THE PSALMS – A JOURNEY IN WORSHIP AND FAITH - September 23, 2014 – Day 53 - Psalm 53

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” We all know at least one; the dreaded atheist who always wants to find some way to take away our hope and to destroy our faith in Christ. But there is little difference between him and us without our faith in Christ for it is only by His grace and His mercy that we also would not be fools.

None of us are righteous. The Bible speaks clearly to this fact. When God says something once it is important, if He says it twice then obviously He really wants us to get it. But when God says something 3 times in scripture we need to take extra care to keep that thought always in our in minds. Listen to God speaking:

Psalm 14:1
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.

Psalm 53:1
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God," They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good.

Romans 3:10-11
…as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Three times God has stated this fact, no does good or seeks after God. Not on their own, for we have a sin nature that pulls us away from God. If you are Christ’s then praise Him now. He has snatched you from the grave where you were dead in your sin and raised you to new life in Him.

Psalm 53 teaches us this fact. It is called a “maskil of David”. A maskil is a psalm that teaches us something. But there is also a prophetic sense to this psalm that I believe should help us as we watch world events unfold.

Psalm 53:2-4
God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

There is a day coming when Jesus will return. Bible prophecy warns us that as we get closer to the end times, evil will rise up. We see the beginning of the end coming. Jesus said this in Matthew 24:6-8, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains”

Psalm 53 speaks of these end times. But Christians we have nothing to fear. We are covered by the blood of Christ. We are His bride; He will protect us. Like He does for Israel, God has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11 is but one of the many promises we can stand upon. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

But for those who reject Him and remain a fool, God also has a plan. Those who come after God’s people will be defeated.

Psalm 53:5-6
There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Yes, things look scary sometimes. But if you are Christ’s you can rest in Him. In truth we can rejoice for we know the ending. Learn from this psalm. Praise Him today.