Please read Psalm 14 (7 verses)

God does not mince words. He is clear and honest with us about what He is like and what He expects. Those who are fools do not believe in Him and even go so far as to say there is no God. This is a position of desperation to get rid of all authority and the accountability that goes with it. It is a mindset of corruption and total moral failure. There is no hiding place from the Lord and all who think they can explain Him away are utterly foolish.

God looks at us as a race of beings and is disappointed at what He sees. We are all corrupt and there is no one who leads a pure and godly life in their natural state. All our works and thoughts are contaminated be the evil that dogs our psyche and we are all “workers of iniquity.” We do not call on the Lord even when we are afraid and see we are in danger and need, but try to find another source of comfort or else make up a “god” that suits us. We deal with the prospect of punishment by pretending that God is does not exist and we can do as we please.

Those who we perceive as being less than us we disparage and try to take advantage of for our own ends. We persuade people that they need what we have got and exploit them to prosper ourselves. Our motivations are purely selfish and our action self-seeking. The poor in spirit cry out under the oppression of the rich and influential.

This is not a pretty picture of humanity and goes against how we see ourselves. Our complaint is that God is being unfair and far too judgemental. We fail to admit our guilt before Him and therefore miss the salvation He offers to us. The psalmist longs for this salvation because He has faced His own deep iniquity and has humbled himself and found the Lord to be His refuge. He realises His lost state before God and accepts what God is saying about His moral position and confesses His enslavement by the false thinking of his mind. The writer longs for the coming Saviour of the world, a Saviour from heaven who will be able to deal with the corruption and free all His people from their sin.

He rejoices in the Lord because he is now free from the folly of not accepting what God says and has turned from his unbelief and finds rest and peace with God.