---
title: "Clarke"
description: "There is nothing particular in the title; only it is probable that the word לדוד ledavid, of David, is improperly prefixed, as it is sufficiently evident,"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/psalms/14"
---

There is nothing particular in the *title*; only it is probable that the word לדוד *ledavid, of David*, is improperly prefixed, as it is sufficiently evident, from the construction of the Psalm, that it speaks of the *Babylonish captivity*. The author, whoever he was, (some say Haggai, others Daniel, c.,) probably lived beyond the Euphrates. He describes here, in fervid colours, the iniquity of the Chaldeans. He predicts their terror and destruction he consoles himself with the prospect of a speedy return from his exile; and hopes soon to witness the reunion of the tribes of Israel and Judah. It may be applied to *unbelievers* in general.
Verse [Psalms 14:1](../../../kjv/psalms/14/1). ***The fool hath said in his heart*****, There is*****no God.*** — נבל *nabal*, which we render *fool*, signifies an *empty fellow*, a *contemptible person*, a *villain*. One who has a muddy head and an unclean heart; and, in his darkness and folly, says in his heart, "There is no God." "And none," says one, "but a *fool* would say so." The word is not to be taken in the strict sense in which we use the term *atheist*, that is, one who denies the *being of a God*, or confounds him with *matter*.
1. There have been some, not many, who have denied the existence of God.
2. There are others who, without absolutely denying the Divine existence, deny his *providence*; that is, they acknowledge a Being of infinite power, c., but give him nothing to do, and no world to govern.
3. There are others, and they are very numerous, who, while they profess to acknowledge both, deny them in their heart, and live as if they were persuaded there was no God either to punish or reward.
***They are corrupt*** — They are in a state of *putrescency* and *they* *have done abominable works*- the corruption of their *hearts* extends itself through all the actions of their *lives*. They are a plague of the most deadly kind; propagate nothing but destruction; and, like their father the devil, spread far and wide the contagion of sin and death. Not *one of them does good*. He cannot, for he has no Divine influence, and he denies that such can be received.

Verse [Psalms 14:2](../../../kjv/psalms/14/2). ***The Lord looked down from heaven*** — Words spoken after the manner of men. From this glorious eminence God is represented as looking down upon the habitable globe, *to see if there were any* *that did understand* that there was a Supreme Being, the governor and judge of men; and, in consequence, *seek God* for his mercy, support, and defence.

Verse [Psalms 14:3](../../../kjv/psalms/14/3). ***They are all gone aside*** — They will not walk in the *straight* path. They seek *crooked* ways; and they have departed from *truth*, and the God of truth.
***They are*****all*****together become filthy*** — נאלחו *neelachu*. They are become *sour* and *rancid*; a metaphor taken from milk that has fermented and turned sour, rancid, and worthless.
**There is*****none that doeth good, no, not one.*** — This is not only the state of heathen Babylon! but the state of the *whole* *inhabitants of the earth*, till the grace of God changes their heart. By *nature*, and from nature, by *practice*, every man is sinful and corrupt. He *feels* no good; he is *disposed* to no good; he *does* no good. And even God himself, who cannot be deceived, cannot find a single exception to this! Lord, what is man?
The *Vulgate*, the Roman copy of the *Septuagint*, the *AEthiopic*, and the *Arabic*, add those six verses here which are quoted by St. Paul, [Romans 3:13-18](../../../kjv/romans/3/13-18). See the notes on those passages, and see the *observations* at the end of this Psalm. [Psalms 14:7](../../../kjv/psalms/14/7).

Verse [Psalms 14:4](../../../kjv/psalms/14/4). ***Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?*** — Is there not one of them who takes this dreadful subject into consideration? To their deeply fallen state they add cruelty; they oppress and destroy the poor, without either interest or reason.
***Who eat up my people as they eat bread*** — Ye make them an easy and unresisting prey. They have no power to oppose you, and therefore you destroy them. That this is the meaning of the expression, is plain from the speech of Joshua and Caleb relative to the Canaanites. [Numbers 14:9](../../../kjv/numbers/14/9): "Neither fear ye the people or the land; for they are bread for us."
***And call not upon the Lord.*** — They have no *defence*, for they *invoke not the Lord*. They are all either *atheists* or *idolaters*.

Verse [Psalms 14:5](../../../kjv/psalms/14/5). ***There were they in great fear*** — This is a manifest allusion to the history of the *Canaanitish nations*; they were struck with terror at the sight of the Israelites, and by this allusion the psalmist shows that a destruction similar to that which fell upon them, should fall on the Babylonians. Several of the versions add, from [Psalms 53:5](../../../kjv/psalms/53/5), "Where no fear was." They were struck with terror, where no real cause of terror existed. Their fears had magnified their danger.
***For God*****is*****in the generation*** — They feared the Israelites, because they knew that the Almighty God was among them.

