Psalms 14

The deep and universal corruption of mankind is traced to its source in their failure to seek after God (Psalms 14:1-3). This corruption is illustrated by the cruel treatment to which ‘the people of Jehovah’ have been subjected (Psalms 14:4). But He proves Himself their defender (Psalms 14:5-6); and the Psalm concludes with a prayer that He will gladden Israel with a full deliverance (Psalms 14:7). It is commonly supposed that the Psalmist is describing the depravity of his own age and his own country. But at least in Psalms 14:1-3 it is of mankind at large (the sons of men, Psalms 14:2) that he is speaking. His words recall the great examples of corruption in the primeval world; in the days before the Flood, at Babel, in Sodom. The reference of Psa 14:4-6 is less clear. It depends on the meaning assigned to ‘my people’ in Psalms 14:4. (1) ‘My people’ may mean the faithful few in Israel, the godly poor, who were devoured by heartless oppressors. In this case Psalms 14:5-6 must refer to the future, prophetically anticipating the judgement which will overtake these godless tyrants. (2) If however ‘my people’ means the nation of Israel, Psalms 14:4-6 must refer either to some present oppression by foreign enemies and their anticipated discomfiture; or to a typical example of oppression and deliverance in the past, such as that of Israel in Egypt. If we are right in supposing that Psalms 14:1-3 refer to the primitive history of mankind, the latter interpretation seems preferable. The Psalmist naturally passes on to the oppression of Israel in Egypt as the next great instance of defiant antagonism to Jehovah. Psalms 14:5-6 are then to be explained as a historical allusion to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea: and the memory of that great national deliverance leads up to the concluding prayer of Psa 14:7. The Psalm recurs in Book ii as Psalms 53, with some variations. Elohim (God) is substituted for Jehovah (Lord) in accordance with the general practice of the editor of that book (see Introd. p. lv f.): and Psalms 14:5 differs widely from Psalms 14:5-6. Is this difference due to corruption of text or to intentional change? The curious similarity of the letters is in favour of the view that the text of Psa 53:5 is a restoration of characters which had become partially obliterated: but it is equally possible that the editor of the collection intentionally altered the text in order to introduce a fresh historical reference, probably to the overthrow of Sennacherib. The structure of the Psalm resembles that of Psalms 11 : two equal stanzas of three verses each, with a concluding verse. The title of Psalms 53 runs “For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.” Mahalath (cp. title of Psalms 88) may mean sickness, and is best explained as the initial word of some well-known song, to the melody of which the Psalm was set; rather than as denoting a mournful style of music, or some kind of instrument. On Maschil see Introd. p. xix.

Psalms 14:1-3

1–3. The universal depravity of mankind, and its cause.

Psalms 14:2

2. For a while Jehovah as it were overlooked the growing corruption. At length He ‘looked down’ (Psalms 33:13-14). So in the yet simpler language of the Pentateuch He is said to have ‘come down to see’ the wickedness of Babel and Sodom (Genesis 11:5; Genesis 18:21; and note the use of ‘look down’ in the latter narrative though in a different connexion, Psalms 18:16). Are not these typical examples of human corruption in the Psalmist’s mind? ‘Jehovah looked down … to see if there were any that did understand (or deal wisely, R.V. marg., for the verb often denotes right action as well as right purpose), that did seek God.’ Cp. Psalms 9:10.

The use of God, not Jehovah, is significant. It is of mankind in general, not of Israel, that the Psalmist is speaking. God made Himself known through the voice of conscience, and in the works of creation, but men would not follow the light of conscience, or read the book of nature. See Acts 14:17; Acts 17:27; Romans 1:19 ff.

