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The Fool Says In His Heart

 For the director of music. Of David.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no  one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord. But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! (Psalm 14)

The second wisdom psalm begins with the same idea. Mind the company you keep. There are people who claim “There is no God.” They think they’re smarter than everyone throughout history who has believed there is at least one god. Granted, some atheists may actually believe there is simply sufficiently not enough evidence, but I suspect the larger percentage actually believe they know there isn’t. They just use the “not sufficient evidence” and “I simply lack faith” (which they tend to define in ways that have little to do with actual faith) as their victim card, so they don’t have to defend their claim.

Another favorite retort on their part is that whatever gaps there are in the fossil record (which constitutes lack of evidence) may not be taken as evidence of lack. It’s just that the evidence hasn’t been found yet. But, the lack of what they consider evidence for God (much of which would not be evidence of God), absolutely (to them) means evidence of lack. Logic not permitted on their premises.

 Quite often, they try to assert that their deeds are as good as or better than the deeds of “the faithful.” And they may be, but they’re looking at the wrong standard. It’s not because the either the atheist or the religionist is good, it’s that they’re both bad. As the passage continues, not only are the atheists corrupt, and their deeds are vile; but there is no one who does good. All have turned away. This psalm is at least a source of the first several chapters of the book of Romans, in which it is asserted that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

            The passage goes on to provide the only possible answer: God. Yesterday’s passage spoke about bad company corrupting good morals. Today’s passage tells us that even “good” company is bad company. The solution (as it was yesterday) is God. Spending time with Him, following His principles, treating Him and His creation with the respect they’re due and learning from them, and even enjoying Him – but above all, looking to Him for salvation

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