Read Numbers 5, Isaiah 30, Psalms 51-53.
This devotional is about Psalm 53.
The Bible never sets forth any proof that God exists. That’s because the world around us and the conscience within each of us testifies to his existence (see Ps 19:1-6, Rom 1:20-21, 2:15), so no proof is needed. Everyone knows God exists.
But, according to Psalm 53:1, which we read today, a “fool stays in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” Some people may say that out loud, but many more whisper it to themselves and act as if it is true. The Bible calls those who do this “fools,” because it is unwise to tell yourself that something is true when you know it is not.
What happens to a person who tells himself that God doesn’t exist? That person becomes “corrupt” as verse 1c says. He or she begins to walk down an immoral pathway; thus “their ways are vile” and “there is no one who does good” (v. 1d-e).
This is what you will find with anyone who calls himself an atheist or anyone who one claimed to be a Christian but now does not: They inevitably choose to live an immoral life. If you believe that God does not exist, then there is no Creator-Lord who can tell you what to do. You become, at that moment, your own lord, accountable to nobody but yourself, unless you break a human law and get caught.
Verses 2 and 3 detail how thoroughly humanity has been deluded by the lie of personal atheism. Nobody is out looking for God and, therefore, nobody lives a righteous life. This is, of course, how each of us started life on this earth. As Titus 3:3 says, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
Although we all are infected with the No-God delusion at birth, Jesus came to save us from our own atheism, immorality, corruption, and the condemnation before a holy and righteous God that is coming. Titus 3:4-6, the next verses after the one I just quoted says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,”
Back to our passage for this devotional, Psalm 53, David wrote in verse 6, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!” The only rescue that David’s people, Israel, could ever have from their own atheistic pretensions was the saving grace of God. That’s what David prayed for and longed for. God’s answer to him, ultimately, was the salvation that Christ brought for Jews and Gentiles alike.
Do you feel pulled toward sin and wonder if God really exists and really should be obeyed? Don’t be deceived! God’s judgment, described in verse 5 here in Psalm 53, will fall on the fools who deny him and live by their own wicked standards.
And, if you are concerned about the immoral life of someone you love or just find the wickedness of the world too much to bear, the proper response is to pray for God to save people, just as David prayed for Israel’s salvation in verse 6.
So turn to the Lord now and ask him to save people–and use you to do it–who need the redeeming grace of God.