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Well you can turn with me and your Bibles to Psalm 14. Psalm 14 as we continue to work our way through the Psalms of David. Psalm 14, I'll begin reading at verse 1, read through the psalm and then pray and then look at it in some detail. So beginning in verse 1, to the chief musician, a psalm of David, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good. No, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the Lord.

There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people. Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Our father, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for the glory displayed in the created order. We know God these effects lead us back to the cause, the God who in his wisdom and mercy and loving kindness and goodness created the world and all things in it. We bless you for your providence that you govern all your creatures and all their actions and we praise you for so great a salvation in and through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We pray now that you would guide us by the Holy Spirit as we consider Psalm 14. We pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins and anything that darkens our understanding and give us grace to receive your word. for the edification of the saints of Christ, for the salvation of those dead in their trespasses and sins, and ironically described so vividly and clearly in this particular psalm. And we ask this in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well, up to this point in Psalms 1 to 13, we have seen the introduction to the Psalter. Psalm 1 tells us about the holy, harmless, and undefiled man, which when we looked at that, I said, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 2 shows us His nature as the only begotten Son of the Father, who is the triumphant King, who has universal sovereignty and authority and power over all things. And then from Psalms 3 to Psalms 13, or Psalm 13, we see, as it were, the mind of Christ.

We see something going on in the earthly ministry of our Lord. Certainly David, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote these Psalms, but David functions typically. David points forward. He foreshadows the greater son of David, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.

And up to this point, the psalmist has identified the conduct of sinful man. He's told us about the sorts of evil things that they do. He's also described for us the words of evil men. Well here in Psalm 14 it seems that he comes to the heart of the matter and the heart of the matter is the corrupt heart of man, man in Adam, man in sin.

So essentially what I think Psalm 14 does is it furnishes for us the psalmist's doctrine or description of total depravity. As well, the apostle Paul picks up Psalm 14 when he's arguing, or showing forth rather, the doctrine of total depravity in the book of Romans. In Romans chapter 3, specifically at verse 12, he cites Psalm 14 verses 1 and 3. Paul writes, they have all turned aside, they have together become unprofitable, there is none who does good, no not one. So he reaches back to Psalm 14 to confirm the reality that all men everywhere are guilty before a thrice holy God. But it seems to me that Paul is doing more than just citing Psalm 14, but Paul in Romans 1-3 is structurally imitating what the psalmist does in Psalm 14. Psalm 14 starts first with the predication that man's heart is devoid of saving knowledge. Man's heart is corrupt.

Man's life, lived in the thought that there is no God, then fleshes itself out in godlessness. So Paul starts, Romans 118, he says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And then he starts with this denial of God. And it's the denial of God in verses 19 to 28 that leads to the ungodliness or conduct in verses 29 to 32.

So Paul's not just reaching back to Psalm 14 to make his case concerning total depravity, but in some ways he's amplifying. He's drawing out the implications. He's giving us a detailed explanation of what the psalmist tells us here in Psalm 14. And as we look at Psalm 14, I think it breaks down naturally into two parts. First, you've got the description of the ungodly in verses 1 to 3, and then secondly, the deliverance of the godly in verses 4 to 7. So first, notice with reference to the description of the ungodly, the corruption of man's heart in verse 1.

So the superscription tells us to the chief musician a psalm of David. So in public worship you sing about total depravity. In public worship you sing about the corruption of man. In public worship you talk about the problem because you always follow it up with the remedy.

And I would suggest that Psalm 14, being where it is just prior to Psalm 15, should cause us at the end of Psalm 14 to ask the question, how shall we find deliverance? How shall we find forgiveness? How shall we find mercy and how shall we enter into the very presence of God?

Well, Psalm 15 introduces that man. Psalm 15 revisits the holy, harmless, and undefiled man of Psalm 1 and presents him as that one alone that may dwell in the holy hill of God Most High. And by virtue of His redemptive work, by virtue of His blood atonement, which is going to be explained in Psalm 22, based on that received righteousness imputed to us from our Lord Jesus Christ, Psalm 15 provides the remedy for what Psalm 14 provides as the malady or the problem. But note with reference to the corruption of the heart, it begins, as I said, in terms of ungodliness. Verse 1, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

Now basically, what we have here is a description of a man ethically, not intellectually. It's not necessarily a sin to be dumb. It's not necessarily a sin to be ignorant. It's not necessarily a sin to not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier. When the psalmist uses fool, he's speaking in terms of ethics, he's speaking in terms of morals, he's speaking in terms of conduct, and he's speaking in terms of this independent, autonomous spirit that basically lives life as if there is no God.

