Psalm 53:2

2 God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, ^[a] who seek after God.

Psalm 53:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 53:2

God looked down from heaven upon the children of men
In ( Psalms 14:2 ) , it is read, "the Lord" or "Jehovah"; in everything else there is an agreement in this verse; (See Gill on Psalms 14:2);

to see if there were [any] that did understand;
the Targum is, "that were understanding" in the law; it doubtless means understanding in divine and spiritual things;

that did seek God;
the above paraphrase is, "seeking doctrine from before the Lord".

Psalm 53:2 In-Context

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God. ”They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

4 Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

5 There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Footnotes

• [a] 53:2 Or 'who act wisely'