Psalm 14 is not a psalm that calls attention to itself, but still it is worth reading and mastering.
A psalm of David, it is written to the choirmaster for singing in temple worship.
Notice in the first part he focuses on people and the world around him.
There are those who say there is no God, and feel the liberty to do bad things. He calls mankind “corrupt” and the doer of “abominable deeds.” He goes on to say that evil doers gobble up people like they’re eating a piece of bread.
The psalm is a lamentation, and in today’s language we would call it singing the blues.
Charles H. Spurgeon wrote “All Christians are born with a tear in their eyes.” We mourn for our personal failings, we grieve for the shape the world is in, and we cry for the fate of those who reject God.
In the second part of the psalm, the poet turns his eyes from the world and people and catches a vision of who God is in all this. He writes God is with this generation. He is our “refuge.” And he is in the business of restoring broken people and fragmented cultures. Then in verse 7, he counsels the worshippers who sing this song to “rejoice and be glad.”
This is such a rare psalm that combines both lamentation and praise. It’s an odd mixture of sadness and joy, but this mixture represents God’s people at heir best. We weep, yet we’re hopeful. We cry and we sing, and it’s a beautiful noise.
-Stephen Crotts & Bryan Crotts
