17 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 14 To the chief Musician, [a Psalm] of David. The argument of this psalm, according to Theodoret, is Sennacherib's invasion of Judea, when he sent Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, with menaces and curses; upon which Hezekiah implored divine help, and obtained it, and the Assyrian army was destroyed by an angel; of all which he thinks...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The fool hath said in his heart,.... This is to be understood not of a single individual person, as Nabal, which is the word here used; nor of some Gentile king, as Sennacherib, or Rabshakeh his general, as Theodoret; nor of Nebuchadnezzar, nor of Titus, as some Jewish writers (y) interpret it, making one to be here intended, and the other in the...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
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...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. 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;...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
They have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. David represents God looking from the battlements of heaven upon our fallen humanity; and at the time when he looked, he could see none that understood him, or sought...
Spurgeon - Treasury of David - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ver. 1. The fool. The Atheist is the fool preeminently, and a fool universally. He would not deny God if he were not a fool by nature, and having denied God it is no marvel that he becomes a fool in practice. Sin is always folly, and as it is the height of sin to attack the very existence of the Most High, so it is also the greatest imaginable...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men,.... As he did when all flesh had corrupted its way, and before he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, Genesis 6:12. This is said in direct opposition to the atheistic thoughts and reasonings of wicked men, in Psalms 14:1. There is a God, and he takes notice of the children of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They are all gone aside,.... As bankrupts, having run out their whole stock, and into debt, and have nothing to pay, nor make composition with, and are obliged to abscond, as Adam, Genesis 3:8. The words in Psalms 53:3 are, "everyone of them is gone back"; from God; have revolted from him, and turned their backs upon him, and have gone back from...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. “That was in old Testament times,” says one. If you turn to the Epistle to the Romans, you will find that Paul quotes it as being true in his day. It is always true, and it always will be true, apart from the grace of God: “There is none that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?.... Of the being of God, of the nature of sin, and of the punishment due unto it? This question is put either by way of admiration, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra observe; the psalmist, or rather God speaking after the manner of men, wondering that there should be such ignorance and stupidity among men, as...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Are they all so foolish? Psa_14:4. Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. They think nothing of God’s people. They could swallow them at a mouthful, they so despise them. Notice, that, whenever a man despises God, he soon despises God’s people; it is only natural that he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There were they in great fear,.... This, shows that they had some knowledge of God, and consciousness of guilt, which they endeavoured to banish out of their minds by their fears of punishment; and these fears men of the most atheistic principles cannot get rid of. In Psalms 53:5 it is added, "where no fear was": that is, any cause or reason for...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
There were they in great fear: What, these very people who would not call upon God! Were they in great fear? Yes, God can bring great fear upon the men who seem most bold. It is noticed that the boldest blasphemers, when they become ill, are generally the most timid persons. These are the people who begin to cry, and give up what they boasted of,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
You have shamed the counsel of the poor,.... The poor saints, the Lord's people, the generation of the righteous, who are generally the poor of this world; poor in spirit, and an afflicted people: and the counsel of them intends not the counsel which they give to others, but the counsel which they receive from the Lord, from the Spirit of counsel,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. They mocked at the idea of a mans trusting in God for his daily bread, or trusting in God for his eternal salvation; but, mock as men may, there is no other refuge for a soul but God. When the floods are out, there is no safety but in the ark with God. Oh, that men would trust...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion!.... By whom is meant the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, of all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; and who is so called, because the salvation of them was put into his hands, and he undertook it; and because he is the Captain and Author of it, and it is in him, and in no other. He...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. May that time soon come! Amen. This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 12, 13, and 14.