And so basically what we have is a professed or rather practical atheism. Because I would submit, based on Romans chapter one, that there is no true atheism. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. But according to Paul in Romans chapter one, he can't escape the being of God. God the creator made manifest his presence in the creation. In other words, the effects lead us to the cause and should cause us to reflect upon His power, glory, majesty, and excellence, but we don't do that. Man in sin, man who has deluded himself and said in his own heart, there is no God. rather suppresses that, rather tries to live as if there is no God.

In fact, with reference to the impossibility of true atheism, Aquinas says, but can this really be said? To speak in the heart is to think, yet is it possible to conceive of God as not existing? Anselm says that no one is capable of doing this, and Damascene says the same, for the concept of God is naturally implanted in all of us. and that which is naturally conceived of, no one is able to conceive of as not existing.

In fact, if you drop down in our psalm, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God, verse 1. But notice in verse 5, there they are in great fear. Proverbs 28 tells us, the wicked flee when no one pursues. If there was a true atheist, there would be this absence of any accountability, this absence of any responsibility, this absence that autonomy, or rather, this thought that autonomy or independence is all that there is. The worst of the professing atheists, at some point and level in their hearts, they know God. They just worked very hard to suppress that truth and unrighteousness. So I would argue there's an impossibility of true atheism, but what the psalmist presents here, and he has up to this point in the Psalms thus far, is practical atheism, living as if there is no God.

Look back at Psalm 9. Psalm 9, verse 17, the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 10, 4, the wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. And then notice in verse 11, he has said in his heart, God has forgotten, he hides his face, he will never see. So the practical reality is, is that though there's an impossibility of a true atheism, practically man chooses that. Practically man says in his heart, there is no God.

It's a rejection of his sovereignty, it's a rejection of his authority, it's a rejection of his power, it's a rejection of his crown rights to tell you exactly what you're supposed to do. In fact, go back to Psalm 2. Notice the uprising of men against the Lord Most High and against His Christ.

Psalm 2.1, Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces, and cast away their cords from us.

Now if you're not a Christian here this morning, this is you. You may not do it as dramatically, you may not do it as defiantly, you may not do it as openly, but you do it. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. Again, impossible to be a true atheist based on Paul's writings, based on the entirety of the Word of God. But in terms of practical atheism, yeah, you do this every day. Whenever you violate the commandments, whenever you live according to your own thought, or according to your own desire, or according to your own sinful propensities, whenever you do that, you are betraying this practical atheism. The fool says in his heart, there is no God.

In fact, David Dixon comments and he makes this observation, every man, so long as he lies unrenewed and unreconciled unto God, howsoever wise or however great part soever he may seem to be to himself or the world, is nothing in effect but a madman running to his own destruction and losing his soul and eternal life when he seemeth most to gain the world, therefore he is called the fool.

Again, it's not ignorance in terms of he doesn't know quantum mechanics or quantum physics. It's not he's a fool because he doesn't know how to build a refrigerator. Ignorance, stupidity, dumbness aren't necessarily sinful. But the fool has said in his heart, there is no God or perhaps no God. He lives as if God doesn't matter. He lives as if God doesn't count.

In fact, in Paul's description in Romans chapter one of Gentile guilt, he says, and even as they did not like to retain the knowledge of God in their thoughts. Like, you gotta just think about this for a moment. You talk about a high-handed sin. All sin is an offense against the majesty of God. All sin is transgression against God. In fact, the Shorter Catechism says, what is sin? Sin is every lack of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God, either not doing what God commands or doing what God forbids. But consider the thought of not even wanting to retain the knowledge of God in our thoughts. Just push him out.

The God who made the world. The God who puts breath in your lungs. The God who puts food on your table. The God who keeps water flowing from your faucet. That God, sinners have said, there is none. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. So that's the operating assumption or axiomatic principle, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Now notice, the ungodliness of man, verse 1a, to the unrighteousness of man in verse 1b. What happens when the fool has said in his heart there is no God?

