Psalm 14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 14:7

O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion !.... By whom is meant the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, of all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; and who is so called, because the salvation of them was put into his hands, and he undertook it; and because he is the Captain and Author of it, and it is in him, and in no other. He was to come out of Zion, out of Judea, from among the Jews; Zion being, as Kimchi observes, the head of the kingdom of Israel; see Romans 11:26 .... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14

The sentiments of atheists and deists, who deny the doctrine of a Divine providence. Their character: they are corrupt, foolish, abominable, and cruel, Psalm 14:1-4 . God fills them with terror, Psalm 14:5 ; reproaches them for their oppression of the poor, Psalm 14:6 . The psalmist prays for the restoration of Israel, Psalm 14:7 . There is nothing particular in the title; only it is probable that the word לדוד ledavid , of David, is improperly prefixed, as it is sufficiently... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:1

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God - נבל nabal , which we render fool, signifies an empty fellow, a contemptible person, a villain. One who has a muddy head and an unclean heart; and, in his darkness and folly, says in his heart, "There is no God." "And none," says one, "but a fool would say so." The word is not to be taken in the strict sense in which we use the term atheist, that is, one who denies the being of a God, or confounds him with matter. 1. There have been some,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:2

The Lord looked down from heaven - Words spoken after the manner of men. From this glorious eminence God is represented as looking down upon the habitable globe, to see if there were any that did understand that there was a Supreme Being, the governor and judge of men; and, in consequence, seek God for his mercy, support, and defense. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:3

They are all gone aside - They will not walk in the straight path. They seek crooked ways; and they have departed from truth, and the God of truth. They are all together become filthy - נאלחו neelachu . They are become sour and rancid; a metaphor taken from milk that has fermented and turned sour, rancid, and worthless. There is none that doeth good, no, not one - This is not only the state of heathen Babylon! but the state of the whole inhabitants of the earth, till the grace of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:4

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? - Is there not one of them who takes this dreadful subject into consideration? To their deeply fallen state they add cruelty; they oppress and destroy the poor, without either interest or reason. Who eat up my people as they eat bread - Ye make them an easy and unresisting prey. They have no power to oppose you, and therefore you destroy them. That this is the meaning of the expression, is plain from the speech of Joshua and Caleb relative... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:5

There were they in great fear - This is a manifest allusion to the history of the Canaanitish nations; they were struck with terror at the sight of the Israelites, and by this allusion the psalmist shows that a destruction similar to that which fell upon them, should fall on the Babylonians. Several of the versions add, from Psalm 53:5 , "Where no fear was." They were struck with terror, where no real cause of terror existed. Their fears had magnified their danger. For God is in the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:6

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor - Instead of תבישו tabishu , "Ye have shamed," Bishop Horsley proposes to read תבישם tabishem , and translates the clause thus: "The counsel of the helpless man shall put them to shame." But this is not authorized by MS. or version. There is no need for any change: the psalmist refers to the confidence which the afflicted people professed to have in God for their deliverance, which confidence the Babylonians turned into ridicule. The poor people... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:7

O that the salvation - Or, more literally, Who will give from Zion salvation to Israel? From Zion the deliverance must come; for God alone can deliver them; but whom will he make his instruments? When the Lord bringeth back - For it is Jehovah alone who can do it. Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad. That is, according to Calmet, the remains of the kingdom of Israel and those of Judah, shall be rejoined, to their mutual satisfaction, and become one people, worshipping the same... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:1

Verse 1 Many of the Jews are of opinion that in this psalm there is given forth a prediction concerning the future oppression of their nation: as if David, by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, bewailed the afflicted condition of the Church of God under the tyranny of the Gentiles. They therefore refer what is here spoken to the dispersed condition in which we see them at the present day, as if they were that precious heritage of God which the wild beasts devour. But it is very apparent, that... read more

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