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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
Psalm 14. This is a community lament in which the people of God mourn the fact that humans in general do not seek after God and thus they treat God's people cruelly. It is almost identical to Psalm 53, which was probably an alternate version of the hymn prior to both of them being collected into the Psalter.
14:1-4 The Godless Devour God's People. These godless would be Gentiles ("the children of man," v. 2, as opposed to "my people," v. 4) who have not been given the light and "do not call upon the Lord" (v. 4). Some, however, suppose that v. 3 narrows the focus to those in Israel who have "turned aside," but the words themselves do not require this.
14:1 fool. There are three Hebrew words for fool, and all speak of moral orientation rather than intellectual ability. The term here denotes someone who stubbornly rejects wisdom; the word lies behind the name Nabal (see 1 Sam. 25:25). As in Ps. 10:4, there is no God expresses not philosophical atheism but the idea that God, if he exists, takes no interest in human affairs and will not call people to account for their deeds. The result of this denial is that they are corrupt and do abominable deeds, and thus none of them does good.
14:3 The word all in this verse refers to the Gentiles described in v. 2, and v. 4 reveals that they oppose God's people. Paul adapts the Greek of the Septuagint of vv. 1-3 in Rom. 3:10-12 as part of his argument that "all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin" (Rom. 3:9).
14:4 The person speaking here may be God, or it may simply be the pious Israelite; either could talk about "my people." To eat up my people is to consume their wealth and freedom, and possibly even their lives (cf. Mic. 3:1-3, where it is Israelite rulers who do this). call upon the Lord. That is, to rely on the God of the covenant for life and well-being (see Ps. 18:3, 6; 118:5).
