Tap any verse number for what that verse means.
1The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
5There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Understand This
Psalm 14, explained
What Psalm 14 is saying
Psalm 14 (nearly duplicated in Psalm 53) presents a sweeping indictment of universal human corruption through the lens of the 'fool' (nabal) who denies God's relevance. God's survey from heaven reveals that 'there is no one who does good, not even one'—a declaration that Paul will later employ as the foundation for his doctrine of universal sinfulness in Romans 3. The psalm concludes with a longing for eschatological deliverance from Zion.
The background behind it
The term nabal designates not intellectual atheism but moral-practical foolishness—a willful disregard for God that manifests in oppression of the poor. The psalm likely predates its near-duplicate in Psalm 53, which substitutes Elohim for YHWH.
Themes running underneath
The psalm presents a theology of universal corruption that is simultaneously corporate and volitional—humanity as a whole has turned aside, yet the psalm still distinguishes between the wicked and 'my people.' The closing hope for Zion's deliverance introduces eschatological expectation.
Why it still matters
This psalm confronts the illusion of self-righteousness by revealing that the human condition requires external intervention. It directs hope away from moral self-improvement toward God's saving initiative from Zion.
Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.