Well, society is empowered, society is liberated, society is freed from those shackles of religion that the barbarians before us used to... No. What happens when a people throw off God? Read Romans 1. Read Romans 1, 24, 26, 28, because man did not want to retain the knowledge of God in his mind, because man wanted to suppress the truth and unrighteousness. What's God's response? In 24, 26, and 28, God gave them over. to a reprobate or a debased mind. And it's from that vantage point that all ungodliness and all unrighteousness and all filth and wickedness that you see around us takes place.

Again, Paul's not making this up. I mean, experientially, he only had to look around at the Roman Empire. Experientially, he had to only look at his own heart. But biblically, he had to look at Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, which are parallel. So notice what the psalmist says.

After this axiomatic principle, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God or no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. The nature of the problem It's not just a few bad words over here or just a few bad things over here, but it's corruption through and through. It's total depravity. For those perhaps who are new to that term, it doesn't mean we're as bad as we can possibly be, but it means that every part of us is affected by sin. Our hearts, our souls, our minds, our strength, our bodies, everything is affected by sin. Again, we're not all Joseph Stalin, praise be to God. We're not all Mao Zedong, praise be to God. There is a sense where we can say, thank you Lord that I'm not like others. I'm glad I'm not Joseph Stalin. I'm glad I'm not Mao.

But we are corrupt through and through. Notice what the psalmist says. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. The consequences of this corruption is the outflow of sinful activity. So the fool is set in his heart, there is no God. Therefore, they are corrupt. And from that corruption they do abominable works, there is none who does good. So the abominable works flow from the inner corruption of man.

Again, I think that's the connection between Romans 1.18, which introduces The wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And then he deals with that ungodliness in verses 19 to 28. And then the unrighteousness in verses 29 to 32 carries that theme from Gentile guilt in Romans 1 to Jewish guilt in Romans 2. And then he summarizes in Romans chapter 3 verses 1 to 20. that therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in the sight of God, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. He says in 319 that all the world is guilty and liable for punishment before the just judge of all the earth. And it's in that section there in Romans chapter 3 where he pulls from Psalm 14 to make his case.

He says they have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no not one. So the fool says in his heart, there is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. Jesus says, those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.

We can make mistakes at times. and think that if we just take care of the symptoms, we'll solve the problem. Don't we think that way? If I stop being a sodomite, if I stop smoking crack, if I stop embezzling from my company, if I stop being a miserable cuss to my husband, or a miserable cuss to my wife, If I just fix the symptoms, then everything will be okay.

You see what the psalmist is telling us, what Jesus tells us, what Paul tells us, and what the Christian gospel is calculated to address? It's the heart of the man. The prophet says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it?

We need to deal with the heart. If you're here this morning and you're an unbeliever, and you have said in your heart, there is no God, and you are corrupt, and from that corruption flow these abominable works, yeah, stop doing the abominable works. I'm not going to tell you to continue to smoke crack and copulate with men if you're a man. Obviously, don't do those vicious, vile things, but you've got to deal with the heart. How do we deal with the heart? We call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

When we get to Psalm 15, brethren, if we've read Psalm 14 correctly, we have to conclude at Psalm 15, this doesn't describe any of the sons of Adam who were born by ordinary generation. It doesn't describe any of us who have achieved such status or ability or righteousness. Psalm 15 presents to us the active obedience of Jesus Christ. Psalm 22 portrays for us the reality of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The psalmist is saying the only help, the only hope for the fool who says in his heart there is no God, for the fool who's corrupt, for the fool who engages in abominable works, and which by the way is universal and comprehensive. Notice again at the end of verse one, there is none who does good. Wouldn't it be odd then in Psalm 15 for him to describe a class of people that do good? No, He's describing the one who's done good in Psalm 15.

And the gospel everywhere calls upon us to call upon Him that we may be forgiven of our sins through His bloodshed, vis-à-vis Psalm 22, and that we may receive with the hand of faith that God gives us the righteousness of Jesus Christ whereby we will be able to abide in God's tabernacle, and we may dwell in the holy hill of Yahweh, not based on our works, but based on the faith that God has given us, wherein we lay hold of Jesus and never let go.

So if you're an unbeliever here this morning, the symptoms are a problem, but the symptoms aren't the problem. Your heart is. You need to be born again. You need to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to receive the promised blessings of our Christ, who says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Or the Christ who says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will rest you. When Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.

