THURSDAY 15th
Psalm 53
NIV (v1) – ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.’
ESV (v1) – ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.’
If ever there was a psalm that is so apt for the day and generation in which we are living it is this one, notice it says, ‘the fool says in his heart’, he doesn’t necessarily speak it out, but by the very way mankind is behaving it is an expression of what is going on in the heart. There is no God, so who cares, as a result morality no longer matters, integrity is no longer important, if there is no God, then there are no consequences for our actions. We live as we like, and we do as we like. Obviously if we believe that there is no God, then we do not have to fear God.
But as I have said before, denying the existence of God does not mean he ceases to exist, saying there is no God does not mean he is not there, or make him vanish away, in fact to say there is no God is foolish, this is the message of this psalm.
If I were to point to a parallel kind of passage in the New Testament, I would go to Romans chapter 1 and verses 18-32, where it describes mankind living without any thought for God, Paul could so easily have been describing the generation in which we are living today.
The fool has no fear of God, because he doesn’t believe he exists, but sadly is it also possible that there are many who claim to believe in God and yet do not fear God, they too have moved away from that which is the moral framework that God has fitted into society, there are many things that a generation or so ago would have been considered as unacceptable behaviour and unhealthy actions for the child of God which today some no longer seem to bat an eyelid at, there has been an acceptance to go the same way as the world, and to follow suit, so much so that if you stand for so much of what is morally and Biblically right today you are considered to be a bigot – even within the so called Church! Somehow, we are no longer expected to believe that what God has ordained is the right way in which we should live our lives, modelled upon his word, his standard is what matters.
I said at the beginning, it is as if mankind thinks that there are no consequences for wrongful action or wrongful behaviour, and yet the principle is that we will reap that which we sow, and sometime in the future there will be a harvest of unrighteousness, in fact the harvest is already being reaped, but even more so there will be the day when all will have to stand before God and give an account, and that includes those who say there is no God, and those who claim to believe in God, but live as if he doesn’t exist, ‘And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’ (Hebrews 4:13) Sadly the one who says that there is no God, also thinks that the message of the Cross is foolishness, they fail to see that it is the power of God at work, working to bring redemption and salvation to all who will believe. For us who do believe may we be bold to continue to declare the message that the world is rejecting and spurning, so that the eyes of those who fail to see will be opened, that hearts that have become hardened will be softened, that before it is too late, many will yet come and respond, and believe the message of hope that we share. There is a way out of this mess that mankind has made for himself, and it is the way of the Cross, it is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.