Reflections on Psalms 53

 Psalms 53(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "Mahalath.") Only a fool would say, "There is no God!" People like that are worthless! They are heartless and cruel and never do right.
   
2. From heaven God looks down to see if anyone is wise enough to search for him.
   
3. But all of them are crooked and corrupt. Not one of them does right.
   
4. Won't you lawbreakers learn? You refuse to pray, and you gobble down the people of God.
   
5. But you will be terrified worse than ever before. God will scatter the bones of his enemies, and you will be ashamed when God rejects you.
   
6. I long for someone from Zion to come and save Israel! Our God, when you bless your people again, Jacob's family will be glad, and Israel will celebrate.

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This is a psalm of David addressing the corruption of mankind. According to this psalm, man is not basically good but basically corrupt, and at the core of it is his willful choice to reject God. It is a choice based not on empirical evidence but despite it. David equates such a choice with being a fool and also with being corrupt. A fool is not necessarily stupid or uneducated. He may, in fact, be quite intelligent and educated but is foolish, nevertheless, by willfully choosing to be ignorant regarding God. We often equate being corrupt with being dishonest with money. Although this can be the case, it can also relate to intellectual or spiritual dishonesty and to changing what is true to something that is untrue, therefore, corrupting truth.

This is the nature of the atheist, says David, and such people are not few in number. He says that when God looks down from heaven to see if there are those who are wise and who seek Him, He discovers that "Everyone has turned aside; they have all become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one." (53:3) This would seem to suggest that some are proclaimed atheists while others are practical atheists. The latter may not proclaim God doesn't exist, but they act as if He doesn't by ignoring Him. They don't call on Him.

While it would seem from these statements David is saying there are no people at all who seek God, he refers in verse 4 to God's people. Despite man's nature to reject God, some are drawn to accept Him. Though those who seek God may experience a time in which those who reject Him will "consume" them, the time will come when God will fill these evildoers with terror and will put them to shame while He also restores His people.