How lovely God is Pt 23: Do evildoers know nothing?

Psalm 14:1-4                          1The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.  2The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.  3All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.  4Do all these evildoers know nothing?   They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the LORD.  5But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.  6You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.

The fool says, “There is no God.”

In English the word ‘fool’ carries connotations of idiocy, of intellectual deficiency.  Not so in Hebrew.  In Hebrew the word carries connotations of moral rebellion.   This is not someone who lacks evidence; it is someone who resists accountability.  The denial happens “in his heart,” the biblical seat of will and desire.  In other words, this is not first a philosophical conclusion but a chosen posture. 

All of us will agree that actions and decisions carry accountability and consequence.  David strips away religious pretension and moral optimism and asks a disturbing question:  “What happens when people live as if God does not exist?”  The psalm does not merely critique atheism in the philosophical sense.  Rather, it exposes what happens when God is functionally removed from daily life—when people act, speak, and decide as though He were irrelevant.

David is not attacking honest doubt or intellectual wrestling.  Scripture consistently welcomes questions (Ps 73; Hab 1).  What Psalm 14 condemns is the settled decision to live without reverence for God.  This denial produces visible fruit: “They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” Theology always shows up in behavior.  When God is denied, moral standards collapse—not because people stop believing in goodness, but because goodness becomes self-defined.  What remains is not neutrality but corruption.

Many today would never say, “There is no God,” yet live as if God has no claim on their decisions, finances, sexuality, or speech.  This is called functional atheism and is far more common than people want to believe.  Psalm 14 calls us to ask not merely what we believe, but how our lives testify to those beliefs.

Are there any who seek God?

People want to believe that humans are basically good, and that everyone will eventually turn to God and go to heaven.  This is called universalism and is a modern heresy.  This does not deny human acts of kindness or civic virtue.  Rather, it asserts that no one naturally seeks God on God’s terms.   We may seek comfort, blessing, or escape from guilt—but left to ourselves, we do not seek surrender.

Quoting this passage in Romans 3:10, Paul says, “There is no one righteous, not even one” and later in v23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Sin is not an isolated problem but a universal condition, and Psalm 14 therefore dismantles the myth that humanity is basically good and merely needs better education or systems.

The problem is not that people fail to seek meaning; it is that they seek meaning without God.  The absence of God is not accidental—it is preferred.  This truth humbles both skeptic and believer.  If anyone seeks God, it is because God first sought them (John 6:44).  Salvation is not self-improvement but divine rescue.  This should produce gratitude, not pride, within the church—and compassion, not contempt, toward the world.

Do evildoers know nothing?

“Do all these evildoers know nothing, those who devour my people as though eating bread and never call on the LORD?”

This is the emotional heart of the psalm.  God Himself asks the question.  The ignorance described here is not lack of information but willful blindness.  These evildoers “devour” God’s people casually, as if oppression were as ordinary as eating bread.  Their defining mark is simple: they never call on the LORD.  This reveals the true nature of evil—it is not merely wrongdoing but prayerlessness.  Evil thrives where dependence on God is absent.

To “know” in Scripture involves relationship and reverence.  These evildoers know facts but reject fear of the LORD (Prov 1:7).  Their ignorance is moral, not mental.  The crux of this is that denial of God introduces the social dimension of sin.  Denial of God always leads to dehumanization.  When God is removed, people become objects—resources to consume rather than neighbors to love.  We are challenged then to examine where prayer has been replaced with self-reliance.  When we stop calling on the LORD, we may still appear successful, moral, or religious—but we are already drifting toward folly.  Prayer is not an accessory to faith; it is evidence of it.

But God is present in the company of the righteous.

In many places in Scripture the group of believers is called the Body of Christ.  The meaning is that we are all united together with Him to support, protect, and care for one another and in our reverence for Him.  The fools and evildoers are not the final word. God remains present with His people.

Even when the righteous are oppressed, devoured, or marginalized, God has not withdrawn.  He is “in the company of the righteous.”  This presence is covenantal, protective, and sustaining.  The world may deny Him, but God does not deny His people.  We all know what we are like inside.  And we should know that the righteous are not defined by moral perfection but by dependence on God.  Their distinguishing mark is not superiority but refuge (Ps 14:6).  In a culture increasingly indifferent or hostile to faith, this truth anchors the church.  We are not sustained by numbers, influence, or approval, but by God’s presence among us.  Even when society forgets God, God does not forget His people.

What about me?

You might ask, “How does all this affect me?  I believe in God.  I have accepted Jesus as my Savior!”  the question is, do you live like it.  The question “Do evildoers know nothing?” echoes through history and into our own hearts.  Left to ourselves, we do not seek God.  We resist Him.  We replace Him.  We ignore Him.  We might not do that in big ways, but we do it in small ways.  How often have we said, “I’m doing this thing anyway; God will have to forgive me.” 

None of us are perfect, but all of us can try, and God offers resolution.  Every single time we fall God will lift us up and welcome us back if simply we repent.  God still looks.  God still sees.  God still dwells among the righteous.  Ultimately, the New Testament reveals that God answered this psalm not with judgment alone, but with incarnation—Christ entering a world that said, “There is no God,” to reveal God fully (John 1:14).  Remember, The fool’s denial is not the end of the story.  Grace is.