With the lips one can say what one with the mind knows is not true. Satan knew full well that there is only one true God and what God had told man about the trees of the garden. Yet with the lips he told Eve that eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would not bring death but a wonderful blessing.
And we ought again to bear in mind that David in Psalm 53:1 is speaking of what one says in the heart, and not in his mind. Satan knows full well that there is one God. But that did not keep him from denying God, In his mind he was convinced, in fact so convinced that there is a God, that he uses the same name of God, namely, Elohim, the Almighty One, when he spoke to Eve, as David does here in Psalm 53:1.
The very fact that all men have an idol reveals that they all know in the mind that there is a God, with power above them and upon which they depend. They even take His name on their lips in their songs, such as "God Bless America."
But what they say in their hearts controls their lives. In that spiritual control center they say that they hate God. That is why David says that they are corrupt, have done abominable iniquity and do no good, when in their hearts they say that there is no God.
Saying in the heart that there is no God is to say to all our members that we need not and should not obey God, and that we are a god unto ourselves. That is why the versification sings:
They all are gone aside,
Corruption doth abound;
There is not one that doeth good,
Not even one is found.
Do not then expect the unbeliever to do good. Do not expect the world to improve, and crime and sin to be put down by man. We are headed for the days of the Antichrist, who is called "The Man of Sin" in II Thessalonians 2:3.
Never mind how much knowledge increases and man understands more of this creation wherein God has placed us. The vile heart of man will make him do more "abominable iniquity" than we now know.
Read: II Thessalonians 2
Psalter versification: 146:3
Devotions on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #233
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Numbers 11:24-35 ; Numbers 13:1-33
Mark 14:22-52
Psalm 52:1-9
Proverbs 11:1-3
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Quote for Reflection:
Mistakes in Seeking Guidance: “Earnest Christians seeking guidance often go wrong. Why is this? Often the reason is that their notion of the nature and method of divine guidance is distorted. They look for a will-o’-the-wisp; they overlook the guidance that is ready at hand and lay themselves open to all sorts of delusions. Their basic mistake is to think of guidance as essentially inward prompting by the Holy Spirit, apart from the written Word. This, which is as old as the false prophets of the Old Testament…is a seed-bed in which all forms of fanaticism and folly grow.” --J. Packer
Additional Info
- Date: 9-March