Why is it the perverse man hears bad things in that verse? Well, that doesn't seem fair, that he's the only, he's the way. You're right, it's not fair. Fair is all of us cut off and sent to everlasting punishment for daring to defile ourselves before a holy God. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. Well that but through me carries within it A whole host of graciousness and mercy and kindness.

Again, Jesus stands up on that great day of the feast in John 7, and he says, if anyone thirsts, let him come. Matthew 11, those who are weary and heavy laden, never come to me. In some churches, that's the doctrine you get. You're heavy laden, you're burdened, you're overwhelmed with sin, and Jesus wants to keep you at arm's length. Jesus says, no, don't delude yourself, don't flatter yourself that you can actually come. Is that the Savior presented by Matthew in Matthew 11?

Whoever is weary and heavy laden, come. Sounds like the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 55. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come. You who don't have any money, come. What is it that we're supposed to fetch? We're supposed to fetch the milk of nourishment, the water of refreshment, the wine of exhilaration, all the blessings proffered by our blessed Christ in the gospel. So when it comes to this man, when it comes to this fool, it is a universal condition for all mankind. And under this description of the ungodly in verses one to three, we have the corruption of the heart in verse one, but then notice the examination by God in verses two and three.

The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one. Brethren, the psalmist is speaking by way of anthropomorphism or anthropopathism. God doesn't have to look down and try to discover information. Hey, I wonder what's going on in that earth that I created. Let me rub the sleep out of my eyes and go investigate. That's not it at all.

Gil says this must be understood consistent with the omniscience and omnipresence of God. It is an anthropopathy or a speaking after the manner of men and denotes the exact notice which God takes and distinct observation he makes and the perfect and accurate knowledge he has of men and their actions. So basically, in the manner of men, it underscores to us in verse two that the Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand who seek God. It underscores the gravity of the problem. The gravity of the problem. I think we can, get a little upset or a little offended or perhaps a little hurt.

I feel like I'm on the couch right now and I'm going to share my angst. But do you ever get this sense that, you know, you do things and they're not noticed or observed? And again, I'm probably outing myself here in a way that's bad, but I'm not trying to.

You know, perhaps you get something for your children. You get them a nice gift and they unwrap the gift and they put the gift to the side and they spend hours playing with the box. And you're kind of like, hang on, I could have just fetched that box out of a dumpster, you know.

At some scale or at some level, we kind of get the gravity of the situation that the living and true God makes this world and all things in it. The living and true God gives us breath, gives us life, gives us beating hearts, gives us joy. gives us steak, gives us mango, gives us avocado, gives us marriage, gives us friendship, gives us parenthood. By the way, happy Mother's Day to all you dear ladies. And yet, we act like he's not even there. Worse, we say in our hearts, no, God.

So I think the convention that the psalmist employs, having the Lord looking down, underscores the gravity of the situation. Are there any that are living consistently with all that I have given them and all that I have done for them? It also underscores the responsibility and accountability. See, interesting irony.

Verse one, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Verse two, that denied God is watching you deny him in your heart. That denied God is watching his world fill up with abominable works. That denied God is seeing this as a universal and comprehensive problem. with reference to the identification of the problem. Notice again in verse two, the Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand who seek God. That who seek God probably does perplex some people. You know, we Calvinists or Reformed people talk about total depravity, total inability, just how bad man really is. What do we hear?

Well, you know, my Aunt Bessie sought God. She didn't do it the way Christians do it. She didn't do it through Jesus, but there's a God consciousness out there. We're not religious, but we're spiritual, and we're seeking God. Yeah, gods that you've manufactured, gods that you have cast in your own image.

Who seeks the thrice holy God of absolute power and glory that has purpose to send sinners into everlasting fire? Brethren, I submit that sinners don't make up this God. Sinners don't seek out this God. Sinners don't want this God. So the true God is looking upon the sons of men that are corrupt in their hearts to see if any of them seek God. Luther makes the observation, he who has lost something he had, seeks it. But man had God in the beginning and lost him in paradise through disobedience. And he has become so ignorant that he does not seek God. Indeed, man, completely immersed in the flesh, wants and seeks sins and evils. That's the problem with mankind, isn't it?

