#692 Crawling Towards The Cross

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

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

there is none who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the Lord?

5 There they are in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.

6 You would shame the plans of the poor,

but the Lord is his refuge.

7 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. Psalm 14 ESV

In his heart - Listen, it is not just out loud, for some say, "there is a God" out loud, but in their heart  they say, "He is not aware of man, He is far off, and not concerned with our affairs." Some say there is a god, but not The God, to them their may be many gods, or the means by which they come to understand the world, their science or some man of science, is their demigod. For some it is the culmination of the intellect, as technology increases they think man to also evolve. Whether the polytheist, the Sunday Christian, monotheist, agnostic etc.., they are yet all atheist to the God that makes Himself known in Scripture, for He is the God that looks at the heart. If He reveals Himself one way, and men say, "not You then, not that God, not this way", then whatever they set about to have as god is yet an idol, even the declaration that there is no God. 

For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.…Romans 1: 21-23

None who does good - It is easy to see that if there is no God, there is no absolute high moral standard, the bar is not made from gold, but rather the substance of whims. It is not only those that deny God though; the Psalmist realizes that no one is of themselves righteous, even those who profess God still fall short. 

And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3: 22-24

Down from Heaven - Some prefer that God not interfere, as if because we can think and make words, they are to some great effect. It is His creation, so what is the clay to say to the potter? We beat our chest anyways, and rant on as fools, because the state of our heart is fixed upon affection towards things and an unrealistic view of ourselves. We think far too highly of ourselves, and so we are easily offended and yet think nothing of offending. As the world came together to build the tower of Babel, the triune Being, visits the world of men, and finding them in one place, He sees that none seek God, that they are together corrupt. Just as they were before the flood, violent and set upon worldliness. They don't call upon the Lord, they make idols, they build towers as a security, they defy God or try to define Him rather than taking Him at His own word. 

Babel

Who eat up My people - God's people seem to be at a disadvantage. Those whose hearts have been changed, come to say not only that "there is a God", but also show this in their deeds. The liar is not bound by truth or good reason. The thief does not respect that someone else owns what he wants. Where is justice for those, who yet struggle with temptation, but desire to do good? Shall they always be the brunt of it?  Check out these paragraphs from the late C.H. Spurgeon:

Spurgeon used this verse to consider the ways that Christians should stand strong though they are shamed and mocked by the workers of iniquity. “You young men in the great firms of London, you working men that work in the factories — you are sneered at. Let them sneer. If they can sneer you out of your religion, you have not got any worth having. Remember you can be laughed into hell, but you can never be laughed out of it.” (Spurgeon)

iii. “‘Oh! but they will point at you.’ Cannot you bear to be pointed at? ‘But they will chaff you.’ Chaff — let them chaff you. Can that hurt a man that is a man? If you are a molluscous creature that has no backbone, you may be afraid of jokes, and jeers, and jests; but if God has made you upright, stand upright and be a man.” (Spurgeon)