Every one of them has turned aside

Psalm 53 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Folly and Wickedness of Men.  A Maskil of David.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
² God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God.
³ Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴ Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,
Who eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God?
⁵ There they were in great fear where no fear had been;
For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;
You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.
⁶ Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores His captive people,
^[Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The psalmist says:  The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.   We saw previously that it is foolish to say that there is no God because of the evidence that indicates that He exists. Romans 1:18-22 says:  The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.  Just as a beautiful and detailed painting indicates that there must be a painter, the beauty and detail of creation indicates that there must be a creator. Neither the painting nor creation, the heavens, the earth and all that is in them, could have happened by accident.

What occurred to me though, is that the psalmist says:  There is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.  Who then is really the most foolish, the one who says there is no God, or the one who acknowledges that He exists yet still turns aside and does evil rather than good?  John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.   It is not enough though just to believe that Jesus existed. We must believe in Him. We need to believe in what He did, giving His life as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could be redeemed. We need to believe in what He said. In John 3:3, He said:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”   In John 14:15;21;23-24   He says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Fortunately for we who believe and act foolishly at times, turning from the commandments of God and Christ, 1 John 1:9 assures us that:  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:8 says:   If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  The greater fool then is the one who acknowledges God, but not sin; the one who believes it is okay to continue in sin despite the sacrifice Jesus paid to redeem us from that sin. In Isaiah 5:20 God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  It is foolish to disagree with what God says; to redefine things according to our own preferences, whims, desires and lust. Our culture and society; will say that we who believe and follow God are the ones who are foolish.  They believe in human wisdom and knowledge rather than in God.   1Corinthians 1:27 says: God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.  If I must be considered foolish either way, I will take my chances being chosen by God. Rather than turning aside, I will turn around and seek Him.

In Jeremiah 29:11-14 God says:  I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you. Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.