The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord? 

There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. 

We read this song and hear the psalmist saying, “You have to be stupid to not believe in God.”  We all believe in God, so we assume Psalm 14 is a song about how smart we are and how boneheaded atheists are and say, “Amen,” with buoyed confidence in our own brilliance because we are not godless atheists.  But, Psalm 14 seems to deal less with philosophical atheism and more with what we might call practical atheism, living as though God isn’t real.  What do you think in means to live as a practical atheist?  So many forces in our world would encourage us to make life about everything but seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness, but the psalmist reminds us that such a life is actually foolishness.  Living with no regard for God may seem to produce a carefree existence, but in the end is proven to be folly. 

The fruit of worldly, God-denying wisdom is the immorality, corruption, and injustice that so defines our world and easily creeps into our fellowship.  The struggles of this broken world can be so overwhelming and discouraging.  We live in the real world where God is the last thing on most peoples’ minds.  But this psalm ends with a note of worshipful longing for a new world, where the LORD will rally to the cause of the poor and deliver His people.  People may scoff at a desire to live a God-honoring life, but there is coming a day when God will set the record straight.  As we look toward that great day, let us live lives that are defined by a practical affirmation not just of God’s existence, but also of His rule and reign in our lives of faith and worship.