PSALM 53 - NO ONE DOES GOOD

PSALM 53

This Psalm is identical to Psalm 14 except for a few words. It deals with those who deny God and the effects of that denial. It follows a psalm which dealt with the evil of one man and deals with the evil of all of those who do not obey God.

53:1

The fool denies God. In this context, the fool is one who denies that he\she is accountable to God. This person resists wisdom, which begins with the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:7)

The Hebrew word for fool is “nabal”. This was the name of the man who denied aid to David in 1 Samuel 25:25. He was rich, but harsh and badly behaved. When David’s men asked for food, Nabal refused and insulted David. David sent 400 armed men after him. Fortunately, Nabal’s wife, Abigail, intervened and convinced David not to act rashly. David blessed her for it. The Lord struck Nabal dead a few days later.

The result is that the fool is corrupt. I have a work friend who works with computer databases. If incorrect information is entered into one of his databases, it is corrupted, and the calculations or information the database produces will be incorrect.

Here the person has become corrupt because he denies there is a God to whom he is accountable. As a result, he is corrupt. His thinking and acting are corrupted so that he does bad things rather than good things.

The Psalmist says abominable iniquity. Iniquity is evil or wickedness. But this foolish person goes even further and commits abominable iniquity. Abominable means loathsome or despicable. The person who does not believe in a God that holds them accountable can commit evil acts that are abominable. Unfortunately, we see that when a lot of people are like this, the acts that were at one time considered evil are now considered acceptable and even good.

Paul dealt with this in Romans 1:18-32. He wrote about those who were given plenty of evidence of God’s eternal power and divine nature, but did not honor God. They became futile in their thinking and their hearts were darkened. In other words, the became corrupt as the Psalmist said.

In their futile thinking and darkened hearts, they committed evil acts of envy, murder, strife, and deceit. I am sure you have read or heard about an evil act being committed in the last week.

Of course, Romans 1 tells us they are accountable even if they ignore God. Romans 1:18 says the wrath of God is revealed. They will experience God’s wrath.


53:2-3

Verse 2 pictures God looking down from heaven to see if there are any who are wise and who seek him. The implied answer is that he does not see any, or at least not many. Isaiah 53:6 says “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - everyone - to his own way.

Paul quotes from the Septuagint version of verses 1 through 3 in Romans 3: 10-12 as he discussed the unrighteousness of men and women compared to the righteousness of God. Then, Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

When God, in the time of Noah, looked at the earth, he saw that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually”. (Genesis 6:5)

So we see that those who deny God and his standards become corrupt and commit evil acts. Not every one does horrible things, But all violate God’s standards and some do truly evil things.

53:4-5

The Psalmist applies these concepts to those who attack Israel. These Gentiles have no knowledge and do not call upon God. As a result, they attack God’s people. But when they do, they experience terror where there is none and God scatters them from Israel.

This reminds us of the time the king of Assyria surrounded Jerusalem to attack it. Hezekiah, the king, prayed for God to deliver Jerusalem. The angel of the Lord came and struck down the Assyrians. (2 Kings 19)

It also happened in Judges 7, when Gideon fought the Midianites and God caused them to turn on themselves.

53:6

The Psalmist prayed for salvation to come out of Zion. He was asking God to come out and restore the fortunes of Israel, so it could rejoice. This indicates there was some oppression from other countries from whom the Psalmist prayed for relief.

We do not know the time the Psalmist has in mind. But we know this: True salvation has now come out of Zion for Israel. It has come for the Gentiles, too, praise the Lord.

In fact, James, at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, declared that the coming of the Gentiles into the kingdom began the fulfillment of the promise of the restoration of Israel so that the remnant of mankind could come to the Lord. (Acts 15:16-17 citing Amos 9:11)

Further, at some point when the fullness of the Gentiles has come into the kingdom, there will be a turning of the Jews to Christ. Paul, in Romans 11:26, cites Isaiah 59:20, that the Deliverer will come from Zion to save the people of Israel.  

Salvation from sins and to eternal life comes only through Christ for both Jews and Gentiles for “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)