Psalm 53:1

1 To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none that does good.

Psalm 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).

Psalm 53:1 In-Context

1 To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none that does good.

2 God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any that are wise, that seek after God.

3 They have all fallen away; they are all alike depraved; there is none that does good, no, not one.

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

5 There they are, in great terror, in terror such as has not been! For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.