Psalms 14King James Version
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are all gone aside. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Paul quotes this in Romans 3.
A psalm of almost total moral indictment: the fool denies God, and from that vantage God looks down and finds no one who does good, none, not one. The psalm pivots to condemn those who eat up God's people and do not call on him, then closes with longing for the salvation of Israel to come from Zion. Nearly identical to Psalm 53. It looks like accusation but ends in hope.
The denial of God is not primarily an intellectual position but a moral one: it produces a life bent entirely inward, devouring the weak, indifferent to the cry.
verse: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; there is none that doeth good." 'In his heart' is the key: this is volitional, not intellectual.
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.' Nearly duplicate of Psalm 53, which uses 'Elohim' where this psalm uses 'LORD' (YHWH), suggesting liturgical use in different worship traditions. The contrast between God's vantage (looking down) and the fool's vantage (looking inward) frames the whole.
The fool as the psalm's central figure; God looking down on humanity; the corrupt who devour God's people; the generation of the righteous who are the oppressed; Israel longing for salvation.
Paul quotes Psalm 14:1-3 at length in Romans 3:10-12 as part of his argument for universal human sinfulness. The psalm's scope ('none that doeth good, no, not one') becomes foundational for the doctrine of original sin and the necessity of grace rather than merit-based justification.
For when you feel surrounded by a world that operates as if nothing higher than appetite exists. The psalm names the pattern clearly, which is itself a relief.
1[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.] The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
5There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh 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.