Psalm 14

Psalm 1 tells us God’s eyes are on the righteous and the way of the ungodly will perish.  Psalm 14 tells us God’s eyes are on mankind and the way of the righteous will be blessed.

Psalm 14 is interesting in that it is duplicated in Psalm 53.  One wonders why, and it would seem there is no answer except that the Spirit of God desired it for some profit to those who would read.  All Scripture is profitable!  But with that obvious answer, one wonders still why this song that so strongly emphasizes the sinfulness of man.  After all, the Apostle Paul drew heavily on this in Rom. 3:9-18 when he was declaring the depravity of mankind.  Rom. 3:10-12 (quoting Psalm 14:1-3/53:1-3) stresses the depravity of man’s character before speaking of the depravity of his words and deeds.  

So again, why duplicate this song?  Is it because we will tend to forget how sinful we are and need the reminder?  Perhaps.  But actually this Psalm is meant to be encouragement to God’s people.  It ends with a prayer (v7) for God’s salvation from the workers of iniquity around them.  So perhaps it is repeated because God’s people often find them in this situation, where they are in the minority.  That is the world today, where Christ has left His church until He comes for them.  And it was the world in which the righteous of Israel found themselves.  We may forget our depravity; so let us be reminded that apart from the grace of God these Psalms describe us!  But also, we may lose hope, forgetting the promised refuge of God as we frequently fret about the evil that surrounds us.  Let us be encouraged!

Let us note a few things from this Psalm.  Verse 1 (“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’”) speaks of practical atheism more than intellectual atheism (using intellectual rather loosely).  In the end, what the fool does is to doubt God’s faithfulness to His people.  In that sense he says, “NO GOD!  I can get away with taking advantage of these do-gooders.”  He is indeed a fool.  In fact, God is not absent.  He is actually in heaven looking down upon mankind looking to see if there is anyone who seeks Him.  He finds there are NONE that do God, a phrase repeated with emphasis in v6. 

In vs. 7 there is a question as to what is meant by “captivity”.  This is said to be “of David” (although the inscriptions are not part of the inspired text).  What captivity was he talking about?  1) Egypt?  No, of course not.  That is long past.  2) Babylon?  Not likely.  David knew nothing of that.  3) Some captive situation in David’s day?  Again, not likely.  We know nothing of that kind of event in the stories of the Writings.  4) Some symbolic situation that seemed like captivity?  Some hold to this idea and it could be the case, though if there is a literal captivity we are better to lean that way.  The application to our own lives is symbolically presented for we certainly depend on God’s providential care as have His people in every age.  He is always with “the generation of the righteous” (v5).  Though the earth shames God, “the counsel of the poor,” yet He is ever their refuge.

May I suggest one other possibility?  Perhaps David knew Deut. 32.  As I read the Prophets it appears to me we often underestimate how well they knew the books of Moses, especially Deuteronomy.  Moses was told by God that Israel would certainly be rebellious to the point of God removing them from the land and casting them to the nations.  But then He promised, not to destroy them completely, but to bring them back.  Could it be that this prayer for salvation from captivity has in mind the ultimate salvation of God’s people?  In that case what he would be praying for is the work of God that revolves around the greater Son of David, the Messiah.  And it will happen at a time when the workers of iniquity will be at their strongest in attacking God’s people as if they had no Refuge!

Let us not be shocked by the wickedness of the wicked.  When we are it is an indication we have forgotten the depth of our own sinfulness.  And when we forget that, we cannot begin to fathom the awesomeness of God’s grace.  But not only that: let us not be dismayed by the wickedness of the wicked.  Let us cry out to God to save us. 

Day 3, Read John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-18; Prov. 8:22-30

“In the beginning was the Word.”

“The Word” is the One who became flesh (Jn. 1:14), Jesus Christ.  He bears this title because He is the expression of the invisible God (Jn. 1:18), even as a word expresses the otherwise unknowable thoughts of the mind and heart.  “The beginning” relates to creation (v2-3).  The phrase we are considering today says that the Word was in existence when everything that was “made” came into existence.  In other words, the Word is eternal!

We are also told that the Word made everything, without exception.  How was the Word related to creation?

·        At creation Jesus was the creative Word (Gen. 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26).  In the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1 we are told that all things came into being when God spoke them into being.  Sometimes God spoke and things simply came into existence; other times God spoke and then made the thing He had said.  But in every case, God spoke.  Jesus was God’s Word and thus brought all things into existence.

·        At creation Jesus was the Word of wisdom (Prov. 8:22-36).  Wisdom is a person, not only in the amazing description in Proverbs but in our understanding of Jesus Himself.  He became to us wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30).  In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3).  Wisdom is said to have been with God in the beginning (Pr. 8:22,30).  Wisdom is an eternal person (Pr. 8:22-29) even is the Word as an eternal Person in John 1.  What we call “laws of nature” are in fact principles of creation, the work of Wisdom, the Master Craftsman (Prov. 8:30, NKJV).

·        Since creation Jesus is the sustaining Word (Heb. 1:1-4; Col. 1:17).  Because He is the wisdom that underlies creation He is said to uphold all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).  Again, in Him all things consist or are held together (Col. 1:17). 

·        Because of creation Jesus is the preeminent Word (Col. 1:15-18).  To call Jesus “the image of the invisible God” is another way to call Him “the Word”.  The title “Firstborn of all creation” is often seriously misunderstood to mean Jesus was created.  But firstborn is a title of authority, referring to the oldest son who is the heir who will oversee the family business when the father passes on.  There is one cult that translates “all things” (Col. 1:16-17) as “all (other) things”.  That is a damning addition to Scripture that denies to Jesus the preeminence He is to have (1:18). 

