A FOOL SAYS WHAT?

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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I cannot count the times that I have turned to the Lord in frustration and asked the Lord when he planned on putting an end to the wretchedness of humanity. 

I can remember the acute sense of longing in my heart for the Lord to be done with the human experiment when I first visited the killing fields of Cambodia and again upon my first trip through Yad Vashem (museum of the Jewish Holocaust located in Jerusalem.) As I walked through the story of humanity’s depravity, I found myself thinking that our time must certainly be at an end.

However, as we will hear in the message of Psalm 14, this is not a new experience for the child of God. 

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

2 The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. 4 Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the LORD. 

5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. 6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge. 7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

(Psalms 14: 1-7 NIV11)

Not New

It would seem that our proclivity toward injustice and selfishness is not a modern invention. Here we have the message of King David as he reflected on the way in which every human being on earth has and will continue to struggle with the effects of sin. 

Godless

In the opening line of the Psalm, David reflects on the root cause of this selfish and sinful nature. 

Those who, in their ignorance, proclaim themselves the masters of all knowledge and stand up in the public square and reject the existence of the divine are not special, not unique. They join with a long line of other egoists as they set themselves up as the only true source of wisdom and authority on earth. 

And so the godless pretend not to worship or sacrifice. 

They act as though they have moved on from this created need that was sowed into our hearts and minds. But what they have really done is build themselves an idol made up of their own reflection. 

Generations

In verses 2-4, David speaks as one who has spent many years evaluating the nature of those around him. His conclusion is that those who reject the Lord also reject his wisdom and his righteous ways. 

As the godless amongst us father generation after subsequent generation of fellow self-worshipers, the folly and self-destructive nature of those who assume that they have more wisdom than God becomes more and more apparent.

Normal

David notes in verse 4 that eventually, the self-worship seen in the godless leads them to act in ways that feel normal to them. They do not even notice the volume and severity of their own destructive acts; they do evil as easily as one might eat bread. 

Savior

In verses 5-7, David expresses his desire to see the Lord raise up a true Savior. David hopes that the Lord will raise up one from Zion, from among the people of Israel, who will bring real salvation. 

This salvation is not so small as to simply address a lack of earthly justice and right action. But this hoped-for salvation will extend into the very root cause of evil and unrighteousness. 

Gratitude

Praise the Lord that we have received the promised gift of the Savior!

We have access to the one that David could only long for. 

Jesus Christ has come to wipe away those old broken hearts of stone and to give us his new nature and his life as we come to him by faith.

Let us go into this day giving thanks for the work of the one who has turned us from the foolishness of self-worship so that we might be united with the gift of God as seen in the work and person of Jesus Christ. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden 

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Works at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

Copyright © 2024 Ryan Laden – All Rights Reserved.