TOTAL DEPRAVITY
Psalm 14: 1-7
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
In the Greek mythology there was a story of a certain philosopher who went in search of an honest man. Pictures and engravings depict him with his lantern searching through the darkness of his time. He failed in his quest because at bottom every man he came upon suffered from some pathetic tendency real or realized towards dishonesty. Articles and surveys in the last ten years certainly confirm the widespread lack of perfection in personal and corporate ethics. Well may we comprehend the dismay evident in our Fourteenth Psalm to which we turn today. We see in this Psalm that the heavy fact of wide-spread corruption in David's reign presses on the heart and mind of the psalmist.
We can see the sad picture of the times in which he lives in the first three verses. Then the Psalm rises to a vision of God's judgment in verses four to six and closes with a sigh for the coming of the Lord's judgment. Psalm Fourteen is a study in contrasts between a corrupt world and a righteous God who judges. What is the cause of that corruption? There in verse one David describes the fool. Now this fool is not only obstinate, this fool is perverse. And by the word perverse we mean "one who opposes what is morally right or logically reasonable".
One commentator supposes that this fool very probably is a practical sort who lives his life without considering God's claim upon his soul and his deeds. This fool is either too busy to consider those claims or worse, chooses not to be bothered by any such thoughts or demands because he thinks he sees no evidence of God's existence. Certainly, in our time you can get a great majority of the population to admit that there is a God. But, how many are willing to make any changes in their life to back up that admission.
There is corruption here, and the Psalmist indicates in the second verse that God is not blind. And what he sees is described in verse three. The sense here is that God is observing the whole of the human race. Dare we use this text as supportive of the doctrine of Total Depravity? All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. There is high tragedy here for the wicked, all the foolish who deny the existence, majesty and rule of our God and King.
Finally at long last, the God of heaven will rebuke those who refuse to believe. In the following verses there are several rebukes. First there is the rebuke of ignorance. Will evildoers never learn? Even Jesus marveled at unbelief in the New Covenant record. It is this ignorant lack of essential knowledge of the Holy that makes sin possible. The essential characteristic here is the person's attitude. And from attitude we move quickly on to the second, charge of positive sin, of the wicked devouring the rights and possessions of God's own people. How quickly we see in society the outcome of attitude.
At school there is a constant battle with attitude spilling over into unpleasant confrontations. One thing that we try to do is to have our belligerent young men remove their hats when they come into the building. This habit goes back to the middle ages when a code of chivalry was developed to civilize the knights of Europe. One of those habits insisted upon was that knights who came in peace would remove their war helm and carry it in their hands. To this day, soldiers and police who are armed wear their hats right into a building when they are on official business and possibly expecting trouble. This ancient habit once carried over into common usage when men habitually removed their hats to indicate that they came in peace and without an attitude. We must use this ancient habit of submission and respect to continue training the young in our time, if we are allowed. Attitude as David notes is simply a first step in moving forward to active sin against other humans.
Third, there is the negative charge to the foolish of not calling upon the Lord. Here is a comment upon the lives of many nominal atheists. Atheism is of course prayerless. How many people would fit this definition of atheism? Well does David speak of the troubles caused by those who ignore the Lord and then go on to live a life pleasing to themselves.
But what happens when God breaks through the cold cold heart that calls not upon him? Here the psalmist sets before us two groups of people. On one hand there is the panic-stricken and confused mass of sinners who are overwhelmed with dread when God becomes known. On the other hand there is the little flock of the righteous generation at peace in the midst of trouble because God is there with them. Certainly, the wicked can make life uneasy for the poor and needy, but there is promise and confidence in their taking refuge in the Lord.
With this thought we come to the prayer for salvation. This promised salvation to come from Zion. The Psalmist pins his hope on that future coming when the Lord will restore His own. It is because the Psalmist knows that God will deliver, that he is able to pray for that deliverance. We who know that Jesus will come again ought more often to pray for that coming within the precious will of the father. Yet we wait, like the Psalmist we live in similar times. We see the corruption and ungodly behavior of society. We may feel the same bondage felt by David here in this Psalm. By the end of the Psalm David dared to hope in a future time of salvation. An end even when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. While David does not know the name of his greater Son, like us he knew during the worst of times and even the best of times, we who are like him have a Lord who will restore us. Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. So may we all. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Kirkpatrick, A.F. |
The Book of Psalms. | |
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MacLaren, Alexander |
The Psalms. | |
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The Holy Bible, New International Version. International Bible Society (1973, 1978, 1984) | ||
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Psm 14a |
11 Sep 88 & 06 May 98 | |