The Cannibalism of Fools Text: Psalm 14:4-6
Introduction: The Atheist's Buffet
The first verse of this psalm tells us that the fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." This is the foundational lie, the seed plot of all subsequent mischief. But we must understand that this is not primarily an intellectual proposition. It is a moral one. The fool is not a fool because he lost a debate in his philosophy class. He is a fool because he wants to live a certain way, and God gets in the way of that. He says "no God" in his heart so that he can say "yes" to his lusts with his hands and feet and mouth.
And what does this practical atheism lead to? It leads to a world where men become cannibals. Not necessarily in the literal, boil-you-in-a-pot sense, though history shows that godlessness is perfectly capable of descending to that. No, the psalmist here is describing a spiritual and economic cannibalism. The workers of iniquity, having dispensed with God, find that they have an appetite for His people. They devour them. As Thomas Watson memorably said, this is a "Christ-hating and saint-eating world."
This is the great antithesis that runs through all of Scripture and all of history. There are two seeds, two lines, two humanities. There is the generation of the righteous, and there is the generation of fools. And the latter is constantly trying to make a meal of the former. They do this through persecution, through mockery, through economic pressure, through slander, and through outright violence. They want to consume the righteous, to absorb them, to eliminate their distinctiveness, and to silence their testimony. But as we will see, this is a meal that always, always gives them a terminal case of indigestion.
The Text
Do all the workers of iniquity not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon Yahweh?
There they are in great dread,
For God is with the righteous generation.
You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,
But Yahweh is his refuge.
(Psalm 14:4-6)
Willful Ignorance and Voracious Appetites (v. 4)
We begin with a rhetorical question that highlights the sheer stupidity of rebellion.
"Do all the workers of iniquity not know, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon Yahweh?" (Psalm 14:4)
The question is, "Have they no knowledge?" This is not a question about their IQ. Many of them are quite clever. They can build empires, write symphonies, and design sophisticated systems of oppression. The knowledge they lack is a moral and spiritual knowledge. It is the knowledge that comes from fearing the Lord, which is the beginning of all true knowledge. Their ignorance is willful. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They don't know because they don't want to know.
And what is the primary evidence of their ignorance? "Who eat up my people as they eat bread." Notice the casual nature of this atrocity. It is not a rare delicacy for them. It is not a grim, once-a-year ritual. It is their daily bread. They consume the people of God with the same thoughtless regularity that you or I would eat a sandwich for lunch. This is how they sustain themselves. The ungodly feed on the godly. Their systems of injustice, their corrupt businesses, their slanderous media outlets, their godless political machines, all run on the fuel of consumed saints. They build their towers of Babel with bricks made from the dust of God's afflicted people.
And the second piece of evidence is that they "do not call upon Yahweh." These two things are directly connected. A man who does not pray to God will inevitably prey on his neighbor. If you are not speaking to God, you are not listening to God. And if you are not listening to God, you will not hear His commands to love your neighbor, to do justice, and to defend the weak. Instead, you will hear only the rumbling of your own appetites. Their refusal to pray is the clearest sign of their practical atheism. They are their own gods, and so they feel entitled to devour whatever, and whomever, they please.
The Sudden Panic Attack (v. 5)
But the scene shifts dramatically. The casual cannibal is suddenly struck with terror.
"There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation." (Psalm 14:5)
One moment they are feasting, wiping the crumbs of some poor saint's livelihood from their lips. The next, they are seized with "great dread." The Hebrew is emphatic. They feared a fear. This is not a mild anxiety. This is a full-blown, heart-pounding, cold-sweat panic attack. Why? What happened? The text tells us plainly: "For God is with the righteous generation."
The wicked operate under the delusion that they are alone in the world with their victims. They think God is a distant abstraction, or that He doesn't see, or that He doesn't care. They think the righteous are just an isolated, helpless minority. And then, suddenly, the curtain is pulled back for a moment. They get a glimpse of reality. They realize that the "afflicted" one they were mocking is not alone. He is standing next to an ally, and that ally is the sovereign Lord of the universe. They thought they were bullying a lonely orphan, and they suddenly realize they have been poking the King's son in the eye while the King was watching.
This is the terror that seizes ungodly men when God shows up. It happened to Pharaoh at the Red Sea. It happened to the Philistines before David. It will happen on the last day when the Son of Man returns with His mighty angels. And it happens in small ways throughout history whenever God decides to vindicate His people. The phrase "righteous generation" is a covenantal term. God's faithfulness is not just to isolated individuals; it is to His people, His covenant line, down through the generations. The wicked are at war not just with a few scattered believers, but with the entire covenant family of God, with God Himself at its head. And when that reality dawns on them, the only possible response is terror.
Mocking the Only Hope (v. 6)
This final verse shows us the precise nature of the wicked's contempt, and the glorious security of the believer.
"You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, But Yahweh is his refuge." (Psalm 14:6)
What is the "counsel of the afflicted"? It is their plan, their strategy, their hope. And what is that strategy? It is to trust in God. The afflicted man's counsel is to flee to the Lord. When he is in trouble, his plan is to pray. When he is cheated, his plan is to appeal to the ultimate Judge. When he is threatened, his plan is to hide in the shadow of the Almighty. This is what the wicked find so contemptible. They put this counsel "to shame."
They mock the believer's trust. "You're being persecuted? And your plan is to pray? What a fool. You're being oppressed? And you're going to trust in your invisible friend in the sky? How pathetic." They see this reliance on God as weakness, as foolishness, as a pitiable delusion. They shame the poor for not taking matters into their own hands, for not adopting the world's methods of power, manipulation, and violence.
But their mockery is aimed at the very source of the believer's strength. The verse ends with a great "But." You mock his plan, "But Yahweh is his refuge." You can laugh at his strategy all you want, but his strategy works. You can ridicule his shelter, but his shelter is a fortress of divine granite. The Lord Himself is his refuge. He is not trusting in a concept, or an idea, or a religious feeling. He is trusting in a Person, the living God. The wicked man's refuge is his money, or his political power, or his own cleverness. And all of these things can and will fail. But the man who makes Yahweh his refuge has a hiding place that cannot be breached, a fortress that cannot be scaled, a defender who cannot be defeated.
Conclusion: The Secure Refuge
The world is full of practical atheists, and their appetite for the people of God is insatiable. They will try to devour you economically, socially, and politically. They will mock your simple trust in God as a foolish and shameful thing. They will tell you that your only hope is to adopt their godless methods.
But this psalm reminds us of the outcome. Their feast will be interrupted by terror. Their confidence is a sham, a paper-thin bravado that will dissolve the moment God makes His presence known. They are the ones who are truly without hope and without a refuge.
We, on the other hand, are the "righteous generation." This is not a righteousness of our own making. It is the righteousness of Christ, given to us by faith. We are the generation that God is with. He is with us in our afflictions, He is with us when we are being devoured, and He is with us when our counsel is being shamed.
Therefore, what is our counsel? What is our strategy in a saint-eating world? It is precisely that which the world mocks. Our counsel is to flee to our refuge. Our plan is to trust in the Lord. When the workers of iniquity surround you, do not be afraid. They are picking a fight with the God who is with the righteous generation. Their casual meal is about to be interrupted by the sudden terror of the Lord. Let them have their bread. You have your refuge. And in the end, the refuge will stand, and those who eat their bloody bread will be choked by it.