says all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, that we need to realize that we are sinners. It's not just other people. It's us, our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes, how we interact with people is flawed.

It goes against God's nature. And I think I've mentioned on here a couple of times as I'm listening through the Sermon on the Mount that the Bible Project is going through kind of just very piece by piece throughout this year.

That's been one of the things that's come up again and again is we tend to think, okay, if I haven't violated maybe the Ten Commandments, if I haven't killed anyone, if I haven't actually physically committed adultery, then I'm doing pretty good.

I'm all right. I haven't set up any physical idols. I'm doing great.

Whereas scripture would tell us, no, no, that was the baseline. That was the on a governmental scale. Here's the bare minimum that God could ask mankind to do.

And yet sometimes we still even fail that. But his heart was so much more than that. It was way more than just don't murder people.

It's don't hate someone in your heart. Don't demean someone with your words. It's way more than just don't steal someone else's spouse.

It's don't even look at someone in such a way as to cultivate a lust or a desire or a sexual situation in your mind with that other person. We are called to so much more than just the bare minimum.

Who God is, His perfection, His holiness is so mind-blowingly unattainable to us. We are in desperate need of Jesus. We all have sinned.

So what does David here now continue to say in Psalm 14? In verse number 4, Do all the workers of injustice not know who devour my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon Yahweh? He's saying, don't they realize that they are destroying Israel?

It's just like someone would just eat bread and think nothing of it. Oh yeah, it's just bread. He says, that's what the wicked are doing to others.

And we can have that reaction to those that we view as less important than us. We can blow them off. We don't care about who they are.

We don't care about their needs. I think of James 2. What good does it do if someone says, yeah, I've got lots of faith, and someone comes and they're in need of clothing and food, and the person who has just faith says to them, oh, God bless you.

Go be warmed and filled. He says, it doesn't actually help them out.

It's useless when we have that lack of desire to help or care for other people, a lack of care for the spiritual state of others, that we wouldn't care whether or not someone knows Jesus or whether they know that heaven would be their home, whether

they know if they've been reconciled and restored to God. We can be those people that just devour people like bread. Their existence doesn't really matter that much to us.

He says, there they are in great dread, for God is with a righteous generation. That God is on the side of those that are in need. And here, a righteous generation.

I want to be the one that's on God's side. I don't want to be on the side that doesn't care about people. I don't want to be on the side that doesn't care about souls.

I want to be with God. And the goal is not... I can think of the story of Joshua when he encounters the captain of the Lord of Hosts.

And he asks him, Hey, are you with us or are you with our enemies? And what's often assumed to be the pre-incarnate Christ goes, I'm not on either of your side. I'm on God's side.

And in that moment, Joshua kind of goes, Oh, okay, I've got to be on God's side. It's not if God is on my side. He's not going to abandon principles or whatever and come join my sinful cause.

It's whether or not I'm going to choose to go to Him. Think of James 4 where we have our wickedness, our pride, but when we come to Him in humility, that He accepts us, He comes running to us like the father of the prodigal son.

All of that is taking place. So I want to be on God's side. I want to be with Him.

God is with a righteous generation, so I want to be on His side. I want to forsake my sin and turn to Him. Verse number 6.

You would put to shame the plan of the poor, but Yahweh is His refuge. He says, there are people who try to take advantage of the poor. Pardon me.

There are people that would try to take advantage of the poor. And that is so against how our God views things. God cares for those that are in need.

And Yahweh, our God, is the refuge of the poor. I can think, I'll actually turn over to Matthew 5 really quick because I want to read this section.

That as Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount was talking to these people from a variety of backgrounds, He tells them who really is in possession of a life worth having.

He says, Blessed, how happy, what a great, fortunate life have these people, the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, the meek, the lowly, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They don't currently possess it, but they are hungry and thirsting for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Though this world would look at a poor person, though this world would look at those that are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, though this world would look at those that are lowly or humble or meek and say they don't have a great life, if

God is our refuge, if He is the one that has promised the kingdom to us in lowly situations, in poor situations, in needing God's situations, if God is with us, then we can take heart that even if we aren't estimated as great in the eyes of the

world, if we are following and pursuing our God, that's what really matters. So then the Psalm ends with this in Psalm 14, verse 7. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion, that from Jerusalem itself would come this salvation of

Israel. He says, when Yahweh restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad. Here, the salvation of Israel is Jesus. He was the one that came from Zion.

He is the one that one day will return again to Zion, to the Mount of Olives, that he will make everything right. He will restore the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice, and Israel will be glad.

I can think even at the moment kind of in how our world situation is, that Israel is, they are not glad, they are not rejoicing, they are going through immense difficulties, both in kind of that area of Palestine, Philistia, Israel, Judah, whatever

name you want to give to that portion, where Jerusalem is, where God has placed his name forever, that Jesus will one day return to, that so many of the promises of Scripture are wrapped up in that place, and its dedication to the people of Israel.

And not only there in Israel, but around the world, where the Israelites right now generally as a people are without the God of their Scriptures, that they have turned their back on Christ, and as a result are somewhat aimless right now. But it's so

incredible as you look at even Paul's writing in Romans 11, as you look at the Book of Revelation, as you look at Daniel 9 through, I think it's 9 through 12, that God has promised he will return Israel to himself, that there will be a remnant that

will turn to him, that you have the witnesses and the evangelists that will come and will proclaim from Israel to the whole world who Jesus is. And you can read about that in the Book of Revelation. There are incredible promises that will be

fulfilled, that those fortunes of God's people will be restored through Jesus, and Jesus is that salvation. I'd like to ask you today, do you know the salvation from Israel, from Zion, from Jerusalem? Do you know Jesus?

Have you turned to him as your Lord? I mentioned earlier the verses that Paul quotes in Romans 3, where he says, All of us have sinned, we've fallen short of God's glory, we have all not met the mark of the perfection that we need to have.

And as a result, we've been alienated from God, that there are consequences for our sin. Romans 6, 23 says, The wages, the earnings of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And in Romans 3 and verse 24, right after he says, all of us are toast, all of us are under judgment, he then says this. Here's the reason why we are all under condemnation.

He says, all of sin and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation, a substitutionary atonement in his blood through faith.

This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in God's merciful demonstration, that is of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

He says, all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but that's why Jesus came, so that he could give the gift of grace and forgiveness.

If you've never accepted Jesus' full payment for sin on your behalf, if you have never turned to him as your Lord, that you would turn from self-will and following your own way and having your own plan for your life, and turn to him alone as your

Savior and as your Lord, choosing to follow him with your life. If you've never done that, I would encourage you. Take care of that today. Message our page.

I would love to have a conversation with you about how you can know that Jesus is your Lord and your Savior, and that all of the wonderful things that we've talked about that come as a result of knowing God, that that would be true in your life.

Thanks for tuning in today. Tomorrow we are in Psalm 15, and we'll close out the week.