Psalms 53:1

Psalm 53

1

For the music leader, according to the mahalath. A maskil of David.

1 Fools say in their hearts, There's no God. They are corrupt and do horrible deeds; not one of them does anything 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 Fools say in their hearts, There's no God. They are corrupt and do horrible deeds; not one of them does anything good.

2 God looks down from heaven on humans to see if anyone is wise, to see if anyone seeks God.

3 But all have turned away. Everyone is corrupt. No one does good— not even one person!

4 Are they dumb—these evildoers— devouring my people like they are eating bread but never calling on God?

5 There, where there was nothing to fear, they will be in utter panic because God will scatter the bones of those who attacked you. You will put them to shame because God has rejected them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Perhaps instruction