None Seek God
December 14, 2021

A. Starting point: Rev. 7:12

“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”

B. Praying from: PSALM 14

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.”

C. Praying Time:

14:1–7 Psalm 14, a wisdom poem, along with its nearly identical twin Ps. 53, contains profound deliberations on human depravity. David’s representative desire for deliverance (v. 7) provides the chorus to his two preceding dirges on depravity.
The Hebrew word for “fool” in this verse is nabal. This may ring a bell in your thinking, because there was a man by the name of Nabal who was married to a lovely woman by the name of Abigail. His story is told in 1 Samuel 25. His name certainly characterized him accurately. He acted a fool. The word nabal may be translated “simple, silly, simpleton, fool, or madman.”

I have a very intelligent friend who has been very successful in dealing with atheists. He was in a group of men one day when an atheist said, “I don’t believe there is a God. Man doesn’t have a soul, and when he dies, he dies like a dog.” This man went on raving like a madman. My friend waited until the group began to break up and then approached this man. He said, “I understand you said that you are an atheist.” Upon hearing these words the man launched into another tirade about his belief that there is no God. My friend said, “I would like to ask you a question. The Bible says, ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.’ The word fool means insane or mad. Either you were not sincere when you talked about God as you did and you were just talking for the benefit of the crowd, or you are a fool and a madman. I would like to know which one it is.” The man turned and walked away. Knowing what we do about the universe today, only a madman would say that there is no God. Man has found that the universe works more accurately than any clock or watch he has been able to make. And there is no watch running around that “just happened”—some watchmaker made it. The universe that is timed more accurately than a watch tells us that there is a universe-maker. The fool has said in his heart that there is no God, and now the fool begins to appear on the scene. We have already had a glimpse of him in Psalm 10:4, where we read, “God is not in all his thoughts.” A better translation of this is, “All of his thoughts are, ‘There is no God!’” He exhibits the very depth of human depravity.

There are many people with Ph.D.s teaching in our universities today. Many of them are atheists. I want to say this carefully—the lowest that a man can sink in human depravity is to be an atheist. That is what the Word of God says. If you do not believe there is a God, you are a madman; you are crazy. You do not have any real sense. Having a high I.Q. is not enough. I used to teach with a man who had a Ph.D., and he didn’t have sense enough to get out of the rain. I played golf with him one day when it began to rain. He looked at me and asked, “What shall we do?” He was really asking for information. What would any sensible person do when it starts pouring down rain? I said to him, “I think we had better get in out of the rain!” Even I knew that, but he didn’t seem to know. So, you see, a scholastic degree doesn’t prove a man’s intelligence! “They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” I believe you will find that most atheists are also great sinners. Gross immorality is generally one of their characteristics. A man who mixes with the college set told me, “It is amazing the number of Ph.D.s who claim to be atheists and who are living in gross immorality. And some of them actually live in filth—and I mean material, physical filth”
I. The Dirges on Depravity (14:1–6)
A. The First Dirge: In the Form of a Round, Addresses the Universality of Depravity (14:1–3)
B. The Second Dirge: In the Form of a Ballad, Addresses the Futility of Depravity (14:4–6)
II. The Chorus on Deliverance (14:7)
A. The Wish for It (14:7a)
B. The Worship Attending It (14:7b–c)
14:1 The fool. In the Bible, this designation carries moral rather than intellectual meaning (Is. 32:6).
14:1–3 The “alls” and “nones” of these lines make the indictments universally applicable. No wonder Paul included these indictments in Rom. 3:10–12. There is also a common scriptural association of doing with thinking.
14:4–6 The shift from third person affirmations about the wicked (vv. 4, 5) to the second person (v. 6a) intensifies this confrontation with divine judgment.
14:7 Zion. The place on earth where God was pleased to reveal His presence, protection, and power (cf. Pss. 3:4; 20:2; 128:5; 132:13; 134:3).