There's a lot of cultural analysis, political analysis, religious analysis. What's the problems in the church? What are the problems in society? What are the problems in the home? What are the problems and how do we ameliorate those? It's just so simple. I guess you don't spend lots of money to field think tanks to come up with the three-letter word sin. Why are there problems in the home? Because we don't obey Paul in Ephesians 5. Why are there problems in society? Because we don't obey God. Why are there problems in churches? Because we don't obey God. It really isn't brain surgery to figure out or diagnose the problems in our age. I suspect more people know it, but it's the remedy that they don't want.

This whole idea of faith in Jesus and repentance unto life and actually reading the Bible and doing what God says. It's easier to default back to the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. So God examines, underscores the gravity, it underscores the responsibility and accountability, and notice what he turns up upon his examination according to verse three. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no not one. This apostasy from God. Again, look at the language. They have all turned aside.

What does that mean? It means from God. When you think about the rebellion or the mutiny of man in Psalm 2 verses 1 to 3, why do the nations rage? Why do the people plot a vain thing, against Yahweh and against his Christ? I honestly think the psalmist is asking the question in this way. Why? Why are you doing that? Because I think the answer, is that what God has purposed, what God has commanded, what God commands is that which is best for his creatures. Make sense?

You know, it's the fool who says in his heart there is no God that takes up a problem with the Ten Commandments. What do you mean I can't have other gods before you? What do you mean I can't copulate as religious worship before you? What do you mean I can't blaspheme? What do you mean I can't swear in your name? What do you mean I have to set apart an entire day for the worship of God? What do you mean I can't be insubordinate? What do you mean I can't murder? What do you mean I can't commit adultery? What do you mean I can't steal? What do you mean I can't bear false witness? And what do you mean I can't come? Do you see how absurd that sounds? Which is the pathway of blessing?

Do you raise your kids and when they're conscientiously able to maintain thought beyond, you know, crying because they're in a dirty diaper, you say, now go out and do everything that jeopardizes your life. I want you to run with scissors. I want you to pick up pill bottles and just ingest them. I want you to run out and play in the traffic, son or daughter."

We would never do that. Why? Because at some level, we have their best interests in our hearts. And we know that not running with scissors, not picking up random pill bottles and swallowing them, and certainly not playing in traffic are conducive to their overall development and betterment.

So wouldn't it be odd to have somebody visit and say, I can't believe you don't tell your kids to run with scissors. I can't believe you don't tell them to ingest poison. What's the matter with you? Do we not see the parallel? The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Why?

Because God says, be faithful to God. Because God says, keep the day holy. Because God says, be subordinate in your horizontal relationships. Because God says, don't murder each other. God says, maintain the sanctity of your marriage bed. If you're faithless in that most foundational covenant, we're to trust you in other fields or spheres of life. You mean you don't want me to steal? No, the government already does a whoppingly good job at that. You go ahead and refrain or restrain yourself. You don't want me to bear fault?

Do you see? It's absurd. The fool has said in his heart there is no God so that the fool can pursue the kind of life that he or she wants without the thought of God because they don't even like to retain the knowledge of God in their thoughts. You see?

Now notice, there's a turn now from verses 4 to 7. We still have wicked people in verses 4 to 6, but I think the overarching emphasis in verses 4 to 7 is on the deliverance of the godly. You've got the promise of deliverance in verses 4 to 6, and then you've got the longing for deliverance in verse 7. But note the ignorance of the ungodly. We're sure picking on the ungodly today.

Of course, David, under inspiration, and Paul, under inspiration, does the same thing. And, you know, to be quite candid, all of us are Psalm 14 men and women. Don't look at me and say, oh, Jim Butler got to a point in his life where he became wise. He flipped on the light switch. Oh yeah, I guess there is a God, and I'm gonna serve him, and I'm gonna glorify him forever. No, it's conversion.

Born again, regeneration, something from without happens to us within. God takes the old stony heart, replaces it with a fleshly heart, grants the graces of faith and repentance so that we see Jesus now not just as the leader of a religion, not just as an ethically good man, but as the one in whom there is salvation, the one in whom there is forgiveness, the one in whom there is a righteousness by which we can hold on to Him and stand in the holy hill of Zion. It's Christ who saves and the psalmist underscores that by showing the depravity of man's heart and the only hope comes from without. It comes from the very God that the God-hater is denying. So notice the ignorance in verse 4.

