Psalms 53:0 ¶ To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.
This psalm is basically a duplicate of Psalm 14. It was written by David for use by the chief Musician at the tabernacle, possibly using the tune of another popular song (from the Hebrew for Mahalath). A maschil is a poem that is meant to be instructive.
Psalms 53:1 ¶ The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
David doesn’t pull any punches; he is not worried about being politically correct. He is not worried about hurting anybody’s feelings. He is not worried about possible repercussions to himself. He boldly declares that anyone who denies the existence and authority of Almighty God is a fool. The Hebrew definition of this word is direct—“stupid, wicked, vile person.” My response—Amen!
Those who reject God are corrupt, seeking to destroy and ruin those that do believe in God. Their acts have been morally detestable. No one who denies God is capable of doing good—actions that align with God’s expectations and result in eternal benefit.
Frankly, this is the first time I have read this whole verse in proper context. Though the last clause mirrors the truth of Romans 3:12…
“…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
…and I have used it in corroboration of the sinfulness of all men, the context in this Psalm is in reference to those that claim there is no God. Why do they make such a claim despite all the evidence to the contrary? Because they do not want to submit to His authority.
Spurgeon: “He was a fool to think it. He was not fool enough, however, to say it except in his heart. Fools have grown more brazen-faced of late; for now, they not only say it in their heart, but they say with their tongues, ‘There is no God.’ Oh, no; I have made a mistake! They do not call them ‘fools’ now; they call them ‘philosophers.’ That, however, is often exactly the same thing.”
Guzik: “There are many powerful arguments for the existence of God; among them are these:
The Cosmological Argument: The existence of the universe means there must be a creator God.
The Teleological Argument: The existence of design in the universe means there must be a designer God.
The Anthropological Argument: The unique nature and character of humanity means there must be a relational God.
The Moral Argument: The existence of morality means there must be a governing God.”
Psalms 53:2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
The first time you read these verses, it would seem to be a contradiction of truth. There are many that seek to follow God in faith and obedience. I think the key to understanding is in the phrase “the children of men.” Once one chooses to place one’s faith in God, he/she is no longer just a child of men, he/she is born again as a child of God.
I remind myself that David was writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit and may not have fully grasped the truth of what he was saying. Maybe at the time he wrote this Psalm, he was overwhelmed with the wickedness that surrounded him.
Those who do not seek God and have no spiritual understanding always choose to ignore the truth of God’s word and follow the wisdom of this world as defined by the god of this world—Satan. It is he who has blinded them, causing them to deny the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:3–4 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Even so, the evidence of creation surrounds him, and the fool that denies the Creator is without excuse.
Romans 1:19–20 “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse….”
Psalms 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
All who reject God become more and more filthy, morally corrupt and more entrenched in the ways of wickedness. There is none that does what is good according to the truth as established by God and revealed in His word—not a single one. As our Creator, God is the only Being with the authority to define what is good.
Psalms 53:4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
In looking at the Hebrew for the word knowledge, it references “…to ascertain by seeing…comprehend…discern, discover…learn…understand.” David questions if such fools can ever learn to comprehend the truth about God. As long as they choose to yield to the deceit and lies of Satan, they will remain blind to what they should be able to see and will never be able to discern or understand that they are wrong. They will continue to attack and try to destroy those that call upon the LORD just as surely as they eat.
Psalms 53:5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
Eventually these evil people will find themselves in great fear before God as they stand in judgment before Him. They will be made to recognize that God takes care of His own.
How blessed we are to know that we are accounted righteous in Jesus!
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
No matter how prevalent were the wicked that surrounded him, David was confident that God takes care of his own.
Spurgeon: “’There were they in great fear, where no fear was.’ David sees the end of the ungodly, and the ultimate triumph of the spiritual seed. The rebellious march in fury against the gracious, but suddenly they are seized with a causeless panic. The once fearless boasters tremble like the leaves of the aspen, frightened at their own shadows. In this sentence and this verse, this Psalm differs much from the fourteenth. It is evidently expressive of a higher state of realisation in the poet, he emphasises the truth by stronger expressions. Without cause the wicked are alarmed. He who denies God is at bottom a coward….”