Verse [Psalms 14:6](../../../kjv/psalms/14/6). ***Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor*** — Instead of תבישו *tabishu*, "Ye have shamed," Bishop *Horsley* proposes to read תבישם *tabishem*, and translates the clause thus: "The counsel of the helpless man shall put *them* to shame." But this is not authorized by MS. or *version*. There is no need for any change: the psalmist refers to the *confidence* which the afflicted people professed to have in God for their deliverance, which confidence the Babylonians turned into *ridicule*. The poor people took counsel together to expect help from God, and to wait patiently for it; and this counsel ye derided, because ye did not *know*- did not *consider*, that God was in the congregation of the righteous.

Verse [Psalms 14:7](../../../kjv/psalms/14/7). ***O that the salvation*** — Or, more literally, *Who will give* *from Zion salvation to Israel*? From Zion the deliverance must come; for God alone can deliver them; but *whom* will he make his instruments?
***When the Lord bringeth back*** — For it is Jehovah alone who can do it. *Jacob shall rejoice*, and *Israel shall be glad*. That is, according to *Calmet*, the remains of the kingdom of Israel, and those of Judah, shall be rejoined, to their mutual satisfaction, and become one people, worshipping the same God; and he has endeavoured to prove, in a dissertation on the subject, that this actually took place after the return from the Babylonish captivity.
Many of the fathers have understood this verse as referring to the *salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ*; and so it is understood by my old MS. Psalter, as the following paraphrase will show: *Qwa* *sal gyf of Syon hele til Israel? qwen Lord has turned a way the* *captyfte of his folk, glad sal Jacob, and fayne be Israel*. Qwa bot Crist that ge despyse, qwen ge wit nout do his counsaile of Syon fra heven, sal gyf hele til Israel? that es, sal saf al trew cristen men, noght als ge er that lufs noght God. And qwen our Lord has turned o way the captyfte of his folk: that es, qwen he has dampned the devel, and al his Servaundes, the qwilk tourmentes gude men, and makes tham captyfs in pyne. *Then glade sal Jacob*; that es, al that wirstils o gayns vices and actyf: *and fayne sal* *be Israel*: that es, al that with the clene egh of thair hert, sees God in contemplatyf lyf. For *Jacob* es als mikil at say als, *Wrestler*, or *suplanter of Syn*. *Israel es, man seand God*.
Of the two chief opinions relative to the design of this Psalm:
1. That it refers to *Absalom's rebellion*.
2. That it is a complaint of the *captives in Babylon*; I incline to the latter, as by far the most probable.
I have referred, in the note on [Psalms 14:3](../../../kjv/psalms/14/3), to that remarkable addition of no less than *six verses*, which is found here in the *Vulgate*, the Vatican copy of the *Septuagint*, the *AEthiopic*, and the *Arabic*, and also in St. *Paul's* Epistle to the Romans, [Romans 3:13-18](../../../kjv/romans/3/13-18), which he is supposed to have quoted from this Psalm as it then stood in the Hebrew text; or in the version of the *Seventy*, from which it has been generally thought he borrowed them. That they are not interpolations in the *New Testament* is evident from this, that they are not wanting in any MS. yet discovered; and they exist in all the ancient versions, the *Vulgate, Syriac, AEthiopic*, and *Arabic*. Yet it has been contended, particularly by St. *Jerome*, that St. Paul did not quote them from this Psalm; but, being intent on showing the corruption and misery of man, he collected from *different parts* several passages that bore upon the subject, and united them here, with his quotation from [Psalms 14:3](../../../kjv/psalms/14/3), as if they had all belonged to that place: and that succeeding copyists, finding them in *Romans*, as quoted from that Psalm, inserted them into the *Septuagint*, from which it was presumed they had been lost. It does not appear that they made a part of this Psalm in *Origen's Hexapla*. In the portions that still exist of this Psalm there is not a word of these additional verses referred to in that collection, neither here nor in the parallel Psalm liii.
The places from which *Jerome* and others say St. Paul borrowed them are the following: -
[Romans 3:13](../../../kjv/romans/3/13): "Their mouth is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit." Borrowed from [Psalms 5:10](../../../kjv/psalms/5/10).
"The poison of asps is under their lips." From [Psalms 140:3](../../../kjv/psalms/140/3).
[Romans 3:14](../../../kjv/romans/3/14): "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." From [Psalms 10:7](../../../kjv/psalms/10/7).
[Romans 3:15](../../../kjv/romans/3/15): "Their feet are swift to shed blood." From [Proverbs 1:16](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/16), or [Isaiah 59:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/59/7).
[Romans 3:16-18](../../../kjv/romans/3/16-18): "Destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace they have not known, and there is no fear of God before their eyes." From [Psalms 59:7](../../../kjv/psalms/59/7); [Psalms 59:8](../../../kjv/psalms/59/8).
