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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms XIV].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM XIV.</FONT>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
It does not appear upon what occasion this psalm was penned nor whether
upon any particular occasion. Some say David penned it when Saul
persecuted him; others, when Absalom rebelled against him. But they are
mere conjectures, which have not certainty enough to warrant us to
expound the psalm by them. The apostle, in quoting part of this psalm
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:10">Rom. iii. 10</A>,
&c.) to prove that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:9">ver. 9</A>)
and that all the world is guilty before God
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:19">ver. 19</A>),
leads us to understand it, in general, as a description of the
depravity of human nature, the sinfulness of the sin we are conceived
and born in, and the deplorable corruption of a great part of mankind,
even of the world that lies in wickedness,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:19">1 John v. 19</A>.
But as in those psalms which are designed to discover our remedy in
Christ there is commonly an allusion to David himself, yea, and some
passages that are to be understood primarily of him (as in
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:1-12,16:1-11,22:1-31">psalm ii., xvi,, xxii.</A>,
and others), so in this psalm, which is designed to discover our wound
by sin, there is an allusion to David's enemies and persecutors, and
other oppressors of good men at that time, to whom some passages have
an immediate reference. In all the psalms from the 3rd to this (except
the 8th) David had been complaining of those that hated and persecuted
him, insulted him and abused him; now here he traces all those bitter
streams to the fountain, the general corruption of nature, and sees
that not his enemies only, but all the children of men, were thus
corrupted. Here is,
I. A charge exhibited against a wicked world,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:1">ver. 1</A>.
II. The proof of the charge,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
III. A serious expostulation with sinners, especially with persecutors,
upon it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
IV. A believing prayer for the salvation of Israel and a joyful
expectation of it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:7">ver. 7</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Ps14_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps14_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps14_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Human Depravity.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<CENTER>
<P>To the chief musician. A psalm of David.</P>
</CENTER>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The fool hath
said in his heart, <I>There is</I> no God. They are corrupt, they have
done abominable works, <I>there is</I> none that doeth good.
&nbsp; 2 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to
see if there were any that did understand, <I>and</I> seek God.
&nbsp; 3 They are all gone aside, they are <I>all</I> together become
filthy: <I>there is</I> none that doeth good, no, not one.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
If we apply our hearts as Solomon did
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:25">Eccl. vii. 25</A>)
<I>to search out the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and
madness,</I> these verses will assist us in the search and will show us
that sin is exceedingly sinful. Sin is the disease of mankind, and it
appears here to be malignant and epidemic.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. See how malignant it is
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
in two things:--</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(1.) The contempt it puts upon the honour of God: for there is
something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin. <I>The fool
hath said in his heart, There is no God.</I> We are sometimes tempted
to think, "Surely there never was so much atheism and profaneness as
there is in our days;" but we see the former days were no better; even
in David's time there were those who had arrived at such a height of
impiety as to deny the very being of a God and the first and
self-evident principles of religion. Observe,
[1.] The sinner here described. He is one that <I>saith in his heart,
There is no God;</I> he is an atheist. "There is no <I>Elohim,</I> no
Judge or governor of the world, no providence presiding over the
affairs of men." They cannot doubt of the being of God, but will
question his dominion. He says this <I>in his heart;</I> it is not his
judgment, but his imagination. He cannot satisfy himself that there is
none, but he wishes there were none, and pleases himself with the fancy
that it is possible there may be none. He cannot be sure there is one,
and therefore he is willing to think there is none. He dares not speak
it out, lest he be confuted, and so undeceived, but he whispers it
secretly <I>in his heart,</I> for the silencing of the clamours of his
conscience and the emboldening of himself in his evil ways.
[2.] The character of this sinner. He is a fool; he is simple and
unwise, and this is an evidence of it; he is wicked and profane, and
this is the cause of it. Note, Atheistical thoughts are very foolish
wicked thoughts, and they are at the bottom of a great deal of the
wickedness that is in this world. The word of God is a <I>discerner of
these thoughts,</I> and puts a just brand on him that harbours them.