THE CORRUPTION OF THE WORLD
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good [Ps. 14:1].
The Hebrew word for “fool” in this verse is nabal. This may ring a bell in your thinking, because there was a man by the name of Nabal who was married to a lovely woman by the name of Abigail. His story is told in 1 Samuel 25. His name certainly characterized him accurately. He acted a fool. The word nabal may be translated “simple, silly, simpleton, fool, or madman.”

I have a very intelligent friend who has been very successful in dealing with atheists. He was in a group of men one day when an atheist said, “I don’t believe there is a God. Man doesn’t have a soul, and when he dies, he dies like a dog.” This man went on raving like a madman. My friend waited until the group began to break up and then approached this man. He said, “I understand you said that you are an atheist.” Upon hearing these words, the man launched into another tirade about his belief that there is no God. My friend said, “I would like to ask you a question. The Bible says, ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.’ The word fool means insane or mad. Either you were not sincere when you talked about God as you did and you were just talking for the benefit of the crowd, or you are a fool and a madman. I would like to know which one it is.” The man turned and walked away. Knowing what we do about the universe today, only a madman would say that there is no God. Man has found that the universe works more accurately than any clock or watch he has been able to make. And there is no watch running around that “just happened”—some watchmaker made it. The universe that is timed more accurately than a watch tells us that there is a universe-maker. The fool has said in his heart that there is no God, and now the fool begins to appear on the scene. We have already had a glimpse of him in Psalm 10:4, where we read, “God is not in all his thoughts.” A better translation of this is, “All of his thoughts are, ‘There is no God!’” He exhibits the very depth of human depravity.

There are many people with Ph.D.s teaching in our universities today. Many of them are atheists. I want to say this carefully—the lowest that a man can sink in human depravity is to be an atheist. That is what the Word of God says. If you do not believe there is a God, you are a madman; you are crazy. You do not have any real sense. Having a high I.Q. is not enough. I used to teach with a man who had a Ph.D., and he didn’t have sense enough to get out of the rain. I played golf with him one day when it began to rain. He looked at me and asked, “What shall we do?” He was really asking for information. What would any sensible person do when it starts pouring down rain? I said to him, “I think we had better get in out of the rain!” Even I knew that, but he didn’t seem to know. So, you see, a scholastic degree doesn’t prove a man’s intelligence! “They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” I believe you will find that most atheists are also great sinners. Gross immorality is generally one of their characteristics. A man who mixes with the college set told me, “It is amazing the number of Ph.D.s who claim to be atheists and who are living in gross immorality. And some of them actually live in filth—and I mean material, physical filth”
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God [Ps. 14:2].
And what did He find?
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one [Ps. 14:3].
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 3:12, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Paul is not only speaking about atheists; he is speaking about everyone. This is a picture of you and me, friend. I am not an atheist, and I don’t imagine you are, but we are sinners. We do not do good. The condition of man is corrupt, and the first three verses tell us the depths to which man can go.
ENMITY AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF GOD
They are not only against God, but they are against the people of God.
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge [Ps. 14:4–6].
There is a lot of pretense upon the part of rich politicians today. A college professor, who is a friend of mine and who is liberal in his theology and in his politics, calls these politicians “limousine liberals.” He said, “They don’t know anything about what the poor man goes through, and yet they pretend to be liberal.” They are like the rich man who always lets some crumbs fall off his table for the poor man to keep him satisfied (see Luke 16:20–21). I find no rich man today giving up his riches to help the poor. What little you and I accumulate he will tax to death; yet he somehow escapes taxation himself. God certainly knows human nature, does He not? This is a picture of them.
THE LONGING AND PRAYER FOR SALVATION
Now here is a note of triumph.
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad [Ps. 14:7].
This verse looks forward in anticipation to that glorious day when out of Zion will come salvation for Israel. In that day Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad. You cannot misunderstand this verse. Anyone who says that God does not have a future purpose for Israel is admitting that he doesn’t know very much about the Psalms. He may try to avoid what is so clearly stated in other passages of the Word, but how can he deny that the heart cry and the joy of the psalmist is in the future when God establishes a kingdom on earth with Israel at the center.

D. THE A-MEN OF ROMANS 16:20, 24, 27
16:20 “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. A-men.”