Reading: Psalm 14
For the director of music. Of David.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good, not even one.
Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating bread;
they never call on the LORD.
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the LORD is their refuge.
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! (NIV)
Reflection
Apparently, atheism is not a modern phenomenon. Three thousand years ago in David’s time, there were people who said in their heart, “There is no God.” Atheism has a long and ignoble pedigree. I say ignoble because as David observes, it is the fool who says, “There is no God.”
There is a footnote in my Bible indicating that the word translated in this psalm as fool denotes someone who is morally deficient. David goes on to describe this moral deficiency. He uses the words corrupt and vile. In fact there is a complete absence of anything good. But this isn’t just David’s indictment against a few errant atheists; this is the LORD’s view of all mankind. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. In the New Testament, Paul the Apostle quotes from this psalm in his epistle to the Romans as he outlines the depravity of humanity.
Is there a link between unbelief and the sinful state of the human soul? Does sin breed unbelief? There is ample biblical and anecdotal evidence that it does. When Adam and Eve sinned, in an instant, they turned from God seekers to God avoiders. Add a little more sin, and it’s only a short step for a God avoider to become a God denier. We deny the existence of God to avoid accountability for our sin. We foolishly assume that since we can’t see God, He can’t see us and our misdeeds. Better yet, why not pretend that God doesn’t exist? Then we are at liberty to sin as much as we please without fear of God’s judgment. That sounds like morally deficient reasoning to me. The fool fools only himself.
Response: Father, I want to seek you always, especially when I sin. You forgive and clean me up. Amen.
Your Turn: Does sinful conduct affect your belief system?
Related articles
- Atheism: That New Old Time Religion (holdingforthhisword.wordpress.com)
I love the Psalms 
When considering origins, George Wald, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1967, had this to say:
When it comes to the origin of life on this earth, there are only two possibilities:
creation or spontaneous generation (evolution). There is no third way.
Spontaneous generation was disproved 100 years ago, but that leads us only
to one other conclusion: that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that
on philosophical grounds (personal reasons); therefore, we choose to believe
the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance.
They are indeed foolish who choose to believe the lie in order to be “free” to sin. Sin doesn’t benefit us, it destroys us, look around. Sin arises from our fallen sinful nature, and that nature lusts after it. Praise God for His deliverance from sin, death, and eternity in hell through faith in what His glorious Son Jesus Christ has done for us as we receive Him by faith. God bless you:)
Well said, Eliza. Unfortunately many choose to believe impossible foolishness rather than humbly bow before the cross.