The Saturday devotion focuses on a part of a psalm – a verse, a phrase, even a single word. We pray that it is a blessing to you.
Psalm 14
v1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
I was jolted when it hit me that the opening verse of Psalm 14 isn’t talking about today. No, there’s nothing new under the sun, and that goes for the lack of belief in God as well.
Contra the current legend that science came along in recent centuries – perhaps with Galileo or Darwin – and then atheism was invented, the psalm says that even back then there were those who said in their hearts, “There is no God.”
And the psalm is harsh in its assessment: One who says there is no God is termed a fool. They are corrupt and do bad deeds rather than good. And their descendents are plentiful today. I think that when a critical mass of people say “there is no God,” inevitably many also say “there is no point” and “there are no rules.”
And yeah, it’s old news. Those who think that denying God is radical and innovative just show their own ignorance of history. As verse 5 asks, “Have they no knowledge?”
It’s often comforting when we’re going through trials to meet others who have gone through the same thing yet have survived, often thrived, with the Lord’s blessing. This psalm reaches out from another age with that type of comfort. Back then, the Lord looked “down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God,” (v2) and found none. Yet “God is with the generation of the righteous.” (v5)
The psalm can speak of the Lord restoring the fortunes of his people as just a matter of time, and pray, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” (v7)
It did. For Israel and for all who call on the Lord Jesus to be saved. For now and for all generations.
Grace, like history, repeats itself.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Very comforting