Psalms 14:1

Psalm 14 ¹ 

For the music director; by David.

14:1 Fools say to themselves, ²  “There is no God.” ³ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁴ 

none of them does what is right. ⁵ 

Psalms 1:3

1:3 He is like ⁶  a tree planted by flowing streams; ⁷ 

it ⁸  yields ⁹  its fruit at the proper time, ¹⁰ 

and its leaves never fall off. ¹¹ 

He succeeds in everything he attempts. ¹² 

[14:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 14. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[14:1]  ² tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[14:1]  ³ sn “There is no God.” The statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that God is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “they act corruptly, they make a deed evil.” The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[14:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[1:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.

[1:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “channels of water.”

[1:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “which.”

[1:3]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in its season.”

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “fade”; “wither.”

[1:3]  ¹² tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”