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the Lord? They eat up my people. David certainly had his people, but this is better understood as Jesus, the true David, the anti-typical David, the new covenant David, David's greater son and David's Lord. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge who eat up my people as they eat bread? Notice again, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. corrupt heart, abominable works. What's one of those abominable works?

The persecution of the upright, the persecution of the righteous, the persecution of the godly. Jesus says this in John 15, 18 to John 16, 4, if they hated me, they're going to hate you. Time's going to come when they'll put you out of the synagogue. Time's going to come when they're going to kill you, thinking they do service unto God.

So when we see here in verse four, have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call on the Lord. Their practical atheism leads to the persecution of the people of God. And all the while they, the persecutors, do not call on the Lord.

You see, Paul understood something of this as well. Paul was enraged or outraged against the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the end of Acts chapter seven when godly Stephen is stoned to death? You know what Paul was doing, Saul of Tarsus? He was guarding the outward garments or the outer garments of those engaged in stoning holy Stephen. Why? Probably because it was hot and you build up a sweat throwing big rocks at somebody's head to bash it in. or freedom of movement, take the outer garment off, so I got a good clean shot at Stephen's head. Who's guarding the garments?

Saul. Interestingly, Saul consented to this whole thing. Same word Paul uses in Romans chapter one at verse 32 to underscore that the wicked not only do their own wickedness, but they consent to the wickedness of their fellows. The Apostle Paul understood this.

He was a persecutor of the church, all the while not calling upon the name of the Lord. Until that blessed day on the way, on the road to Damascus, Jesus comes. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Jesus saves him, Jesus teaches him, Jesus sorts him out, Jesus sets him on the proper path. So here, the ignorance of the ungodly, all the workers of iniquity know knowledge, or have they no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the Lord. Notice, there they are in great fear.

Again, at some level, even the most perverse sinner, the most ungodly man, the most wicked out there, at some place, at some point, at some level, as hard as he has tried and as successful as he may have been at obliterating the thought of God in his life, Scripture tells us he can't fully live that way. He cannot deny that completely. Again, Romans 1, 19-21.

For even though he knows God, he doesn't glorify God as God, nor is his heart thankful. That's why he goes out then to manufacture gods that are more akin to his liking. He makes images of corruptible things. It's not that he's irreligious or anti-religious or no religious. He just doesn't want the true religion. It's the interesting thing about Romans chapter 1. It's the true God they're denying. It's the true God revealed in the created order that they're denying.

But back to verse 5. Notice the vindication of the godly. The Lord is with His people, verse 5. There they are in great fear, the sinner, for God is with the generation of the righteous. At some level, the sinner understands that. And then in verse 6, you shame the counsel of the poor, the ungodly, but the Lord is his refuge.

And again, at this point, if you've understood the implications of Psalm 14 and its comprehensive and universal scope, you might start to scratch your melon and say, wait a minute, Where did the my people come from, verse 4? Where did this generation of the righteous come from in verse 5? The elect of God, redeemed by Christ, justified freely by His grace. The blessed recipients of the victory of that seed of the woman that would crush the serpent. That's who they are. They're the ones in Psalm 15 who hold on by faith to the one man who can abide in the tabernacle of God, who dwells in the holy hill of Yahweh. The description in Psalm 15 is not, this is what you ought to aim for.

This is what is true of the Lord Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry. According to His human nature, He does everything that the Father laid upon Him. He does everything in terms of the cross work. He does everything in terms of satisfying divine justice. so that when sinners, by grace, believe on Him, we're forgiven, cleansed in His blood, and we receive that righteousness by which we can now ascend into the holy hill of Zion. It is a blessed reality that God Most High saves His people through Jesus Christ the Lord.

And when it says you shame the counsel of the poor, verse 6, but the Lord is His refuge, I don't think it means the counsel of the poor financially, economically. I think it's the blessed are the poor in spirit, those whom God humbles, those who in time God raises up, those whom God gives the graces of faith and repentance. And then the psalm ends on this longing for deliverance. Notice in verse 7, O that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion, when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. So the salvation of Israel from out of Zion.

