Psalms 53:1

The Fool Says There Is No God

1

For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

1 The fool says in his heart, ¹ “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.

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 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

3 All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

4 Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon God.

5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

Cross References

• 1. (Psalms 14:1–7; Isaiah 59:1–17; Romans 3:9–20)