<I>Nabal is his name, and folly is with him;</I> for he thinks against
the clearest light, against his own knowledge and convictions, and the
common sentiments of all the wise and sober part of mankind. No man
will say, <I>There is no God</I> till he is so hardened in sin that it
has become his interest that there should be none to call him to an
account.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
(2.) The disgrace and debasement it puts upon the nature of man.
Sinners are corrupt, quite degenerated from what man was in his
innocent estate: <I>They have become filthy</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
putrid. All their faculties are so disordered that they have become
odious to their Maker and utterly incapable of answering the ends of
their creation. <I>They are corrupt</I> indeed; for,
[1.] They do no good, but are the unprofitable burdens of the earth;
they do God no service, bring him no honour, nor do themselves any real
kindness.
[2.] They do a great deal of hurt. <I>They have done abominable
works,</I> for such all sinful works are. Sin is an abomination to God;
it is that <I>abominable thing which he hates</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:4">Jer. xliv. 4</A>),
and, sooner or later, it will be so to the sinner; it will be <I>found
to be hateful</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:2">Ps. xxxvi. 2</A>),
an <I>abomination of desolation,</I> that is, making desolate,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:15">Matt. xxiv. 15</A>.
This follows upon their saying, <I>There is no God;</I> for those that
<I>profess they know God, but in works deny him, are abominable, and to
every good work reprobate,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+1:16">Tit. i. 16</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. See how epidemic this disease is; it has infected the whole race of
mankind. To prove this, God himself is here brought in for a witness,
and he is an eye-witness,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
Observe,
(1.) His enquiry: <I>The Lord looked down from heaven,</I> a place of
prospect, which commands this lower world; thence, with an all-seeing
eye, he took a view of all <I>the children of men,</I> and the question
was, <I>Whether there were any</I> among them <I>that did
understand</I> themselves aright, their duty and interests, and did
seek God and set him before them. He that made this search was not only
one that could find out a good man if he was to be found, though ever
so obscure, but one that would be glad to find out one, and would be
sure to take notice of him, as of Noah in the old world.
(2.) The result of this enquiry,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
Upon search, upon his search, it appeared, <I>They have all gone
aside,</I> the apostasy is universal, <I>there is none that doeth good,
no, not one,</I> till the free and mighty grace of God has wrought a
change. Whatever good is in any of the children of men, or is done by
them, it is not of themselves; it is God's work in them. When God had
made the world he looked upon his own work, and <I>all was very
good</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:31">Gen. i. 31</A>);
but, some time after, he looked upon man's work, and, behold, all was
very bad
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:5">Gen. vi. 5</A>),
every operation of the thought of man's heart was evil, only evil, and
that continually. They have gone aside from the right of their duty,
the way that leads to happiness, and have turned into the paths of the
destroyer.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In singing this let us lament the corruption of our own nature, and see
what need we have of the grace of God; and, since that which is born of
the flesh is flesh, let us not marvel that we are told we must be born
again.</P>
<A NAME="Ps14_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps14_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps14_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps14_7"> </A>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my
people <I>as</I> they eat bread, and call not upon the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
&nbsp; 5 There were they in great fear: for God <I>is</I> in the generation
of the righteous.
&nbsp; 6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I>
his refuge.
&nbsp; 7 Oh that the salvation of Israel <I>were come</I> out of Zion! when
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall
rejoice, <I>and</I> Israel shall be glad.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In these verses the psalmist endeavours,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. To convince sinners of the evil and danger of the way they are in,
how secure soever they are in that way. Three things he shows them,
which, it may be, they are not very willing to see--their wickedness,
their folly, and their danger, while they are apt to believe themselves
very wise, and good, and safe. See here,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. Their wickedness. This is described in four instances:--
(1.) They are themselves <I>workers of iniquity;</I> they design it,
they practise it, and take as much pleasure in it as ever any man did
in his business.