Interestingly, so Paul not only makes lots of use of Psalm 14 in his direct appeal in Romans 3, I'd argue structurally in the ungodliness and unrighteousness motif that is set forth there in Romans chapter 1, but in Romans 11. He's dealing with the question of ethnic Jews and the relationship to Gentiles and the salvation of God upon these people. Sorry, Romans 11, 25 to 27. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

So it's Isaiah 59, 20. And what we see here in Psalm 14, in the writing of the Psalm by David, he is thinking in terms of this longing of the salvation of Zion coming from the presence of Yahweh. What is in his mind is the first advent of our Lord. It is the first coming of Jesus Christ, the mission of the Son. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now for us, brethren, Psalm 147 is just as much a reality. We look forward to His second coming. We look forward to that full manifestation. We look forward to that glory come down from heaven to fill our soul.

The petition in the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come, Brethren, that is a two-fold referent. The kingdom of grace now and the proclamation of the truth such that God saves sinners each and every Lord's Day or whenever they read the Bible. but the kingdom of glory. Don't we long for that? Don't we want that?

Aren't we earnestly expecting and hoping for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes in the glory of his father with all of his holy angels, taking vengeance on them who know not God and on those who do not obey the gospel, when he comes to grab his bride and bring them up so that we'll always be in the presence of the Lord?

You see, the psalm rehearses the wickedness of man. The psalm rehearses the psalmist's doctrine of depravity. It shows that there is a righteous group, a generation of the righteous. How? By the grace of God. And the psalmist ends with this blessed saying, Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people. Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. In other words, don't let the doctrine of total depravity depress you. Don't make it put you on the sidelines. See, some have concluded that.

If verses 1 to 3 are true, then why would I go and evangelize? Why would I go tell sinners about their need for Jesus? Well, there's a lot of ways to answer that. The first and most basic is because God says so. I don't know why that's not a good answer. Well, why should I evangelize if man's totally depraved and God's absolutely sovereign? Because the absolutely sovereign God has told you to go evangelize. That's it. Right? Well, I've got to have all the philosophical eyes and dotted and all the philosophical teeth crossed before I can go witness to anybody. Go preach the gospel to every creature.

For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through what? Through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. You see what the psalmist is saying? Total depravity does not inhibit, restrict, or sideline evangelism. But total depravity sets the stage, the context for that evangelism. The salvation of Zion comes down by God in the first advent in the incarnation and mission of the sun. It's coming again in glory in terms of the manifestation of the kingdom of God.

In this interim period, we ought to be Psalm 14, 7 type people, understanding the context to which we minister in verses 1 to 3, but knowing as well and good that in verses 4 to 6, God is with His generation of the righteous. God is a refuge to His people. Psalm 14, as much of a downer psalm as it might start off to be, is a psalm of rejoicing, a psalm of gladness, and a psalm worthy and fit to be sung in the public worship of our blessed God. We see His doctrine of depravity. We see as well His doctrine of divine grace.

The fact that God has His elect, verse 4, who eat up my people. The fact that God is with His people, verse 5, they're the wicked, they're they, the wicked, are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. Don't miss the connection. Verse 4, the ungodly are busy eating us up. The ungodly are seeking to oppress. The ungodly are seeking to persecute. The ungodly are seeking to destroy.

But what does the psalmist tell us? God is with the generation of the righteous. Not just in the full manifestation of the glory of the kingdom to come, but right now while the wicked are trying to eat you up. Isn't that encouraging? I got all these pesky people trying to eat me up, trying to persecute me, trying to oppress me. What do I do, throw up my hands and say, forget it all?

No, you remember that God is present with the generation of the righteous. And notice that the wicked, you shame the counsel of the poor. You mock them. You contend them. You despise and disdain them. If you exceed political power, you try to crush them.

What happens in the midst of it? The Lord is his refuge. See, the psalmist sets forth to us the blessed provision, protection, and stability, and comfort that we can have in God, even when we're surrounded by a bunch of morons that say in their heart, there is no God. and therefore are corrupt and engage in contemptible, abominable deeds, oftentimes including the eating up of the very people of God Almighty. I would suggest that the Psalmist's practice of finding comfort in God is the comfort of God in the midst of a sin-cursed world. The comfort of God in His determination to judge the wicked. If you take Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, you will notice it's exactly the same Psalm. except this verse in Psalm 53 verses 4 and 5. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge. We see that in verse 4 of our psalm. Who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon God. There they are in great fear where no fear was. So same sort of a situation and then Psalm 53 adds this.

