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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 14:4-7

In these verses the psalmist endeavours, I. To convince sinners of the evil and danger of the way they are in, how secure soever they are in that way. Three things he shows them, which, it may be, they are not very willing to see?their wickedness, their folly, and their danger, while they are apt to believe themselves very wise, and good, and safe. See here, 1. Their wickedness. This is described in four instances:?(1.) They are themselves workers of iniquity; they design it, they practise it,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 14:4

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge ?.... Of the being of God, of the nature of sin, and of the punishment due unto it? This question is put either by way of admiration, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra observe; the psalmist, or rather God speaking after the manner of men, wondering that there should be such ignorance and stupidity among men, as before expressed; or rather, as denying this to be the case, and affirming that they have knowledge, notwithstanding they think, and say, and do,... 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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 14:4

Verse 4 This question is added to give a more amplified illustration of the preceding doctrine. The prophet had said that God observed from heaven the doings of men, and had found all of them gone out of the way; and now he introduces him exclaiming with astonishment, What madness is this, that they who ought to cherish my people, and assiduously perform to them every kind office, are oppressing and falling upon them like wild beasts, without any feeling of humanity? He attributes this manner... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 14:1-7

The depravity of a godless world, viewed by God. This psalm is given us twice—as the fourteenth and the fifty-third. It is one of those which assumes a revelation of God as a redeeming God, and also the existence of a redeemed people of God. And by way of consequence it assumes the necessity of a Divine redemption in order to bring about "the generation of the righteous." This could only have come about by Divine grace and by Divine power. Hence the very manifest distinction noted in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 14:1-7

Right views of God's government. I. In considering God's moral government of the world, we should be careful to TAKE THE RIGHT STANDPOINT . Much depends on the way we look at things. We may be too near or too far off; we may lean too much to the one side or to the other. Here the standpoint is not earth, but "heaven." This is the perfect state. Here we take our place by the side of God, and look at things in the light of his truth. If we have the Spirit of Christ, the true Son of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 14:1-7

Conflict between God and the wicked. The psalmist beans by lamenting the extent and the power of the atheism which reigns among men ( Psalms 14:1-3 ). But the righteous who have to suffer much on account of it, must not therefore despair; fools shall certainly bring destruction upon themselves ( Psalms 14:4-6 ). He closes with the prayer that God would send deliverance to his people ( Psalms 14:7 ). I. ATHEISM . ( Psalms 14:1-3 .) 1 . Atheism in the thought and in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 14:4

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? The exclamation is put in the mouth of God. Can it be possible that none of these evil-doers is aware of the results of evil-doing? Do they think to escape Divine retribution? The "wonder expresses the magnitude of their folly" (Hengstenberg). Who eat up my people as they eat bread . Reducing men to poverty, robbing them, and devouring their substance, is called, in Scripture, devouring the men themselves (see Proverbs 30:14 ; Isaiah 3:14 ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 14:4

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? - literally, “Do they not know, all the workers of iniquity, eating my people, they eat bread; Jehovah they call not.” The several statements in this verse in confirmation of the fact of their depravity are:(a) that they have no knowledge of God;(b) that they find pleasure in the errors and imperfections of the people of God - sustaining themselves in their own wickedness by the fact that the professed friends of God are inconsistent in their... read more

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