Psalms 14:3

3. The result of the investigation. All were turned aside from the path of right (Exodus 32:8; Judges 2:17): together had they become tainted, a word which in Arabic means to go bad or turn sour, but in Hebr. is used only in a moral sense, here and in Job 15:16. Three verses follow here in the P.B.V. which are not in the Hebrew text, and are rightly omitted in the A.V. The first three verses of the Psalm are quoted by St Paul in Romans 3:10-12, in proof of the universal depravity of mankind. He supplements them by further quotations from Psalms 5:9; Psalms 140:3; Psalms 10:7; Isaiah 59:7-8; Psalms 36:1 : and this cento of passages was at an early date interpolated in the LXX, from which it passed to the Vulgate, and thence to the P.B.V. The addition is found in the Vatican and Sinaitic MSS. (B and à), and other MSS. which represent the older unrevised text; but was rightly obelized by Origen, and has disappeared from the Alexandrian MS. (A) and the mass of later MSS.

Psalms 14:4-6

4–6. The corruption of men exemplified in their oppression of Jehovah’s people. Its condign punishment.

Psalms 14:5

5. This verse is commonly explained to refer to the future, the perfect tense expressing the certain assurance of the Psalmist that judgement will be executed. Cp. Psalms 36:12. But it is more natural to refer it to the past. ‘There’ points emphatically to some signal instance in which panic terror and overwhelming calamity overtook ‘the workers of iniquity.’ If Psalms 14:4 may be understood of the oppression of Israel in Egypt, Psalms 14:5 will refer to the overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:24-25). Psalms 53:5 adds where no fear was, no natural cause for alarm. for God &c.] Present among them to defend them. ‘The generation’ (see on Psalms 12:7) ‘of the righteous’ is synonymous with ‘my people;’ either the nation, which might be so described in respect of its calling, and in contrast to its oppressors: or the godly part of it. Cp. Psalms 118:15.

Psalms 14:6

6. You have shamed] R.V., Ye put to shame. You deride the resort of the afflicted to Jehovah as mere folly. But the word usually means to frustrate or confound: and the line maybe explained, ‘Would ye frustrate the counsel of the poor! Nay! for Jehovah’ &c. Cp. R.V. marg., which gives But for Because. the poor] Or, afflicted. Cp. Psalms 9:12 : and Exodus 3:7; Exodus 3:17; Exodus 4:31. In Psalms 53 the equivalent of Psa 14:5-6 reads thus: “For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.” The bones of Israel’s enemies lie bleaching upon the field of battle, where their bodies were left unburied (Ezekiel 6:5). This can hardly be an anticipation of some future defeat. It must rather be an allusion to some historic event; and it at once suggests the miraculous annihilation of Sennacherib’s great army. The text appears to have been altered by the editor of Book II to introduce a reference to the most famous example in later times of the discomfiture of worldly arrogance venturing to measure its strength with Jehovah. With this reading it is clear that Psalms 14:4 must refer to the nation and its enemies, not to oppressors and their victims within the nation.

Psalms 14:7

7. Concluding prayer for the deliverance of Israel. out of Zion] The dwelling-place of Jehovah. See note on Psalms 3:4. When the Lord bringeth back &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., when the Lord returneth to the captivity of his people. At first sight these words appear to fix the date of the Psalm in the period of the Exile (Psalms 126:1). Nor does the first line of the verse exclude such a view. For the exiled turned to Zion even in her desolation (Daniel 6:10; 1 Kings 8:44), and from thence Jehovah might be expected to restore His people. But (1) it is very probable that the phrase rendered bring back the captivity means rather restore the fortunes. This meaning suits all the passages in which it occurs, while turn the captivity does not, except in the figurative sense of restoring prosperity.

See e.g. Job 42:10; Ezekiel 16:53; Zephaniah 2:7. And (2) even if turn the captivity is the true meaning, the phrase is used by Amos (Amos 9:14) and Hosea (Hosea 6:11) long before the Babylonish Captivity. Psalms 14:7 is frequently regarded as a later liturgical addition; and certainly it does not cohere very closely with the rest of the Psalm. But some conclusion is needed. The Psalm can hardly have ended abruptly with Psalms 14:6. Jacob shall rejoice, &c.] Properly a wish or prayer (cp. Psalms 13:5-6): let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad.