Absolute Universal Depravity (Part 2)

4   Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon God?
5   There they are in great fear
Where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;
You have put them to shame,
Because God has despised them.
6   Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

(Verse 4) - Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? – A continuing quote from Ps. 14:4. The only change in this verse is in the omission of the word “all.” This word, as it occurs in Ps. 14 (“all the workers of iniquity”), makes the sentence stronger and more emphatic. It is designed to affirm in the most absolute and unqualified manner that none of these workers of iniquity had any true knowledge of God. This has been noticed by critics as the only instance in which the expression in Ps. 14 is stronger than in the revised form of the psalm before us. Literally, “Do they not know, all the workers of iniquity, eating my people, they eat bread; Jehovah they call not.” The several statements in this verse in confirmation of the fact of their depravity are:

(a) That they have no knowledge of God;

(b) That they find pleasure in the errors and imperfections of the people of God - sustaining themselves in their own wickedness by the fact that the professed friends of God are inconsistent in their lives; and

The whole verse might have been, and should have been put in the form of a question. The first statement implied in the question is, that they have “no knowledge.” This can be regarded as a proof of guilt only

(1) As they have opportunities of obtaining knowledge;

(2) As they neglect to improve those opportunities, and remain in voluntary ignorance; and

(3) As they do this from a design to practice wickedness.

See this argument stated at length by the apostle Paul in Rom. 1:19-28. Compare the note at that passage. This proof of human depravity is everywhere manifested still in the world - in the fact that men have the opportunities of gaining the knowledge of God if they chose to do it; in the fact that they voluntarily neglect those opportunities; and in the fact that the reason of this is that they love iniquity.

Who eat up my people as they eat bread - They sustain themselves in their own course of life by the imperfections of the people of God. That is, they make use of their inconsistencies to confirm themselves in the belief that there is no God. They argue that a religion which produces no better fruits than what is seen in the lives of its professed friends can be of no value, or cannot be genuine; that if a professed belief in God produces no happier results than are found in their lives, it could be of no advantage to worship God; that they are themselves as good as those are who profess to be religious, and that, therefore, there can be no evidence from the lives of the professed friends of God that religion is either true or of any value. No inconsiderable part of the evidence in favor of religion, it is intended, shall be derived from the lives of its friends; and when that evidence is not furnished, of course no small part of the proof of its reality and value is lost. Hence, so much importance is attached everywhere in the Bible to the necessity of a consistent life on the part of the professed friends of religion. (Compare Isa. 43:10).

The words “my people” here are properly to be regarded as the words of the psalmist, identifying himself with the people of God, and speaking of them thus as “his own people.” Thus one speaks of his own family or his own friends. (Compare Ruth 1:16). Or this may be spoken by David, considered as the head or ruler of the nation, and he may thus speak of the people of God as his people. The connection does not allow of the construction which would refer the words to God.

They have no wisdom, certainly, but even so common a thing as knowledge might have restrained them. Can they not see that there is a God? That sin is an evil thing? That persecution recoils upon a man’s own head? Are they such utter fools as not to know that they are their own enemies, and are ruining themselves? “Who eat up my people as they eat bread.” Do they not see that such food will be hard to digest, and will bring on them a horrible vomit when God deals with them in justice? Can they imagine that the Lord will allow them to devour his people with impunity? They must be insane indeed.

And call not upon the Lord - They do not worship Yahweh. They give this evidence of wickedness that they do not pray; that they do not invoke the blessing of their Maker; that they do not publicly acknowledge him as God. Note that what is in view here is not that they don’t call on “God”, but that they don’t call on God as He has revealed Himself in the Scripture. That is a major issue. It is not sufficient just to call out to “God” merely as one perceives or understands Him. One must call upon the God of the Bible as God has revealed Himself in the Scripture. Apart from this, we have idolatry!

It is remarkable that this is placed as the last or the crowning thing in the evidence of their depravity; and if rightly considered, it is so. To one who should look at things as they are; to one who sees all the claims and obligations which rest upon mankind; to one who appreciates his own guilt, his dependence, and his exposure to death and woe; to one who understands aright why man was made - there can be no more striking proof of human depravity than in the fact that a man in no way acknowledges his Maker - that he renders him no homage - that he never supplicates his favor - never deprecates his wrath - that, amidst the trials, the temptations, the perils of life, he endeavors to make his way through the world “as if there were no God.” The highest crime that Gabriel could commit would be to renounce all allegiance to his Maker, and henceforward to live as if there were no God. All other iniquities that he might commit would spring out of that, and would be secondary to that. The great sin of man consists in renouncing God, and attempting to live as if there were no Supreme Being to whom he owes allegiance. All other sins spring out of that, and are subordinate to it. Again, we must note that this is an endorsement of a generic appeal to some non-specific or personalized deity. It is very specifically a command to worship the one true and living God as revealed in the Bible.

They carry on their cruel enterprise against the saints, and use every means but that which is essential to success in every case, namely, the invocation of God. In this respect persecutors are rather more consistent than Pharisees who devoured widows’ houses, and prayed too. The natural man, like Ishmael, loves not the spiritual seed, is very Jealous of it, and would fain destroy it, because it is beloved of God; yet the natural man does not seek after the like favor from God. The carnal mind envies those who obtain mercy, and yet it will not seek mercy itself. It plays the dog in the manger. Sinners will out of a malicious jealousy devour those who pray, but yet they will not pray themselves.

(Verse 5) - There were they in great fear … - Margin, as in Hebrew, “they feared a fear.” For the general meaning of the verse, see below. There is, however, an important change introduced here - the most important in the psalm. The general sentiment of two verses Ps. 14:5-6 in Ps. 14 is here compressed into one, and yet with such an important change as to show that it was by design, and apparently to adapt it to some new circumstance. The solution of this would seem to be that the original form Ps. 14 was suited to some occasion then present to the mind of the writer, and that some new event occurred to which the general sentiment in the psalm might be easily applied (or which would express that as well as could be done by an entirely new composition), but that, in order to adapt it to this new purpose, it would be proper to insert some expression more particularly referring to the event.

The idea is, that they were in great terror or consternation. They were not calm in their belief that there was no God. They endeavored to be. They wished to satisfy themselves that there was no God, and that they had nothing to dread. But they could not do this. In spite of all their efforts, there was such proof of his existence, and of his being the friend of the righteous, and consequently the enemy of such as they themselves were, as to fill their minds with alarm. People cannot, by an effort of will, get rid of the evidence that there is a God. In the face of all their attempts to convince themselves of this, the demonstration of his existence will press upon them, and will often fill their minds with terror.

The principal of these additions is found in the verse before us. In Ps. 14:5-6, the language is, “There were they in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous; ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.” In the psalm before us, the language is, “There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.” “Where no fear was.” The reference here, as in Ps. 14:5, is to the fear or consternation of the people of God on account of the designs and efforts of the wicked. They were apprehensive of being overthrown by the wicked. The design of the psalmist in both cases is to show that there was no occasion for that fear. In Ps. 14:5, he shows it by saying that “God is in the congregation of the righteous.” In the psalm before us fie says expressly that there was no ground for that fear - “where no fear was,” - and he adds, as a reason, that God had “scattered the bones” of them “that encamped against” them. That is, though there seemed to be occasion for fear - though those enemies were formidable in numbers and in power - yet God was their friend, and he had now showed them that they had no real occasion for alarm by dispersing those foes.

David sees the end of the ungodly and the ultimate triumph of the spiritual seed. The rebellious march in fury against the gracious, but suddenly they are seized with a causeless panic. The once fearless boasters tremble like the leaves of the aspen, frightened at their own shadows. In this sentence and this verse, this Psalm differs much from the fourteenth. It is evidently expressive of a higher state of realization in the poet, he emphasizes the truth by stronger expressions. Without cause the wicked are alarmed. He who denies God is at bottom a coward, and in his infidelity he is like the boy in the churchyard who “whistles to keep his courage up.”

For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee - Of the besieger. This, as already intimated, would seem to have been introduced in order to adapt the psalm to the particular circumstances of the occasion when it was revised. From this clause, as well as others, it appears probable that the particular occasion contemplated in the revision of the psalm was an attack on Jerusalem, or a siege of the city - an attack which had been repelled, or a siege which the enemy had been compelled to raise. That is, they had been overthrown, and their bones had been scattered, unburied, on the ground. The whole language of Ps. 14, thus modified, would be well suited to such an occurrence. The general description of atheism and wickedness in Ps. 14 would be appropriate in reference to such an attempt on the city - for those who made the attack might well be represented as practically saying that there was no God; as being corrupt and abominable; as bent on iniquity; as polluted and defiled; and as attempting to eat up the people of God as they eat bread; and as those who did not call upon God. The verse before us would describe them as discomfited, and as being scattered in slaughtered heaps upon the earth.

When the wicked see the destruction of their fellows they may well quail. Mighty were the hosts which besieged Zion, but they were defeated, and their unburied carcasses proved the prowess of the God whose being they dared to deny.

Thou hast put them to shame - That is, they had been put to shame by being overthrown; by being unsuccessful in their attempt. The word “thou” here must be understood as referring to God.

Because God hath despised them - He has wholly disapproved their character, and he has “despised “their attempts; that is, he has shown that they were not formidable or to be feared. They were efforts which might be looked on with contempt, and he had evinced this by showing how easily they could be overthrown. God’s people may well look with derision upon their enemies since they are the objects of divine contempt. They scoff at us, but we may with far greater reason laugh them to scorn, because the Lord our God considers them as less than nothing and vanity.

(Verse 6) - Oh that the salvation of Israel … - “Who will give,” etc. The Hebrew literally is, “Who will give out of Zion salvation to Israel?” The word “Israel” refers primarily to the Hebrew people, and then it is used generally to denote the people of God. The wish here expressed is in view of the facts referred to in the previous verses - the general prevalence of iniquity and of practical atheism, and the sufferings of the people of God on that account. This state of things suggests the earnest desire that from all such evils the people of God might be delivered. The expression in the original, as in the margin, “Who will give,” is a common expression in Hebrew, and means the same as in our translation, “Oh that.” It is expressive of an earnest desire, as if the thing were in the hand of another, that he would impart that blessing or favor. The only change here from Ps. 14:7 is that the word Elohim for God, is substituted for “Jehovah,” LORD, and that the word rendered “salvation” is here in the plural. On the supposition that the psalm was adapted to a state of things when the city had been besieged, and the enemy discomfited, this language would express the deep and earnest desire of the people that the Lord would grant deliverance. Perhaps it may be supposed, also, that at the time of such a siege, and while the Lord interposed to save them from the siege, it was also true that there was some general danger hanging over the people; that even the nation might be described as in some sense “captive;” or that some portions of the land were subject to a foreign power. The desire expressed is, that the deliverance might be complete, and that the whole land might be brought to the possession of liberty, and be rescued from all foreign domination. That time, when it should arrive, would be the occasion of universal rejoicing.

Out of Zion - On the word “Zion,” see the note at Isa. 1:8. It is referred to here, as it is often, as the seat or dwelling-place of God; the place from where he issued his commands, and from where he put forth his power. Thus in Ps. 3:4, “He heard me out of his holy hill.” Ps. 20:2, “the Lord … strengthen thee out of Zion.” Ps. 128:5, “the Lord shall bless thee out of Zion.”) Here the phrase expresses a wish that God, who had his dwelling in Zion, would put forth his power in granting complete deliverance to his people.

When the Lord bringeth back - literally, “In Yahweh’s bringing back the captivity of his people.” That is, the particular salvation which the psalmist prayed for was that Yahweh would return the captivity of his people, or restore them from captivity.

The captivity of his people - This is “language” taken from a captivity in a foreign land. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that any such literal captivity is here referred to, nor would it be necessary to infer from this that the psalm was written in the Babylonian captivity, or in any other particular exile of the Hebrew people. The truth was, that the Hebrews were often in this state (see the Book of Judges, “passim”), and this language came to be the common method of expressing any condition of oppression and trouble, or of a low state of religion in the land. (Compare Job 42:10).

Jacob shall rejoice - Another name for the Hebrew people, as descended from Jacob, (Isa. 2:3; 41:21; 10:21; 14:1; Amos 7:2). One writer renders this: “Let Jacob exult; let Israel joy.” The idea seems to be, that such a restoration would give great joy to the people of God, and the language expresses a desire that this might soon occur - perhaps expressing the idea also that in the certainty of such an ultimate restoration, such a complete salvation, the people of God might now rejoice. Thus, too, it will not only be true that the redeemed will be happy in heaven, but they may exult even now in the prospect, the certainty, that they will obtain complete salvation.

One writer said: “Would God the final battle were well over. When will the Lord avenge his own elect? When will the long oppression of the saints come to its close, and glory crown their heads? The word “salvation” is in the plural, to show its greatness. “When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.” Inasmuch as the yoke has been heavy, and the bondage cruel, the liberty will be gladsome, and the triumph joyous. The second advent and the restoration of Israel are our hope and expectation.

I need to look for and long for that great day!