The Official State Religion of the Fool Text: Psalm 14:1-3
Introduction: The Universal Diagnosis
We live in an age that prides itself on its sophistication, its scientific advancements, and its supposed moral enlightenment. But when you strip away the technological gadgets and the self-congratulatory rhetoric, you find that modern man is telling himself the very same lie that the ancient fool whispered to himself in his heart. The lie has not changed, only the packaging. The fool's creed is the state religion of our time, and its central tenet is as simple as it is catastrophic: "There is no God."
This is not a statement of intellectual neutrality. It is not the conclusion of a dispassionate, objective inquiry. It is a moral declaration. It is a desperate attempt to create a universe in which the fool can be his own god, his own lawgiver, and his own judge. To say "There is no God" is to say "I will not have this man to reign over me." It is the foundational axiom of all rebellion.
Psalm 14 is a divine diagnosis of the human condition apart from grace. It is not a flattering portrait. It does not speak of man's inherent goodness or his noble search for truth. It speaks of corruption, abominable deeds, and a universal turning away from God. This is not David's personal, pessimistic opinion. This is God's view from Heaven. This is the result of the divine inspection. And as the Apostle Paul will later argue in Romans 3, this diagnosis is universal. It applies to every son of Adam, Jew and Gentile alike. It is the necessary backdrop for the gospel. If you don't understand the depth of the disease, you will never appreciate the radical nature of the cure.
This psalm confronts us with the raw, unvarnished truth about ourselves. It tells us that our central problem is not a lack of education, or a lack of resources, or a bad environment. Our central problem is a rebellious heart that has, at its core, declared independence from its Creator. All the subsequent corruption flows from this single, treasonous act of foolishness.
The Text
The wicked fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They act corruptly, they commit abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who has insight,
Anyone who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside, altogether they have become worthless;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
(Psalm 14:1-3 LSB)
The Fool's Creed and Its Fruit (v. 1)
David begins with the root of all human wickedness.
"The wicked fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They act corruptly, they commit abominable deeds; There is no one who does good." (Psalm 14:1)
The Bible's definition of a fool is not primarily intellectual; it is moral. The fool is not someone with a low IQ. He is someone who suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). The word for fool here is nabal, which carries the idea of moral perversity and godlessness. Think of Nabal in the story of David, the man whose name means "fool" and who lived down to it (1 Samuel 25).
Notice where the fool says this: "in his heart." This is not necessarily a public, vocal profession of atheism, though we certainly have plenty of that today. This is practical atheism. A man can attend church, sing the hymns, and even say "amen" to the sermon, all while saying in his heart, "There is no God." He lives as though God does not exist. He makes his decisions, plans his future, and gratifies his lusts as if there were no final judgment, no divine witness, no ultimate accountability. This is the secret atheism that is far more pervasive and dangerous than the loud, obnoxious kind.
And what is the direct result of this heart-atheism? The text is plain: "They act corruptly, they commit abominable deeds." Bad theology, or in this case, anti-theology, always leads to bad morality. If there is no God, then there is no objective standard of good and evil. If there is no Lawgiver, then there is no law. All that is left is personal preference and raw power. Corruption is not an unfortunate byproduct of atheism; it is its necessary and inevitable fruit. When you remove God from the center, the whole system flies apart into chaos and filth. Every man does what is right in his own eyes, which invariably means he does what is abominable in God's eyes.
The verse concludes with a sweeping summary: "There is no one who does good." This is not hyperbole. From God's perspective, a "good" deed is not merely an action that is outwardly beneficial to others. A truly good deed must be done from a right motive (the glory of God) and according to a right standard (the law of God). Since the fool has rejected the very existence of God, it is impossible for him to do anything for the glory of God. His best works are therefore tainted with rebellion. They are, as Isaiah says, filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
The Divine Inspection (v. 2)
In verse 2, the perspective shifts from the fool's heart to God's throne. We are shown the divine search for righteousness.
"Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who has insight, anyone who seeks after God." (Psalm 14:2 LSB)
This is a picture of God's omniscience. He is not a distant, deistic landlord. He is actively observing and evaluating the state of humanity. He is looking for two things: insight and seeking. "Insight" here means spiritual understanding, the ability to see the world as it truly is, under the authority of its Creator. It is the opposite of the fool's self-deception.
And He is looking for anyone who "seeks after God." This is the fundamental orientation of a righteous heart. To seek God is to desire Him, to pursue fellowship with Him, to long for His presence above all else. The natural man does not do this. The Bible is clear that apart from grace, "no one seeks for God" (Romans 3:11). Man may seek after religious experiences, or spiritual feelings, or a cosmic butler to grant his wishes. But he does not seek after the holy, sovereign, thrice-holy God of Scripture. He is, in fact, running from Him as fast as he can.
So God conducts His search. He scans the entire human race, every tribe, every nation, every individual. He is looking for just one person who, of his own natural inclination, understands and seeks Him. This is the ultimate test. And the results are about to be announced.
The Universal Verdict (v. 3)
Verse 3 delivers the solemn and devastating conclusion of God's investigation.
"They have all turned aside, altogether they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Psalm 14:3 LSB)
The verdict is comprehensive and absolute. "They have all turned aside." This is the language of apostasy, of deliberately leaving the right path. It is not that humanity got lost by accident. We have willfully, intentionally, and universally turned our backs on God. We have all, like sheep, gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way (Isaiah 53:6).
"Altogether they have become worthless." The Hebrew word here means to be corrupt or sour, like milk that has gone bad. It speaks of a ruined nature. Sin is not just a series of bad choices we make; it is a corruption of our very being. It has tainted every faculty: our minds, our wills, our affections. This is what the theologians call total depravity. It does not mean that every man is as wicked as he could possibly be. Common grace restrains much evil. But it does mean that sin has affected every part of our nature, such that we are totally unable to save ourselves or to please God. We are not merely sick; we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
And then, for emphasis, the psalm repeats the verdict from verse 1, but with a final, crushing addition: "There is no one who does good, not even one." This is the hammer blow that shatters all human pride and self-righteousness. There are no exceptions. Not the religious man, not the moral man, not the philanthropist. Before a holy God, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. This is the great equalizer. This is the ground level at the foot of the cross. No one can claim to be an exception. Paul quotes this very passage in Romans 3 to prove that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin.
The Only Hope
If the psalm ended here, it would be the most depressing chapter in the Bible. It would leave us in a state of utter hopelessness, condemned by a holy God with no way out. But thanks be to God, the story does not end here. This diagnosis of total depravity is not given to drive us to despair, but to drive us to Christ. It is only when we see the utter ruin of our own condition that we will look for a savior outside of ourselves.
The bad news of Psalm 14 is the necessary preparation for the good news of the gospel. The fact that "there is no one who does good, not even one" makes the glorious truth of the gospel shine all the brighter. For into this world of corrupt, worthless, rebellious fools, God sent His Son.
There was One who did have insight. There was One who always sought the Father. There was One who did good, and only good, always. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the one exception to the universal rule of Psalm 14. And He did not remain separate from us in our corruption. He entered into it. He took our sin, our foolishness, our corruption upon Himself at the cross.
The Lord who looked down from heaven in judgment in verse 2 is the same Lord who came down from heaven in grace. He did not find a righteous man, so He became a man in order to be that righteous man for us. He is the answer to the fool's creed. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God," but the cross screams, "Here is your God, dying for fools!"
Therefore, the only way out of the condemnation of Psalm 14 is to abandon our own claims to goodness and to cling by faith to the only one who is good. It is to confess our foolishness and receive His wisdom. It is to stop seeking our own way and to be found by the one who seeks the lost. This is the gospel. And it is the only answer to the universal disease that David so accurately diagnoses in this psalm.