God’s People Surrounded

[Psalm 14]

As I was closing out the year 2005, I meditated on Psalm 14 on the last Wednesday of the year, December 28. Throughout 2005, under the theme “I will run toward the Word of the Lord,” I spent several months meditating on Psalm 119. After that, beginning with Psalm 1, I continued meditating each Wednesday up to Psalm 14.

In the midst of that, as I meditated on Psalm 14 on the final Wednesday, I felt thankful. I was grateful to the Lord who allowed me to meditate on the Psalms throughout the year 2005. Of course, as I looked back over the year, there were countless things I could regret. But instead of dwelling on regrets, God gave me a heart of gratitude for His grace.

Even if there were things to regret, I decided to change my perspective slightly and choose to give thanks in faith. Because of that, I was able to end the year 2005 with peace in my heart and with gratitude.

That’s right. All we need to do is shift our perspective a bit—by faith. For example, in Exodus 14:3, when we look at Moses and the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt, the Bible says that they “were hemmed in” in the wilderness. That was the thought of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Acting on that thought, Pharaoh brought his army and chased after Moses and the Israelites, nearly overtaking them.

At that time, the Israelites’ thinking was no different from that of the unbelieving Pharaoh. Believing they were trapped, they referred to the wilderness they were in as a "grave" (verse 11).

But Moses had a different perspective. He never saw that place as a grave. On the contrary, he saw it as a place of salvation, where God’s power would be revealed. Listen to Moses' words:

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (verses 13–14)

How different was his perspective from that of the Israelites! The perspective of faith is completely different from that of unbelief.

When we look at today’s Scripture, Psalm 14, we see that the psalmist David also speaks of being surrounded or taken captive. He became a prisoner (verse 7). And who was he taken captive by? David was taken captive by the fool (verse 1).

Here, the Hebrew word for “fool” is Nabal. In David’s story, Abigail’s husband (who later became David’s wife) was named Nabal. We don’t know how he came to have a name that literally means “fool,” but in Psalm 14, David is singing from a position of being surrounded by such fools.

In verse 1 of Psalm 14, it says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” If we look around us today, there are indeed many such fools in the world. Like David, we too could say that we are surrounded by fools.

Here, the “fool” refers to what Yoon-Sun Park describes as a practical atheist—not a theoretical atheist. A practical atheist is someone who may acknowledge God with their lips but denies Him through their actions. The apostle Paul describes such people as “detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good” (Titus 1:16).

So then, what kind of people were the fools who surrounded David? Today’s passage outlines five characteristics of such fools:

First, fools are those who do not do good.

Look at Psalm 14:1 and 3:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good… All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

The psalmist David emphasizes, “There is no one who does good,” and again, “Not even one.”

Fools may sing with their lips, “God is so good,” but in their lives, they do not live righteously. Therefore, they deny the goodness of God through their actions. Even if they have once tasted God’s goodness (Psalm 34:8), they have abandoned all good works and turned to evil.

The Bible calls their actions “corrupt” and “vile” (Psalm 14:1). This corruption refers to moral depravity—in other words, a level of sinfulness so extreme that it cannot be restored by human effort (according to Yoon-Sun Park). These are the “filthy” ones mentioned in verse 3.

Second, fools do not strive to know God.

Look at Psalm 14:2:

“The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.”

These fools may claim to know God with their words, but in reality, they do not know Him. Worse, they make no effort to know Him. In fact, they don’t even feel the need to know Him. Even though God looks down from heaven to search, not a single fool is found seeking after God.

Third, fools are those who have turned aside.

Look at Psalm 14:3:

“They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

This refers to those who have strayed from the path of knowing God (Yoon-Sun Park).
They have no desire to seek God. They do not seek only God, but also pursue other things. They seek the things of the world before seeking God, seek Him without zeal, do not continue to seek Him, do not seek Him according to His Word (heresy), and seek Him at the wrong time (such as not repenting when they should) (Yoon-Sun Park).

Fourth, fools are those who persecute God’s people.
Look at Psalm 14:4:

“Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord.”

Fools shamelessly persecute the people of God, and because they treat it as something trivial, Scripture calls them “those without understanding” (verse 4).

Fifth and finally, fools are those who do not call upon the Lord.
Again, look at Psalm 14:4:

“Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord.”

Even though they commit the sin of persecuting God’s people, they do not cry out to God nor do they repent.

When God’s people are surrounded by such fools and find themselves in a miserable state, what does Psalm 14 say that God will do?  It tells us three things:

First, God is with them.

Look at Psalm 14:5:

“But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.”

David and the people of God, surrounded by persecution from the foolish, may have felt as if God was not with them, but the God of Emmanuel was surely with them.
Even when we feel surrounded by fools, and it seems like God is not with us, He is still with us. When the time of God comes, we will come to realize this truth and deeply sense His presence.

Second, God is their refuge.

Look at Psalm 14:6:

“You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.”

Fools hate God’s people, seek to shame and ruin their plans, and may even sometimes succeed in doing so, but God becomes a refuge for His people.
To the saints who suffer hardship and persecution for living righteously and believing in God—the “poor” in verse 6—God is their refuge.

Third and finally, God is their deliverer.

Look at Psalm 14:7:

“Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!”

Even though God’s people are held captive by the foolish and find themselves in a pitiful situation, when God’s appointed time comes, He will save them.
When God saves His people, He sometimes destroys the wicked in the process (Yoon-Sun Park).
God’s salvation means He restores His captive people (verse 7). When that happens, God’s people will rejoice and be glad (verse 7).
Our sorrow is temporary, but our joy will be eternal.

Just like the Israelites during the Exodus, we too are now journeying through this world—like a wilderness—on our way to the promised land of heaven.
We are looking to Jesus, the true Moses, and following His guidance.

In that journey, just like Moses and the Israelites, we may feel trapped in the wilderness. We may look in every direction—north, south, east, and west—and see no solution, feeling as though we are stuck in crisis.

In those moments, we must not become like the unbelieving Israelites who resembled Pharaoh, looking down at the ground, falling into despair and discontent, thinking of the crisis as a burial ground.
Nor should we fall into the sin of grumbling against Moses and God.

Instead, like Moses, we must look up to heaven and fix our eyes on the Lord. In doing so, we must turn that desperate, trapped situation into an opportunity for God's saving power to be revealed.

We must believe and trust that God is with us, that He is our refuge, and that He is our Savior.
May we experience the power of God’s salvation.

With a heart longing to experience the saving work of God while surrounded by fools,

Shared by Pastor James Kim
(Striving to be a wise person, not a fool)