For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame because God has despised them. Bit of a graphic underscoring of the judgment of God Almighty to those described in verses one to three who do not repent and who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame because God has despised them.

I suggest the psalmist finds comfort in the reality that Christ is coming. verse 7, and the comfort of God in election, justification, sanctification and glorification, and the fact that Psalm 14 leads us inevitably to this ascended hill of God's Zion, and the man who goes there, and the man who is capable of taking others with him. even the man introduced in Psalm 1, the holy, harmless, and undefiled Christ.

I just want to end where we began, with a direct appeal to those who are not believers. The problem that you have, as I said, you've got a lot of symptoms, a lot of issues. There's no shortage of sin in sinners. Doesn't Solomon say this? Behold, I have found this, that God made man upright, but they've sought out what? A sin here or there?

No, many devices, many schemes. They busy themselves. We're going to see it in the Psalms. What do the wicked do when they're laying in bed? They're not counting sheep, brethren. They're not doing what some of us do. I better get to sleep now. If I do, I get five hours. You know, you kind of convince yourself you got to go to sleep, which only makes going to sleep that much. That's not what the wicked do. They devise iniquity on their beds. How am I going to sin tomorrow? How am I going to sin when I wake up? What new things does the day bring as a fool who says in his heart, there is no God? So there are a whole host of sins, the abominable works.

And again, they're unique to persons. My devices might not be your devices. Your devices might not be my devices. But devices we have. Sins we have. Symptoms we have. Particular transgressions of the law we have. The problem is the heart. The problem is the corruption. The problem is is that you can't fix it with a bit of behavioral modification.

The Christian gospel isn't stop doing this, start doing this, and then you will be okay. No. The Christian gospel is look unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and you will have everlasting life. Well, that seems so simple. It is simple. But you know what it does? It challenges you at that basic heart level where you like to pretend there is no God so that you can do whatever it is that you want to do.

So don't deal with the symptoms. Again, I'm never going to tell a sodomite to stop being a sodomite, or to not stop being a sodomite, or to stop, whatever. Stop doing sin. That's not going to save. That's not going to fix. That's not going to render you fit for heaven. There's a lot of people out there that stop a lot of bad behaviors, but that doesn't mean they're going to heaven. we must look unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your punishment is assumed in verses 4 to 6. The Lord God is going to bring you down eventually, and I would suggest the remedy for you is implied in verses 4 to 6. Notice the end of verse 4, and do not call on the Lord. What is that but an implication that you should call upon the Lord? I do have the heart described in verses 1 to 3. I do have the problems. I see the symptoms. I understand it goes deeper than that. So what's my hope? What's my help? What's my release? What's my comfort? What's my only possibility? It's to call upon the name of the Lord. It's to look unto Him and live. It's to stop engaging in the symptomatic display of your wickedness and flee to the refuge which is Jesus Christ our Lord.

And I would suggest the psalmist starts his book, the entirety of the Psalms of David. at chapter 2 verse 12 with the gospel remedy that you desperately need to hear always. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. That is a sworn affirmation from the God of heaven and earth that blessed are all those who put their trust in Christ.

Don't continue down the path of lawlessness. Don't continue to be the fool described here. Notice that Psalm 14 isn't, hey guys, I wanna talk about this alternate lifestyle that really is cool in its own way. No, this is the way of folly. This is the way of madness. This is the way of damnation. The hope that you need is in the God that you're presently denying. And know that if you call upon him, He will deliver. We have tried him and proven him to be faithful. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the clarity of the psalmist, and we thank you for the apostle Paul and his incorporation of this psalm in his doctrine of depravity. We know, God, that you have saved us by grace. We know, as we sang in Psalm 103, that you have removed our iniquities as far as the east is from the west. And certainly, this is so glorious, and we know that there is hope for sinners in the Christian gospel.

We pray that your spirit would be at work, that you would convict sinners here and show them that Christ alone is able to save. Bless your word as it goes out throughout the world. We pray that it would not return unto you void, but it would accomplish the purpose for which you sent it.

And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. will let us stand and sing the Gloria Patri 572. We'll stand and praise our triune God together. This now and ever shall be world without end. Hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Amen.