The Futility of A Foolish Life | Psalm 14

Scripture

• Psalms 14

About this sermon

Introduction: Only a fool would envy fools. But sadly, sometimes BELIEVER’S think foolishly. Do you ever look upon the world of the unbelieving and envy them? Perhaps you look at what seems like a comparably CAREFREE life. Or perhaps you look at what seems like a PROSPEROUS life. Or perhaps you look at what seems like a life of POPULARITY AND PLEASURE. Never forget that it’s a wide gate and a broad way and the most heavily populated way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13). We must also never forget that such a life is truly an EMPTY LIFE. Even God’s people — people saved out of foolishness — can forget how futile foolishness is. Even God’s people can forget, for a moment, the emptiness and pain of our past life. ESV 1 Peter 4:3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Asaph can envy the wicked. ESV Psalm 73:1 A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Job’s wife can speak foolish words. ESV Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. But when our gracious God reminds us of our present condition compared to our past, and our certain hope compared to our former hopelessness, and when He reminds us of what we once were, and how we once lived — we stop envying the wicked. The fool’s life is not a stranger to us, because we all once lived that life. Every redeemed person, even if saved at a young age, is theologically informed about that life — but if saved later in life, you are experientially informed about that life and are thankful to have been delivered from it. ESV Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. God gives us a Psalm, by the hand of David, that reminds us of the futility of the foolish life. From the character of the fool to the destiny of the fool, the Holy Spirit of God tells us the truth about such a life. And God tells us about these things for own worship. Psalm 14 tells us the truth about the fool, so that we might REJOICE that God has saved us out of that life, and that we might ANTICIPATE the world that is coming, that we might be PROTECTED from the world’s empty promises, and that we might PITY THE FOOL and take the gospel to the world so that other fools like we were might be saved and delivered. We will examine this Psalm under four headings, each one in the form of a question. • WHO IS THE FOOL? (vs.1) The Psalm begins by describing such a person. Now, let me say from the outset that there is more than one way that we see the fool described in Scripture. There is a description of the fool that captures a specific kind of stupidity — even different from the general world of stupidity. Then there is another kind of fool that is more general and universal. THAT IS THE KIND WE MEET WITH HERE. This fool is a fool in the sense of WICKED. • HIS WORLDVIEW (vs.1a) His worldview is the first thing that David describes. The fool says IN HIS HEART “there is no God.” This is not necessarily what he says with his mouth. It is however, what he says in his heart, and the result is that he says the same thing with HIS LIFE. The fool is a PRACTICAL atheist, even if he isn’t a FORMAL atheist. He lives as if God doesn’t exist.

Topics

• Bible Study
• Wisdom