When the reader has collated all these passages in the *original*, he will probably feel little satisfaction relative to the probability of the hypothesis they are summoned to support.
These verses are not found in the best copies of the *Vulgate*, though it appears they were in the old *Itala* or *Antehieronymain* version. They are not in the *Codex Alexandrinus* of the *Septuagint*; nor are they in either the *Greek* or *Latin* text of the *Complutensian* Polyglot. They are wanting also in the *Antwerp* and *Parisian* Polyglots. They are neither in the *Chaldee* nor *Syriac* versions. They are not acknowledged as a part of this Psalm by *Theodoret, Chrysostom, Euthymius, Arnobius, Apollinaris*, the *Greek Catena, Eusebius*, of Caesarea, nor *Jerome*. The latter, however, acknowledges that they were in his time *read in the* *churches*. I have seen no Latin MS. without them; and they are quoted by *Justin Martyr* and *Augustine*. They are also in the *Editio* *Princeps* of the *Vulgate*, and in all the ancient *Psalters* known. They are in that *Psalter* which I have frequently quoted, both in the *Latino-Scotico-English* version and paraphrase.
Of this version the following is a faithful copy, beginning with the *third* verse of the *fourteenth* Psalm: -
It is now time to state what has been deemed of considerable importance to the authenticity of these verses; viz., that they are found in a *Hebrew* MS., numbered by *Kennicott* in his catalogue 649. It is in the public library at *Leyden*; contains the *Psalms* with a *Latin version* and *Scholia*; and appears to have been written about the end of the *fourteenth* century, and probably by some *Christian*. I shall give the text with a literal *translation*, as it stands in this MS., line for line with the preceding: -
If this be an interpolation in the Psalm, it is *very ancient*; as we have the testimony of *Jerome*, who was prejudiced against it, that it was read in all the churches in his time, and how long before we cannot tell. And that these verses are a valuable portion of Divine revelation, as they stand in [Romans 3:13-18](../../../kjv/romans/3/13-18), none can successfully deny. See *Rosenmuller, Kennicott*, and *De Rossi*.
This Psalm is the practical atheist's character, and has TWO parts: -
I. The description of the practical atheist, [Psalms 14:1-7](../../../kjv/psalms/14/1-7).
II. A petition for the Church, [Psalms 14:7](../../../kjv/psalms/14/7).
I. 1. The atheist is here noted to us by different characters: -
1. From his *name*, נבל *nabal*, a *fool*, or rather a *churl*; no natural fool, but a sinful: a *fool* in that in which he should be wise.
2. His hypocrisy or cunning; *he saith*, but he will not have it known, it is to himself, "He saith in his heart." He is a close, politic *fool*.
3. His saying, or his chief and prime principle: "There is no God."
4. From his practice; confessing God in his words for some political advantages, yet in his works denying him. For, 1. His heart is wicked and unregenerate: "They are corrupt." 2. He is a sinner in a high practical degree: "They have done abominable works." 3. He performs no duty: "There is none that doeth good." He *commits* sin; he *omits* duty.
2. The psalmist demonstrates what he said *three* ways; and convinces them: -
1. By the testimony of *God* himself; he is a witness against them. He is, 1. An eyewitness: *he looks on*. 2. He is in heaven, and they are continually under his notice: "He looked down from heaven." 3. He sees *the children of men*, their *hearts* and their *works*. 4. And the object of his looking is to inquire after their *religion*: "To see if there were any that did understand and seek God."
2. And then he gives his testimony in these general terms: "They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
3. Next he accuses them of *two sins* of which they were especially guilty. 1. *Injustice*: "They eat up my people as bread." 2. *Impiety*: "They call not upon the Lord."
4. And that his testimony is true, he convinces them, 1. By the light of their own *conscience*: "Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?" Does not their own conscience tell them that all this is true? Do they not *know* this? 2. By *fear* and *terror*, the effects of an evil conscience: "There were they in great fear." They said, *There is no God*; but their conscience told them that *God was in the congregation of the righteous*, and that they should grievously answer for their *injustice* and *impiety*. 3. By the *hardness* of their *heart*, and contempt of the good counsels of the godly. If *he* reproved, *they* mocked. If he said *God was his* *refuge*, they laughed him to scorn. "Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge."
II. The second part of the Psalm contains a petition for the Church: -
1. He prays that God would *send salvation to his people*.
2. That it might be *out of Zion*; because *Christ* was anointed and set a King upon the holy hill of Zion: "O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!"
3. For then the consequence would be the great joy and happiness of all his people for their deliverance from captivity, *spiritual* and *temporal*: "When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad."

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