Psalms 53:1

1 Fools say to themselves, ¹ "There is no God." They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right.

Psalms 53:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 53:1

The fool hath said in his heart, [there is] no God
The Targum adds, "of whom is revenge"; or there is no God to punish and avenge the wicked;

corrupt are they;
the Chaldee paraphrase is, "the wicked have corrupted their ways"; as all flesh had done in the old world, ( Genesis 6:12 ) ;

and have done abominable iniquity;
iniquity is the abominable thing that God hates, and makes men abominable in his sight; in ( Psalms 11:1 ) , it is read, "abominable worlds": the Targum paraphrases the words, "they are far from good, for iniquity is found in them"; see ( Revelation 21:8 Revelation 21:27 ) ;

[there is] none that doeth good; (See Gill on Psalms 14:1).

Psalms 53:1 In-Context

1 Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right.

2 God looks down from heaven at people to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship him.

3 But they have all turned away; they are all equally bad. Not one of them does what is right, not a single one.

4 "Don't they know?" God asks. "Are these evildoers ignorant? They live by robbing my people, and they never pray to me."

5 But then they will become terrified, as they have never been before, for God will scatter the bones of the enemies of his people. God has rejected them, and so Israel will totally defeat them.

Cross References

• 1. 53.1-3Romans 3.10-12.