(2.) They <I>eat up God's people</I> with as much greediness <I>as they
eat bread,</I> such an innate and inveterate enmity they have to them,
and so heartily do they desire their ruin, because they really hate
God, whose people they are. It is meat and drink to persecutors to be
doing mischief; it is as agreeable to them as their necessary food.
They eat up God's people easily, daily, securely, without either check
of conscience when they do it or remorse of conscience when they have
done it; as Joseph's brethren <I>cast him into a pit</I> and then
<I>sat down to eat bread,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+37:24,25">Gen. xxxvii. 24, 25</A>.
See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+3:2,3">Mic. iii. 2, 3</A>.
(3.) They <I>call not upon the Lord.</I> Note, Those that care not for
God's people, for God's poor, care not for God himself, but live in
contempt of him. The reason why people run into all manner of
wickedness, even the worst, is because they do not call upon God for
his grace. What good can be expected from those that live without
prayer?
(4.) They <I>shame the counsel of the poor,</I> and upbraid them with
making God their refuge, as David's enemies upbraided him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+11:1">Ps. xi. 1</A>.
Note, Those are very wicked indeed, and have a great deal to answer
for, who not only shake off religion, and live without it themselves,
but say and do what they can to put others out of conceit with it that
are well-inclined--with the duties of it, as if they were mean,
melancholy, and unprofitable, and with the privileges of it, as if they
were insufficient to make a man safe and happy. Those that banter
religion and religious people will find, to their cost, it is ill
jesting with edged-tools and dangerous persecuting those that make God
their refuge. <I>Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made
strong.</I> He shows them,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. Their folly: <I>They have no knowledge;</I> this is obvious, for if
they had any knowledge of God, if they did rightly understand
themselves, and would but consider things as men, they would not be so
abusive and barbarous as they are to the people of God.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. Their danger
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
<I>There were they in great fear.</I> There, where they ate up God's
people, their own consciences condemned what they did, and filled them
with secret terrors; they sweetly sucked the blood of the saints, but
in their bowels it is turned, and become the gall of asps. Many
instances there have been of proud and cruel persecutors who have been
made like Pashur, <I>Magormissabibs--terrors to themselves</I> and all
about them. Those that will not fear God perhaps may be made to fear at
the shaking of a leaf.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. He endeavours to comfort the people of God,
1. With what they have. They have God's presence
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
He <I>is in the generation of the righteous.</I> They have his
protection
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
<I>The Lord is their refuge.</I> This is as much their security as it
is the terror of their enemies, who may jeer them for their confidence
in God, but cannot jeer them out of it. In the judgment-day it will add
to the terror and confusion of sinners to see God own the generation of
the righteous, which they have hated and bantered.
2. With what they hope for; and that is the <I>salvation of Israel,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
When David was driven out by Absalom and his rebellious accomplices, he
comforted himself with an assurance that god would in due time <I>turn
again his captivity,</I> to the joy of all his good subjects. But
surely this pleasing prospect looks further. He had, in the beginning
of the psalm, lamented the general corruption of mankind; and, in the
melancholy view of that, wishes for the salvation which should be
wrought out by the Redeemer, who was expected <I>co come to Zion,</I>
to <I>turn away ungodliness from Jacob,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:26">Rom. xi. 26</A>.
The world is bad; O that the Messiah would come and change its
character! There is a universal corruption; O for the times of
reformation! Those will be as joyful times as these are melancholy
ones. Then shall God <I>turn again the captivity of his people;</I> for
the Redeemer shall <I>ascend on high, and lead captivity captive,</I>
and Jacob shall then rejoice. The triumphs of Zion's King will be the
joys of Zion's children. The second coming of Christ, finally to
extinguish the dominion of sin and Satan, will be the completing of
this salvation, which is the hope, and will be the joy, of every
Israelite indeed. With the assurance of that we should, in singing
this, comfort ourselves and one another, with reference to the present
sins of sinners and sufferings of saints.</P>
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