Who's A Fool?

Psalm 14

Atheists.  Those who do not believe in the existence of God, any God.  They differ from an agnostic, as an agnostic believes that nothing can be really known if there is a God or not.  Agnostics are unsure, and usually don’t care to pursue the matter at all. Many of us might know an atheist or two, and most of us have heard of some prominent and vocal atheists, either today or in the past, who would publicly debate any willing Christian, and who fought to rid any vestige of religion from the public eye.  I had an uncle who was an atheist, and who would laugh and ridicule to scorn those who followed a religious belief, particularly Christianity. In our Psalm for today, King David has some words to say about those who do not believe in God. Let’s see what the Word of God has to say.

Right from the first verse, the Word of God says that someone who does not believe in God is a fool (vs. 1).  The word comes from a Hebrew word meaning a stupid, wicked, and vile person. Holy Scripture says that someone who doesn’t believe in God is a fool.  The atheist is ignoring the vast evidence for His existence. A person just has to look around at all one sees in nature, and they have to believe in the existence of God!  He is also wicked because he is refusing to live by God’s truths.  Many countries have had some rather vocal atheists, both today and in the past, who have spoken out against belief in God.  To speak in direct defiance of God is utterly foolish. In the Bible, when the word “fool” is used, it is carrying a moral rather than an intellectual designation.  They are morally lacking, rather than someone who isn’t intellectually strong.  One whose actions and life is perverse is a wicked fool.

David goes on to state in his psalm that everyone has fallen away from God’s standards of righteousness, and that, even if one does believe in God, no one does good (vs. 1-3).  No one is sinless, is perfect before God. We all have sinned and fallen short of His holy standards. The Apostle Paul repeats these verses in his letter to the Romans, when he states that none are righteous, none who does good, that we are all sinners (Romans 3:10-12).  We all need God’s forgiveness. No one can stand before Him and boast of their goodness. No one is sinless and able to live up to God’s standards except Jesus. He died on the cross to pay our sin-penalty, and we must turn to Jesus for salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

As David progresses in the psalm he continues to describe those who do not believe in God and who make a lifestyle of sin.  There should be a clear distinction between those who worship God and those who don’t. Under King David, Israel followed God and prospered.  Later, the majority fell away. There was no distinction between them and the pagan, heathen nations. What about us? Is there a difference between our lives and those of unbelievers?  Ideally one should be able to tell who the true Christians are in a workplace, a neighborhood, at a party, etc.

When the unbelievers and atheists attack those who follow the true God, they are certainly being fools.  God is with His Blood-bought children (vs. 4- 7). Those who attack followers of Jesus are in reality also attacking God.  They may think that He doesn’t exist, but are in for a rude awakening!

We may think that, as followers of the Lord Jesus, we are not at all like the atheist.  Let’s see if that is correct. Have we, who have claimed Jesus as our Savior, become like an atheist by our practice?  We do so when we refuse to trust God when problems arise. We become like them when we rely on ourselves, rather than God in our daily life.  When a significant problem arises in our life many of us begin to worry and panic instead of taking the problem to Jesus, and leaving it there with Him to take care of.  When we do that we are acting as if we believe that God doesn’t exist.  When we try to take care of our problems ourselves, how are we different than the atheist who doesn’t believe in God?  Let us who have claimed Jesus as our Savior be sure that we aren’t acting like the atheist, the fool, by our actions in this way.