FRIDAY 22nd
Psalm 14
NIV (v1) – ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.’
ESV (v1) – ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.’
Who is the fool? The psalmist answers that it is the one who says, ‘there is no God’. He repeats the same in a later psalm, Psalm 53.
Sadly it seems today that the majority of men and women are rushing through life without giving a thought for God, they rush on without any concern for eternity, they either do not believe he exists, or if he does they do not care.
Over the Christmas period there was a particular ‘quiz’ show on, it was a ‘Christmas special’ the contestants who had to answer questions on specific subjects were celebrities, the specific subjects were also represented by a celebrity guest. What struck me was that one of the questions that was being avoided being answered the most was a question based on the nativity. A ‘Christmas’ show, yet the actual ‘Christmas’ question was being avoided because of the real risk of not knowing the answer, because although folk want to celebrate Christmas they have no concern for what it really is all about! That is how ignorant the world is concerning the things of God, either because they do not believe these things or have no time for them. God no longer matters. In the quiz it seemed the real meaning of Christmas was not anywhere near the top of the list of the contestant’s priority therefore they were unlikely to know the answer.
But God does matter! And verse 2 continues ‘The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.’
Ignoring God will not make him go away, rejecting God does not mean he doesn’t matter and choosing to say that he does not exist does not stop him from existing, and the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter one that men and women will be without excuse because God has made himself known in so many ways. For example, verses 18-20. ‘For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.’ The Hebrew writer also reminds us that God has made himself known in many ways and through different eras, but more importantly he has made himself known through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 1:1-2) The message of the cross is foolishness to those who do not believe but to us who are being saved it is the power of God, for in Christ, God has made himself known and in Christ, God is reconciling the world to himself. The cross and the resurrection are historical facts therefore in the words of Romans 1:20, ‘men (and women) are without excuse’.
Taking verse 2 again ‘God looked down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God’, Genesis 6 tells us that God looked and he saw the wickedness of man was great in all the earth and that every thought and intention of his heart was only evil continually and as he looked he saw just one, a man called Noah who found favour in the eyes of the LORD, for Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. What God saw way back then is so similar to the day in which we are living in, with the quiz show that I have referred to, while watching it my hearts was grieved in that it reminded me that wickedness has become the norm today, and righteousness no longer seems to matter, but God is looking, God sees, and he will hold man accountable for his actions and deeds, but as he looks he still sees a remnant, not just one man called Noah, but all those who have been washed in his precious blood, men and woman who he sees as righteous not because of anything we have done but on account of what he has done on our behalf.
‘The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’’ our prayer needs to be that before the day of grace closes, many will yet come to a knowledge of the truth, that Jesus is who he really said he was, the Son of God, born to be the Saviour, the one who is the only way to the true and living God, the God to whom one day we will have to stand in front of and to give an account of ourselves.
(As an aside I wonder how many watched the same quiz I have mentioned and how many knew the right answer to the nativity question?)