What does this say to us about the birth of Jesus?  That infant is the Word that became flesh, the Word of creation, the Creator of heaven and earth!  Acknowledge Him as such.  Trust His sustaining wisdom.  Give Him the preeminence in your life to which He alone is due.

Day 2, Read John 1:1-3,14

Greek philosophy had a two-story view of the universe.  Downstairs was nature, what you sense, the material world.  Humans, with our bodies, live downstairs.  Upstairs lived something that gave meaning to everything downstairs: the gods perhaps, the unseen, or the “soul”.  This was called “the LOGOS”, Greek for word, reason, or concept.  Some “Mind” or “Reason” was the secret to life.  The philosopher’s task was to discover the Logos.

·        For “Epicureans” the Logos involved feelings.  Excess was condemned.  Retirement from the world and a simple life, free of ambition, free of pain, was advocated.  Happiness and avoidance of pain were the chief ends of life. 

·        “Stoics” were fatalists.  The Logos was a divine force that worked in both stories so that neither man nor “god” was free.  Man’s role was to simply adjust himself to the role assigned him by fate.

·        The Jewish philosopher Philo saw Logos as the image of God, the first form of God, or the Second God.  Yet for Philo, Logos was still “it”, not “him”. 

Now you might consider this philosophy lesson a bit tedious.  But may I say that every man lives out of a “logos”.  Everyone has something that makes life worthwhile or gives a reason to live.  You may not have thought about it but it’s true.  What gives you significance?  This is an important subject.

 “Logos” appears three times in John 1:1 and again in John 1:14.  

·        The Word/Logos was in the beginning.  He did not come into being but simply “was”.  The Word is eternal. 

·        The Word/Logos was with God, indicating a relationship alongside God.  The Word is not an “idea” but a “person”, in relationship with God.

·        The Word/Logos was God.  He was not “a” God as if there were more than one.  He was in essence God!

This is the “upper story”, that which gives meaning to all things.  But it is not simply an idea.  He is the eternal, personal Word.  He is God.  And now hear the most amazing thing: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (v14).  He left the top floor and came to the bottom floor if you will.  He made Himself at home here, living as we live.  Neither the Greeks nor any other thought-system of man ever conceived of this.  But this is what the Incarnation is all about.

The Infinite became finite.  The Invisible became tangible.  The Transcendent became imminent.  That which was far off drew nigh.  That which was beyond the reach of the human mind became that which could be beholden within the realm of human life.  Here we are permitted to see through a veil that, which unveiled, would have blinded us.  ‘The word became flesh.’ He became what He was not previously.  He did not cease to be God, but He became Man. (A. W. Pink, p32)

The Bible says Jesus, the Word, gives meaning to life.  What, or “who” gives you a reason to live?  Is it working?  Will it get you through life, and death?

Day 1 (of Christmas devotions) Read Luke 1:1-4

(Note: today we are beginning 31 days in the Gospel account of the birth of Christ.  It is our hope that you will be blessed by this during the Christmas season.  We will maintain our habit of meditating on the Psalms on the Lord's Day.)
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The first four books of the New Testament are “The Gospels”.  Each contains a record of the incarnation, the earthly life of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  That is the gospel or “good news”, that God has come in the flesh in the person of a man, Jesus of Nazareth, news that people everywhere are called to believe.  

It is commonly acknowledged that each of the four writers wrote with a particular audience in mind, people they knew and loved who needed to hear of Jesus.  Matthew wrote with the Jewish nation in mind.  He begins with the genealogy that connects Jesus to Abraham, the father of Israel and to David, the King of Israel through whom God promised to send the Messiah.  For Matthew Jesus is that Messianic King.  Mark wrote to the Romans, presenting Jesus as the true Servant, a picture of Christ that the mighty Romans needed to hear and see.  Thus Mark has no record of the birth of Christ and simply records His years of ministry.  John has a universal appeal and lays a strong emphasis on Jesus as the “Son of God”.  While John does not record the birth of Christ he actually begins earlier, in eternity past.  Our studies of Jesus’ birth will begin in John 1:1-18.

Luke seems to appeal to the Greek mind and heart.  He writes to a Greek named Theophilus.  He emphasizes Jesus as the “Son of Man”, although this is not to the exclusion of the truth of the Deity of Christ.  Luke, the only non-Jew of the four evangelists, and a doctor (Col. 4:14), writes in a Greek manner, involving wide research that includes contacts with eyewitnesses as well as study of the writings of others on the life of Christ (v2).  It is an orderly account (v1,3) written so his friend (and we) can be certain of the things written about Christ.

Luke was the furthest from being an eyewitness of the life of Christ.  Matthew and John were Jesus’ apostles; Mark it is believed wrote mostly from the memory of Peter.  Luke was an associate of Paul, himself a follower of Christ after His ascension (1 Cor. 15:8-11).  Yet it is clear that Luke had a connection with eyewitnesses not enjoyed by the others.  He has details of private conversations and events involving Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary the mother of Jesus, Simeon and Anna.  Perhaps in his travels with Paul he had opportunities to speak with those who knew, especially Mary herself.  All the Gospels are true; all give the full account as led by God’s Spirit; any one of them has the power to lead you to the Savior.  Thus our approach will be to draw from all four.

May our study be with a view, not simply to expanded knowledge, but to faith.  The stories involving Jesus’ origin and birth are primarily involved with Who He was and is!  Every event made it clear that He was Someone special, given to the world for an essential purpose, One who was and is absolutely unique.  I write to you, many being people I know and love, with the same desire that you know Him in the truth.  Thus our plan will be only to open up the Biblical account.  There is no other place to go for the truth about the Lord, Jesus Christ.