Psalms 53:6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
David is longing for the people of Israel as a whole to embrace God as their LORD. He seems to be making direct reference to the coming of the Messiah, “the salvation of Israel” that will come out of Zion. He knows that Messiah’s kingdom will be a time of great blessing, a time of rejoicing.
We know that David’s longing will one day become reality as recorded by so many of the prophets and apostles.
Isaiah 2:2–4 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Ezekiel 36:26–28 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Zechariah 14:9 “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.”
Matthew 25:31–34 “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….”
Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
Psalms 54:0 ¶ To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?
It is noted that this is another psalm of David sent to the chief Musician and designated to be played on a stringed instrument (from Hebrew for Neginoth). David wrote this prayer when he was on the run from Saul and hid in the wilderness of Ziph.
1 Samuel 23:14 “And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand…. Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?”
Psalms 54:1 ¶ Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.
It always strikes me that David is often very direct and bold when He talks to God in prayer because He so confident in his faith and, even more important, in God’s faithfulness. That is a comfort to this mom who often approaches the LORD the same way, especially on behalf of those I love.
David asks God to save him “by thy name.” God’s name is indicative of His power and authority over all He has created. Nothing is impossible for Him. He also asks God to judge him by His strength. The Hebrew for “judge” makes reference to a straight course. I think this is a plea for God’s direction and provision as He gives Him victory (from Hebrew for “strength”) over his enemy.
Psalms 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
David pleads with God to listen to his prayer. Elsewhere in the psalms, David states that he knows that God knows what we are going to say before we say it.
Psalms 139:4 “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.”
Frankly, this is one of the more interesting truths about prayer. There is nothing we can bring before God that He does not already know. He knows what’s in our hearts and understands all our thoughts—without us ever having to say a word.
1 Samuel 16:7 “for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
Psalms 139:2 “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
There is never a doubt that God hears the prayers of His people. It would seem that prayer is more for our benefit. It’s an opportunity for us to develop intimacy with our Father in heaven. A means by which He strengthens our faith.
Psalms 54:3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
In light of the information at the beginning of the psalm, I believe the strangers being referenced are the men of Ziph. Although they were men of Judah, they were strangers to David because instead of protecting a brother from the tribe of Judah, they were ready to betray him to gain influence with King Saul. They offered to deliver David into Saul’s hands.
Saul and his men would be the oppressors that sought to take David’s life. They were acting in defiance of and rebellion against their God, the God of Israel.
Guzik: “Today some who are outwardly counted among the people of God will act as strangers as they betray the Son of David to gain the favor of those allied with the king of this world, the Prince of the Power of the Air.”
Selah – an opportunity to meditate
Psalms 54:4 ¶ Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
David was confident that God would protect him. He was confident that the LORD would sustain those that were with him and helped to sustain and defend him. The prophet Samuel had told David that he would one day be king, so he knew that God would do all that was necessary to bring about His will, His promise.
I loved this comment from Spurgeon: “It is a great mercy to have some friends left us, but a greater mercy still to see the Lord among them, for like so many cyphers our friends stand for nothing till the Lord sets himself as a great unit in the front of them.”
Psalms 54:5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.
David knew that those that positioned themselves as his enemy were essentially positioning themselves as God’s enemies since they were in direct rebellion against His will. He asks that God destroy his enemies as necessary in keeping His promise and in faithfulness to His word.
Spurgeon: “Not in ferocious revenge is this spoken, but as an Amen to the sure sentence of the just Judge. Let the veracity of thy threatenings be placed beyond dispute, the decree is right and just, let it be fulfilled. It is not a private desire, but the solemn utterance of a military man, a grossly injured man, a public leader destined to be a monarch, and a man well trained in the school of Moses, whose law ordains eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.”
Psalms 54:6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.
Psalms 54:7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.
David closes his prayer with thanksgiving by declaring his desire to freely and willingly sacrifice to God and praise His name for His goodness. The final verse is a declaration of God’s deliverance.
Courson: “There are those who accuse us of having blind faith. Not so. Faith is not blind. In fact faith sees more. Faith sees the glory of the future in the gloom of the present.”